It’s honestly sad how that all went down. So unbelievably talented and then just… nothing. Never even ran at an Olympics. Often wonder what happened to his career and he doesn’t post on social media so hard to know for certain.
Theres more to the sport than the olympics. how many can say they broke several american records, were ncaa champ, World champ etc
It's not the leanness, it's the muscle composition. You don't have the 400m speed of a Brazier without a seriously high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fiber (the glycotic kind). That makes a fast 5000m impossible.
It’s funny I had nearly identical 800/mile but 47.x 400m.
I could manage 100mpw weeks in my mid-30s but no matter how hard I trained I could only run 17:00 for the 5K and 2:47 for the marathon after 5 years of distance running.
How could a 4:06 miler manage only 17 minutes for a 5k?
THat's a time a 4:30 miler could run
Yeah that makes no sense, if he slowed down that much from mile to 5k then he would've died even harder in the marathon rather than running 2:47.
A 17 minute 5k is like the first half of a sub threshold run for a 4:06 guy.
Does anyone know if Brazier has officially retired? Posted on IG today for the first time since 2022 that he’s engaged. He’s only 27 but hasn’t raced since 2022 either. Brazier retiring without announcing anything would be par for the course for this sport.
This situation kinda reminds me of Rudisha, he never really officially announced that he retired until one day we all just kinda realized he did. Sad to see.
Don't mention the TRAUMA of living through the implosion of the Oregon Project...
...the implosion of an entire generation of Nike executives who enabled Alberto's fascism and favoritism... a class action lawsuit brought against The Brand for treating women as disposable sex objects...
the lie that Nike incubates the entire sport in...
Like, how can everyone in the track world and Nike-world pretend everything was fine for Brazier and his training cohort...?
Is it possible to calculate the emotional cost of performing on the highest stage as the Brand and the Coach you were led to believe would turn you into Mo Farah suddenly becomes painted by former Nike/Oregon Project athletes and narcissists who had bizarre conflicts of interest....?
The smile on every athlete's face in Nike-land starts to appear a mask for the anxiety that hides beneath the surface of the entire sport... taboos..
Beaverton/Portland are generally toxic for a lot of the runners who get enticed by the lifetstyle. They lose perspective, go to Lake Oswego to their Sports Psyhologist, who generally doesn't even help in that regard. Since they don't even have a real job.
Some of these pros do a 'quiet retirement' as an official retirement jeopardizes some elements of their existing sponsorships and contracts. It's possible he's still under contract with Nike and can't retire until it fully lapses.
Tragic story indeed. I empathize with the young man. I hope he is at peace with his unfortunate circumstances. It would be nice to hear from him or he remain part of the sport in some way.
I know he's definitely still paying attention to the sport and hanging around in some capacity. I saw him in person at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston last month. It was from afar as he was up in what I think is the VIP balcony area. I'd love to know more about what he's been up to or has planned for the future.
The problem for many 800m runners (Nick Symmonds comes to mind), is that they can't just move up in distance like the rest of the distance runners.
For some reason, 800m runners (compared to true distance runners), have a harder time moving up to the 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon.
That said, his body-type is pretty lean, I wonder if he ever thought about running the 5000m? Though it seems like more running would be hard for someone who can't stay healthy...
I ran 1:51, 4:06 mile and consistently split low 49’s. my 5k pb is 15:44
Aerobic ability just isn’t there relative to the other stuff.
i ran 2:32:50 in the marathon 10 years later, but could only run 55 mpw max before body broke down. Like, needed months to recover if workload was too high broke down
horrible to say. it is a perfect example of a somewhat talented 400 to 800 runner who would benefit from PEDs like no other.
EPO and supplements would have caused you to not break down and aerobic level would have allowed for much better than sub 4 min mile, 48 second quarter.
that said, 151 clean and 49 seconds honest is nice to look back on.
Does anyone know if Brazier has officially retired? Posted on IG today for the first time since 2022 that he’s engaged. He’s only 27 but hasn’t raced since 2022 either. Brazier retiring without announcing anything would be par for the course for this sport.
Also, did Clayton Murphy retire?
i wonder if guys like Clayton should have went down in training style more than up with the 1500 and some 5k type training.
i mean, to stay healthy, and optimize speed and go for the 141 a bit back in the day..
an with the 8, some aerobic cross training and altitude tents - don't affect fast twitch decline, and other methods can be employed so as to minimize slow switch domination and adaptation,
some guys should NEVER look at the 1500, but the coaches just follow cookie cutter, false assumptions. this would be Andrew Wheating.
more guys should consider going DOWN not up. of course, you can look at this at age 20 or young, not after natural peak.
their training and careers may well have been more rewarding, some guys should not grind for long periods. no matter if they can man up and do it.
This man was also robbed of an Olympic Gold Medal. He was on fire in 2020 and would've likely won gold had Tokyo happened when it was supposed to. It stinks because even if everything still happened with the injury's he would now have an Olympic gold to go with his world gold and NCAA championship.
It’s funny I had nearly identical 800/mile but 47.x 400m.
I could manage 100mpw weeks in my mid-30s but no matter how hard I trained I could only run 17:00 for the 5K and 2:47 for the marathon after 5 years of distance running.
How could a 4:06 miler manage only 17 minutes for a 5k?
Does anyone know if Brazier has officially retired? Posted on IG today for the first time since 2022 that he’s engaged. He’s only 27 but hasn’t raced since 2022 either. Brazier retiring without announcing anything would be par for the course for this sport.
Hopefully he comes back but maybe not. Injuries and accidents happen. Earl Jones Olympic bronze medalist in 1984 had a career ending accident. Wishing Donovan the best
How could a 4:06 miler manage only 17 minutes for a 5k?
THat's a time a 4:30 miler could run
Yeah that makes no sense, if he slowed down that much from mile to 5k then he would've died even harder in the marathon rather than running 2:47.
A 17 minute 5k is like the first half of a sub threshold run for a 4:06 guy.
17mins is right inline with a 2:47. His anaerobic capacity(the 800m and mile times) doesn’t really help much in the 5k. That is just like the Mara tho in mainly vo2max and threshold. Marathon just had that fueling/trashed legs issues..
but man it is hard to image a sub 4:10 guy who want run 15:30…..