Great insight to her training at Cal, and what she does now.
A vast majority of College distance programs throw all the eggs at the wall and try to pick up the pieces, if you dont get injured, you make it. So much wasted talent under this philosophy.
Leave CAL alone. She was at CAL years ago! 18 year old British girl comes to the States, get's hurt numerous times, took advantage of the down time to be a typical college student & the fun that comes with it! She has matured.
Sorry, but this just is not true. Bell started uni in the UK. She ran for Birmingham for several years, then transferred to Cal in fall 2015. She turned 22 her semester at Cal.
When she got to Cal, her PBs were 2:03/4:16. For comparison, when Laura Muir was 21, her PB's were 2:00/4:00.
When Shayla came on he had her coach all the women
That’s not true. After a couple years of her time there, Sandoval had her coach all the men too. Steeple on up. But not the 800/1500 women and men. Tony Sandoval was Georgia Bell’s coach.
Great insight to her training at Cal, and what she does now.
A vast majority of College distance programs throw all the eggs at the wall and try to pick up the pieces, if you dont get injured, you make it. So much wasted talent under this philosophy.
I think at this point we need names. I know Cal for a long time was viewed by man coachews a graveyard where big talents went to die but this is next level. Do we know who was coaching her when she was there?
When I coached, I was quietly pleased that no one I ever coached went on to much better success elsewhere, meaning I did a pretty good job.
But how does a coach not even get Bell to score at Pac 12s when she is that talented?
What a year she has had.
4th World indoors, European silver, Olympic bronze, 2nd in DL final and pbs of 1:56/3:52
I think at this point we need names. I know Cal for a long time was viewed by man coachews a graveyard where big talents went to die but this is next level. Do we know who was coaching her when she was there?
When I coached, I was quietly pleased that no one I ever coached went on to much better success elsewhere, meaning I did a pretty good job.
But how does a coach not even get Bell to score at Pac 12s when she is that talented?
What a year she has had.
4th World indoors, European silver, Olympic bronze, 2nd in DL final and pbs of 1:56/3:52
Is she really that talented?
I think that is the OP's point. Why did this talent suddenly appear in old age?
was Georgia at Cal the same time as Brie Oakley? Brie was another generational talent who fizzled out at Cal. injuries, eating disorder, depression, etc...not sure if they were teammates or not.
was Georgia at Cal the same time as Brie Oakley? Brie was another generational talent who fizzled out at Cal. injuries, eating disorder, depression, etc...not sure if they were teammates or not.
How was Bell a "generational talent who fizzled out at Cal"?
As I pointed out above, Bell was an established collegiate runner when she showed up at Cal as a 22 year old in 2015. Her PBs were nothing special -- 2:03 and 4:16.
Given her early successes and her inability to perform at the same level in college, I'd say that she'd already fizzled out by the time she got to Cal.
If this sounds harsh, compare her times to Laura Muir or Steph Twell. A few weeks after she turned 18, Twell ran a 4:06.73. Bell didn't run within 10 seconds of 4:06 until last summer, when she ran a 4:12 and a 4:06.
was Georgia at Cal the same time as Brie Oakley? Brie was another generational talent who fizzled out at Cal. injuries, eating disorder, depression, etc...not sure if they were teammates or not.
How was Bell a "generational talent who fizzled out at Cal"?
As I pointed out above, Bell was an established collegiate runner when she showed up at Cal as a 22 year old in 2015. Her PBs were nothing special -- 2:03 and 4:16.
Given her early successes and her inability to perform at the same level in college, I'd say that she'd already fizzled out by the time she got to Cal.
If this sounds harsh, compare her times to Laura Muir or Steph Twell. A few weeks after she turned 18, Twell ran a 4:06.73. Bell didn't run within 10 seconds of 4:06 until last summer, when she ran a 4:12 and a 4:06.
I didnt mean to imply Bell was a generational talent. I was talking about Oakley. I was just curious if they were at Cal at the same time.
was Georgia at Cal the same time as Brie Oakley? Brie was another generational talent who fizzled out at Cal. injuries, eating disorder, depression, etc...not sure if they were teammates or not.
A generation is about 15 -20 years.
I don't think Oakley was the best high school girl of her generation. Baxter, Cranny, Efraimson, Cain, Touhy just to named a few.
Your point assumes she was ever that naturally talented to begin with. Given her crazy late career progression, there is little to support that assumption, and plenty of suspicion about something else.
While its surely possible she is doping, doping alone does not take a 4:17 runner to a 3:52. Anyone who can run 3:52, with or without doping, has talent.
She ran 4:17 and 2:03 as an U23 athlete prior to Cal, then ran slower while at Cal, and is running faster now after Cal. This alone says nothing about Cal, but there is a historic pattern or performance with their distance runners.
Your point assumes she was ever that naturally talented to begin with. Given her crazy late career progression, there is little to support that assumption, and plenty of suspicion about something else.
While its surely possible she is doping, doping alone does not take a 4:17 runner to a 3:52. Anyone who can run 3:52, with or without doping, has talent.
She ran 4:17 and 2:03 as an U23 athlete prior to Cal, then ran slower while at Cal, and is running faster now after Cal. This alone says nothing about Cal, but there is a historic pattern or performance with their distance runners.
While its surely possible she is doping, doping alone does not take a 4:17 runner to a 3:52. Anyone who can run 3:52, with or without doping, has talent.
She ran 4:17 and 2:03 as an U23 athlete prior to Cal, then ran slower while at Cal, and is running faster now after Cal. This alone says nothing about Cal, but there is a historic pattern or performance with their distance runners.
I know you're not the first person to say it so don't think I'm singling you out, and I am derailing this thread somewhat... but the idea that running faster than other people is "talent" is ridiculous to me. Talent is a matter of aptitude or skill, and there's no unique skill in running very fast.
The limiting factor isn't talent, but biomechanical efficiency with muscular and aerobic endurance. There's very little we can do to teach any of the above and there's very little that innate aptitude can do to close the gap in kind.
Almost everyone on the planet has the ability to run. With nuanced differences, everyone runs the same way and race with the same handful of tactics. Unless her tactics somehow made her run 3:52, there isn't much talent involved. Even with training, she's doing what a coach is telling her, and there's little talent involved in doing that.
What would it be like to run competitively for years and years and years, and then suddenly, out of no where, find all this ability? Ability to do other worldly things that you couldn't do at any other point in your life...you know, the life you spent competitive running.
Georgia got back into running during the pandemic after a long break and started with park runs. Now she's an Olympic medalist. She ran 3:52. That's a time Jenny Simpson never touched in her career. Nor Shannon Rowbury.
While its surely possible she is doping, doping alone does not take a 4:17 runner to a 3:52. Anyone who can run 3:52, with or without doping, has talent.
She ran 4:17 and 2:03 as an U23 athlete prior to Cal, then ran slower while at Cal, and is running faster now after Cal. This alone says nothing about Cal, but there is a historic pattern or performance with their distance runners.
I know you're not the first person to say it so don't think I'm singling you out, and I am derailing this thread somewhat... but the idea that running faster than other people is "talent" is ridiculous to me. Talent is a matter of aptitude or skill, and there's no unique skill in running very fast.
The limiting factor isn't talent, but biomechanical efficiency with muscular and aerobic endurance. There's very little we can do to teach any of the above and there's very little that innate aptitude can do to close the gap in kind.
Almost everyone on the planet has the ability to run. With nuanced differences, everyone runs the same way and race with the same handful of tactics. Unless her tactics somehow made her run 3:52, there isn't much talent involved. Even with training, she's doing what a coach is telling her, and there's little talent involved in doing that.
Aptitude: inborn potential to perform certain kinds of activities
So you think no athletes have more inborn potential/talent than anyone else, and that we are all capable of running similar times with the right training and technique. Sorry that is rediculous.