Where is Verzbicas' class?

You are so full of shit that you should not be allowed to post on this board without it being understood. They do understand.

Walking across the line as a tri-guy, was the first thing I thought of watching the finsh. He was looking back so much so that he made sure he could do the tri finish.

Calm down buddy

Bekele looks behind him ALWAYS during his last lap sprints and he does it many many times (watch the World Championships) and slows down at the end a lot to celebrate

Bolt celebrates early not even "running through the line" like Cuffe at Beijing

Kiprop crosses himself winning both Pre miles

Wanjiru waves to the crowd and points both chicago marathons and doesn't run through the line

Where were you during all those things? Why don't you make a Bolt thread making fun of his class?

Or you could accept it's a part of the sport. Either one

007run wrote:

Dude, if I were in high school and just did what he did, I might show my ass to the world.

ROTFL at the thought of a guy winning by a large chunk, then stopping a few steps past the line, pulling his shorts down around his thighs, bending over and wiggling his bare ass at the rest of the field to taunt them, then pulling his shorts back up and jogging off while smiling and waving to the crowd like nothing happened. The reaction of all the spectators and officials would be unforgettable.

Slowing down or waving to the crowd while still running is a bit different from walking in to the finish. But I guess a long is it is not Rupp it is ok.

There's a difference between slowing down and jogging it in, and walking across the finish line.

But, he coulda been like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSpPaCIG0g

That last video is brilliant. But back to the original point, Lukas was fine. He looked over his shoulder, slowed down, grabbed the finishing tape, big deal. If he hammered for a record time and blew up, you'd all be railing him for not slowing down. Give the kid a break, in the heat of the moment, we all do things that are not premeditated, and can be construed in different ways, depending on your biases.

1-This is a normal thing to do during Tri-Races

2-Tri-athletes are stereotypically the most self absorbed athletes

3-who cares? kid is a jr/sr in HS; i'm sure everyone of us has thought about things we have done when we were that young and been embarrassed of our own immaturity. it's not a big deal

4-none of his competition was close enough to even see it

Honestly... that video might be the single funniest thing I have ever seen posted on this site!

Bravo!

Looking back is a pretty professional move in my opinion. Walking across the line when you are going for the win and have it well in hand is a professional move. Rather than kicking super hard with the race in hand and then stumbling off into a corner and not being able to train effectively the next day, he's probably going to be ready to train hard sooner.

2/10

I think all points associated with picking on people should be super low when they are about kids in HS.

If any of the runners behind LV thought he was disrespecting them, the OP might have a point. Unfortunately for the OP, none of them will complain because they aren't total pansies. Thus, the OP is an extra total pansy for whining on their behalf. Plus, the OP gets extra douche points for slamming a HS kid that every non-xenophobic American distance fan appreciates.

Long story short, for your bad behavior, Santa told me that he is going to leave you a lump of coal and jerk off into your eggnog. Merry Christmas.

A few points for you AN -

1) if the above is how you truly feel, then you must have absolutely HATED Ryan Hall's finishes at Houston 1/2 and Olympic Trials marathon. They were antithesis to what you describe as your preferred style of finishing. Correct?

2) "individuals who seem rather uncomfortable with or ambivalent about competition and the adulation that often accompanies competitive success" ?? I think you are describing few, if any, competitive athletes that have ever lived. Yes, someone like Ritz is not a showboater, nor particularly extroverted, which is what you seem to partly like him about. But he is CERTAINLY NOT "rather uncomfortable with nor ambivalent about competition," nor I doubt even about the "adulation" that success brings. Guys like him absolutely thrive off of and LOVE competition, and have a huge drive to beat the other guy. This is of course what makes them great. Just because they aren't overtly cocky about winning doesn't mean they have any shred of ambivalence about competition. They live for it.

3) I would also add that while you may feel an attraction to the type of mythical (in my mind) athlete you describe, I doubt your description of such an athlete even remotely describes you. A athlete who truly didn't care much for competition would.....NOT COMPETE! It's very easy to do. One can train as much as they want, not ever race, and not even tell others how fast or far they run in training. This is easy to do for one who truly has some revulsion concerning others praising their achievements or some ambivalence about competing vs others. But did you follow this path? Not hardly! It seems you entered many competitions, did quite well, and I am sure were very proud over you achievements. I haven't see you be too shy about proclaiming your pr's, and then even go so far as to state " I could have done even better, if this that or the other thing panned out." Now that is a sure sign of the true competitor: always thinking about how they might have improved, always measuring oneself against others, and letting others know how well they did or might have done.

I am not picking on you, but this, as you I am sure you can tell by now, is a pet peeve of mine: people who claim to be non-competitive, yet spend incredible amounts of time at trying to be good at something, who are fully aware of where their performances stack up against others, and who regularly enter competitions to test themselves. This the definition of a "competitor!" I don't want my athletes to be cocky assholes, but I prefer people and athletes who wear their competitiveness honestly, and "on their sleeves" to ones who try to pretend they are something that they are not. I prefer someone like Geb or Bekele, who are not showboaters or arrogant in any way, but who fully acknowledge that the point of all their efforts it to beat the other guy, and become "great." They are 100% competitors.

Each and everyone of us is competitive, and has a "will to power" ingrained in us that is expressed in different ways. Everyone you or I post something here, there is aspect of competitiveness to it: we are trying to ourselves or others how smart, or thoughtful, or even nice or moderate we can be. This is just reality. Sure, there are people that are obsessively competitive and it can be a sickness if taken too far. But virtually every single one of us has at least a bit of this "disease."

XC is over wrote:

Walking across the line as a tri-guy, was the first thing I thought of watching the finsh. He was looking back so much so that he made sure he could do the tri finish.

The following, while not running, is the ultimate I've ever seen in having a huge lead and wanting to celebrate at the finish. Northug is deservedly enjoying his celebrity. Could have won by a minute but he doesn't care about that, and after a long celebration, steps across the line just before the next skier.

BTW - would be great if there's a video showing LV's finish we could watch, for those who missed it.

I think Lukas should have whipped out his junk and yelled "Gobble, Gobble, M-Fers" as he crossed the line. Maybe he was a week or two late for that, though.

Hi, Sir Lance-alot.

I'm surprised to get this response from you, since I think that we tend to agree on a lot of matters. Perhaps, as you suggest, we all have our pet peeves, and this subject has touched upon one of yours. But I'll answer each of your points.

1. I don't recall Ryan Hall's finish in Houston, and I'm reluctant to comment specifically about his finish at the 2007 Olympic trials. Hall seems like a very decent person to me. As I said, differences on the subject of celebratory finishes may simply reflect differences in personality types. That doesn't mean anyone is better or worse than anyone else.

2. I do not have a similar reluctance in saying that you're absolutely wrong in your belief that few, if any, competitive athletes are uncomfortable with or ambivalent about competition and the adulation that often accompanies competitive success. I can't speak for Ritz; I don't know him, and I haven't even read much that he's ever said about competition or anything else. But there are many, many athletes -- as well as many, many individuals in other fields in which competition is central -- who are extremely uncomfortable with or ambivalent about competition and adulation from competitive success. That doesn't necessarily mean that such individuals avoid competition, or that they dislike competitive activities, or that they're unsuccessful in competition. But competition, insofar as it involves aspects of defeating or dominating others, can often appear to operate at cross-currents or cross-purposes with other psychological or social needs and desires like cooperation, love, affection, acceptance, and community, creating a great deal of ambivalence, which can be complicated still further when it is unclear whether love and acceptance (for example) are more or less likely when one is successful in competition. And discomfort about adulation is hardly uncommon; adulation about competitive success can evoke tremendous feelings of guilt and shame, and can also remind one of the seemingly contingent nature of love, affection, and acceptance.

If you don't feel the kind of ambivalence or discomfort that I've mentioned, that's not necessarily bad. In fact, I can imagine why it would be healthy and highly advantageous. But you should be extremely hesitant in concluding that everyone else feels the same way, and that those who profess to feel otherwise are simply "pretend[ing] they are something they are not." In fact, since the subject seems to be very important to you, you might want to explore it in more depth. I'm willing to bet that you can find some really good books and articles on the subject. You're obviously a bright person, and I suspect that you're open-minded enough to reconsider your views if provided with new information or alternative ways of looking at things.

what is wrong with looking at your lead? it is a bad habit in running because it causes you to go a little slower, and he recognizes that but there is nothing cocky or obnoxious about looking back. No matter what place you are in and by what margin most runners look back because it is comforting. One of the few races this year where the leader didnt look back was freshman sarah baxter in her state race, that shows true confidence. Lukas had a ton of pressure on him to win, and the only way for him to know where he was was to look back.

Also, at first when i watched the race i thought that his finish was annoying, but then it grew on me. He has not been able to celebrate any of his races because he was either dissapointed (state, missing virgin's record) or had another race to train for, even after winning a national title! This race was the culmination of his high school career and the first time he has celebrated, let him have it. He has worked so hard and one can only imagine the relief he felt when he knew he had the win, can you imagine if he didn't win? the critics would have been all over him. He always says that so many people put pressure on him (not neccessarily negative) and that he doesnt want to dissapoint them and I believe that is genuinely true. Coming down that homestretch he knew that he would not dissapoint and he finally enjoyed a moment for himself, all worries were gone.

Verzibicas walked across the line? What an idiot.

armstrong wrote:

In my opinion .