What did we learn from the Olympics?

That's exactly my point. Our distance guys are already getting killed in the Olympics. Our World Cross team tends to field a "B" team, while the "A" teamers either complain about the long flight overseas or decide that it wouldn't be conducive to their training. That's a pussy/loser attitude. I wish more of our guys were like Tegenkamp who will mix it up with the elite Kenyans & Ethiopians. Where's Lagat, Fam, Torres? etc. (I'll give Rupp a pass since Oregon XC season has started) They should have been doing the post-Olympic meets.

Well, Lagat and Torres ran last week in Europe. Don't know about Fam though, probably making a record or designing his next hair style.

I learned that there are some great nudie pics of a french swimmer on the web. Wawaweeeewa!

"What did we learn from the Olympics?" quote

How many words does this have to be ?

I'd contend that the US did not do nearly as bad in the distance events as some would have us believe.

The 5k was obviously disappointing, but we still had 2 men in the finals, and they did okay (considering Lagat's infection)

The 10k wasn't too bad. Rupp and Abdi raced reasonably well. Abdi wasn't completely on his A-game, but it wasn't a disaster either.

The marathon was actually pretty good. With all due respect to Hall, he wasn't going to run 2:06 in Beijing. Again, not his A-game, but not a disaster. Ritz did great, and Sell did decent too.

Now, if you want to talk DISASTER, let's examine the middle distances:

800m: ZERO finalists. In fact, only ONE semifinalist. "Shoulda sent KD..."

1500m: ZERO finalists. Lagat, Manzano, and Lomong all looked awful in the semis. Lomong and Manzano got last in their respective heats, and the defending world champion, who looked confident, snappy, and invincible at the trials, didn't advance to the finals.

3000m ST: ONE finalist. To be fair to Fam, he had a GREAT 2k steeple! Unfortunately, he managed to go from first to second-to-last between 2000m and 2100m. Ouch.

As far as the sprints: With the notable exception of Tyson Gay, as well as the 4x100m relay, the US did very well. 400m/400mIH sweep, plus Mr. Consistency (Walter Dix) in the 100m and 200m.

- That it is possible for athletes from countries at war, to shake hands in the name of greater common values than those of conflict

- That sport offers individuals some golden opportunities, and despite all the controversy, Man can still beat the odds to win

- That speed veterans fumbling a handover, could have been beaten by school children who practice diligently

- That getting to the starting line of a final is still just as prestigious as winning a medal

- That a kick in the face is no way to settle a dispute with an official

- That in swimming, reaching the finish faster does not automatically translate in a win

- That having fun has to be the best way to celebrate being the fastest man in the world

- That - it is most unfortunate - we live in a time that after a great performance, on land or water, wherever, you have to hope that doping was not involved

Yet we still won more overall medals as well as gold medals than any other country--therefore we are once again the track and field power of the world.

That all those posters who have been predicting an army of doped-up Chinese athletes to appear from nowhere and dominate track and field, were wrong. Those that thought that non-Chinese athletes in the women's marathon would be attacked by the crowd were wrong too.

sUnDaY sAtCh- early wrote:

US male field event athletes are a joke. if it werent for black athletes the US would not have a track team.

........and if it weren't for white athletes we wouldn't have a gymnastics team, and equestrian team, a volleyball team, a swim team, a ski team, a diving team, or a hockey team.

We learned that Track and Field in the US is in the crapper....and that USA Swimming has done a great job of preparing their athletes for the Olympics.

Quit complaining and DO something if you are pissed off. Join USA Track and Field.....be involved. If you just sit on the sidelines and do nothing...you are no better than the people who complain and do not vote in NOvember.

i really did not want this to be a race baiting thread.

What I took away from the Games was this..

The US is just not ready for prime time. Despite all the talk of a new "running revolution" we are still miles behind the East African countries. We just are not ready to compete at that level.

Also, I wonder of the US trials system needs tweaking. I can't help but think that maybe there were some folks left behind that could have fared better.

Personally I think we need to take the "crawl before you walk" approach and worry about developing the sport at the local, and national level before we even start to think about running against the world.

We need to make the National Championships a big deal. We need more post-collegiate farm teams, maybe even some type of regionally based series of team competitions to gain more interest in the sport (ex. Nike South vs Adidas North, etc..) Something that creates more interest and draws people to T&F.

Even if it's a goofy idea, it's got to be better than what's happening now.

nokaman wrote:

That's exactly my point. Our distance guys are already getting killed in the Olympics. Our World Cross team tends to field a "B" team, while the "A" teamers either complain about the long flight overseas or decide that it wouldn't be conducive to their training. .

That is because our "A" teamers will get creamed almost as badly as our "B" teamers. Our "A" team is Kenya's "D" team.

I DUN B 71 by next Olympics , but old Satch will try out and win long jump and hammer throw- will that help USA track?

nokaman wrote:

That's exactly my point. Our distance guys are already getting killed in the Olympics. Our World Cross team tends to field a "B" team, while the "A" teamers either complain about the long flight overseas or decide that it wouldn't be conducive to their training. That's a pussy/loser attitude. I wish more of our guys were like Tegenkamp who will mix it up with the elite Kenyans & Ethiopians. Where's Lagat, Fam, Torres? etc. (I'll give Rupp a pass since Oregon XC season has started) They should have been doing the post-Olympic meets.

You have a good point , even if they get creamed they'd still get to see first hand just what it takes to be "the best".You can learn a lot from losing and it would also give the African athletes another look , otherwise they"ll think that "western" athletes are scared of them and that gives a HUGE psychological advantage.

its obvious god hates jamaica wrote:

sUnDaY sAtCh- early wrote:

US male field event athletes are a joke. if it werent for black athletes the US would not have a track team.

1 White male won more Golds than the entire U.S Track and Field team, male AND female combined.

Only 2.5 Black men won individual medals in T&F.

Your own racial pride has gone to your head, and then some. I feel sorry for you. But I also feel sorry for society for having to deal in someway with your lower IQ and utility than the mean.

If it wasn't for other, stronger, smarter people you and your ilk would be chasing gazelles right now and giving each other aids and also mutilating your daughter's feminine parts.

Well, well, well! What have we here? A fat, white trash bloke from the south posting on Letsrun. At least you´re showing an impressive ability to simultanuosly type on a computer, eat potatoe chips, drink beer and watch old episodes of "The Jerry Springer show" on your video recorder.

Personally I learned that if I want coverage from NBC, I am better off dying my hair purple than breaking the American record.

Late2theGame wrote:

That we are still far far behind the east Africans when it comes to distance running.

That the rest of the world has caught up to us in the sprints.

That US T&F is in a terrible state.

obvious pointerouter wrote:

That all those posters who have been predicting an army of doped-up Chinese athletes to appear from nowhere and dominate track and field, were wrong. Those that thought that non-Chinese athletes in the women's marathon would be attacked by the crowd were wrong too.

The reason why there isn't "an army of doped-up Chinese athletes to appear from nowhere and dominate track and field" is because it's not as easy for countries who have/had "state-sanctioned doping" to get away with it (look at the russian distance runners!)anymore.Also if Chinese athletes were found to be doping on a large scale it would be a huge blemish on the Olympics and ruin China's reputation.The days of "maggot-eating" Wang Junxia who sat "3 world records in 3 days" are over.

And were there honestly people who thought that non-chinese athletes would be attacked?

idiot alert wrote:

Well, well, well! What have we here? A fat, white trash bloke from the south posting on Letsrun. At least you´re showing an impressive ability to simultanuosly type on a computer, eat potatoe chips, drink beer and watch old episodes of "The Jerry Springer show" on your video recorder.

Don't worry about this loser he's already been checked numerous times in this thread , why people with these "opinions" bother to even post is beyond me.

Lol I was talking about "its obvious god hates jamaica" in the previous post it's a bit unclear lol.