How can you say Zabo and not Sonya? Zabo is/was nothing but a dirty filthy cheat.
TrackCoach wrote:
Probably Greta or Radcliff, most people know them for their marathons, but they both were successful in XC and on the track as well. The Ethiopens ladies are close, but they have only had a 6 year career. Also, check out Gaberiella Zabo's career.
Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:
I'd go with Grete, but it's interesting how close her 3000 time is to Dibaba's, but her 5000 time is barely on the same lap.
The women's 5,000 was less frequently run back when Grete was running on the track, while the 3,000 was a very common distance race for women at that time. So I simply think Grete never really focused on the 5,000 or had that many opportunities to run it quickly.
Grete's 1500 and 3k times would still be considered very good today, some 30+ years later.
Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote:I'd go with Grete, but it's interesting how close her 3000 time is to Dibaba's, but her 5000 time is barely on the same lap.
diby was possibly in 8'10/8'12 shape, day of her 5k wr
the actual nearness of their 3ks is akin to that of hicham having a 1'47pb, obviously close to a decent ncaa'er...
There are several women's WR that won't be broken as long as all of us live. That being:
800m: Jarmila Kratochvílová
1500m: Qu Yunxia
10000m: Wang Junxia
And, depending on the ruling of IAAF, the Marathon: Paula Radcliffe
Grete Waitz was great, but she was lucky to run at a time with few competition. Sonja OS was great but 5s slower than Yunxia. That's an eternity in the 1500.
I can't believe with what kind of bullshit names the LR community is coming up here.
Nutella1 wrote:Sonja OS was great but 5s slower than Yunxia. That's an eternity in the 1500
nearer 8s
Its a quandry to try to rank all time women distance running. The times of Wang in the 10,000 and Radcliffe in the marathon are in a different league, but where are the gold medals?
Their are few examples of dominators with the women. It changes every 3 years. Drugs are a big question mark since they have always had monumental influence in womens running going back to the 1970's.
I would have to say Grete Waitz could have been a Geb or Zatopek type figure if they had the 5000 and 10000 and Marathon for women in her peak.
I'll go with Grete as the greatest female distance runner.
It is often argued on letsrun that a gold medal is forever while a WR is temporary. This is tue for the men and therefore I admit that I understand this thinking.
In women's however, this is the other way around. WRs are forever 800, 1500, 10000, M) while gold medals come every four years.
Paula is mad she never won gold NOW but in 50 years when she is n old lady she will till have the WR. But no one will remember who won gold in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Nutella1 wrote:
It is often argued on letsrun that a gold medal is forever while a WR is temporary. This is tue for the men and therefore I admit that I understand this thinking.
In women's however, this is the other way around. WRs are forever 800, 1500, 10000, M) while gold medals come every four years.
Paula is mad she never won gold NOW but in 50 years when she is n old lady she will till have the WR. But no one will remember who won gold in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Good point. She would fit in an argument with men then that Daniel Komen, Ron Clarke, or Henry Rono are the greatest mens distance runners of all time.
Paula Radcliffe has been along for a long time and shattered barriers. If she couldn't finish an Olympic or WOrld Champs 10,000 in 58 for the win, or nail a once every 4 years marathon on the day, should that count against her career as "best ever". I think it does.
Nutella1 wrote:in 50 years when she is n old lady she will till have the WR. But no one will remember who won gold in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
bull
that ruskie already down to low-2"18
10y at best
Tatyana Samolenko.
2:15 Enough Said.
Joanie, Paula, or Grete OR Trason depending on how you look at it.
Olizarenko
American - no doubt, Joan Benoit
World - Gotta be Greta. Who else won a world marathon 9x?
paula for sure. no contest.
2:15. Most american men can't run that. Her 2:15 is worth more than all those other wins, medals and records from other gals combined. 2:15. My God. Unless some chick ran sub 29 or a 1:04 half and I missed it.....
ventolin^3 wrote:
bull
that ruskie already down to low-2"18
10y at best
You have no clue. 2:15 is by far the most superior record in all of T&F. Even Bubkas WR will go down before.
2:15 is on one level with a 1:04 Half, a sub 29min 10000 and a sub14 5000.
In terms of the 4 ladies that I mentioned, only one can ever be challenged and that is the 10000. Everything else is safe for a long long time.
Nutella1 wrote:
ventolin^3 wrote:bull
that ruskie already down to low-2"18
10y at best
You have no clue. 2:15 is by far the most superior record in all of T&F. Even Bubkas WR will go down before.
2:15 is on one level with a 1:04 Half, a sub 29min 10000 and a sub14 5000.
In terms of the 4 ladies that I mentioned, only one can ever be challenged and that is the 10000. Everything else is safe for a long long time.
Actually, in percentage terms, Jan Zelezny's javelin world record is far and away the best. Here's a link to a cool article in the WSJ about it:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904875404576532901537859070.htmlMake sure you click on the graph, it's really pretty cool, even if you disagree with it somehow.
Derartu Tulu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derartu_Tulu
The WSJ graphics uses no1 vs. no2 all time performance as measure. Says a lot but not necessarily how easy one record is to break.
Another way of looking at it is how close anyone came within the last ten years. Well, for Paulas M that's going to be the same.
Anyway, whichever way you look at it, the 4 ladies named by me are top of the list.
Now of course you can argue that 3 of them were dirty (or even all 4) but unless tested positive...