Why aren’t we producing new distance stars?

Ritz, Teg, Solinsky all recovering from overuse.

the main thing that's changed since the 90's is more fast 1500m runners moving up to race the 5000 (and longer), similar to Moorcroft in the 80's isn't it?

our best 1500m runners are doing the exact sort of mileage Krum did to run 3:31 in the 1990's. main thing is we have more 1:44 guys moving up to race the 1500m...sure got nothing to do with mileage.

People ignore runners with no major international medals.

Although the premise of the Op is incorrect, I would say the reason there are not more is due to the fact that kids in this country have very small attention spans and do not understand the value of hard work.

I read the OP and you are all over the place.

Wheating is a new star.

Centro is a new star.

Jock is a new star

Andrews is a new star.

Solinsky is a new star.

Rupp is really a new star because he has moved up the world list since 4 years ago

Bumbi is on the verge

Show us when the US produced new stars at a faster clip.

The emergence of Webb and Ritz?

Holman and Kennedy?

Scott and Spivey?

Wottle and Pre?

Ryun and Liquori?

You know you are a star after your 1st major medal. Jenny Barringer and Lukas Verzbickas are stars.

Agreed with everything toro said, and I would add Chris Derrick to that list. Before this year, the standard line seemed to be that he had a lot of strength, as evidenced by his cross country record, but that his potential was limited even at the 5000 due to a lack of speed. He just outkicked Lalang and Jager in a 1500 and has broken 4 or 4 equivalents in three straight races. He ran 13:19 indoors. He is a legit breakout star this year, and I would not be at all surprised if the 5000 team is Lagat, Derrick, and Bumbalough, with Rupp and Ritz doing the 10,000 only and Sol and Teg not really in the picture. That IS a huge change from years past.

My guesses:

1500: Manzano, Wheating, Centro - 2 young new stars/3

5000: Lagat, Derrick, Bumbalough/Jager - 3/4 young new stars

10,000: Ritz, Rupp, Teg/Curtis - 1 young new star

So I basically see it as 6/11 contenders being young and new. The other likely 1500 competitors are young and new, with Lomong being the oldest but not old. Torrence, Brown, etc. Solinsky is a wild card, but he only really broke loose a couple years ago.

Basically, OP, you posted a bunch of rubbish. Get excited, man. We basically have had German Fernandez not pan out and Verzbikas bail, and Solinsky/Teg get hurt. Everything else is going strong! Derrick developing at an unbelievable, consistent rate. Bumbalough quietly and consistently living up to his outrageous high school hype. Bobby Curtis sticking with it and becoming a huge 10,000 threat (if he doesn't do something boneheaded, like he did in the marathon). Centro blowing up and medaling. I mean come on.

TrackCoach wrote:

I was thinking about ...

blah, blah, blah,

I still have to ask…Why aren’t we producing new distance stars?

Learn to edit.

The post was not meant to be a negative one, I clearly stated I was optimistic and pointed out several bright spots. And, the commentary was specifically about our men, I talked about our women as a way to contrast how the top tier has changed. There are quite a few new female stars created in the last 5 years such as Alysia Johnson, Huddle, Vessey, Uceny, Erica Moore, Hastings, Simpson, Desi, CWT and Rowbury, etc., who have to a degree replaced, McGregor, Willard, Moser, Donohue, Tiffany McWilliams, Hazel Clark, Teter, Amy Begley, Rhines, Kate O’Neill, Mortimer, Russell, Lisa Galaviz, Amy Rudolph and Kastor, etc. While on men side, for most part it is still Lagat, Hall, Meb, Teg, Sol, Abdi, Ritz, Symmonds, KD, Manzano and Lomong that we talk about.

Please know that I have nothing against guys who have managed to stay on top for a while, that's a good thing. But, most of the top U.S athletes came on the scene between 2006-2009 and during that time, there were a couple of new guys popping up every year, but for the last 2 years things have stalled or in some cases like the 5k, steeple, went backwards. The only new bonafide international male star that has been added is Centro, perhaps we can also make a case for Wheating and Jock. Rupp had a great 2011, but he has actually been on the scene for several years. I know we have depth in the 2nd tier with guys like Torrence and Curtis, and lots of buns in the oven with Andrews and Derrick, etc., but what I am talking about is guys who have been and/or can be competitive in DL, WC and Olympic competitions right now

Btw, this is certainly not whining and complaining, it is a legitimate discussion point.

On a related note, I watched the 1500 video with Teg and Bumbi, and it looks like both guys had a fast time in them. Teg started way back and closed strong. Bumbi held good position but inexplicably let himself get boxed and had to swing all the way around everyone. He probably should have gotten second.

Three take-aways. Derrick looks great now, but he has stayed sharp all winter racing. He looks very, very tough and like a true racer, but will he still have it when the trials come around?

Also, great debut for Bumbi and Teg after their altitude training. This should be off of no speed work, and it looks like Bumbi, if not for his strategic gaffe, should have run 3:39 high or 3:40 low, and Teg looked strong, too.

Lastly, both Bumbalough and Teg need some strategy work. Neither positioned themselves to be in it for the W.

I blame it on metrication Americans have lost sight of how far running far is!

we got a little orphan cheserek

Bumbalough ran 13:16 over a year ago and hasn't had any interruptions in training since then. Could he dip under 13:10 this year?

Will Derrick run the 5K or 10K at Payton Jordan?

I think Bumbalough, Derrick, Teg, and Jager will all run Payton Jordan to try to get the standard in the 5000. I might be crazy, but I think, out of that group, Derrick will be first in around 13:09, with Bumbalough in 13:10, and Jager and Teg somewhere around 13:15-13:20. I would love for Jager and especially Teg to prove me wrong.

The standard in US is higher now than then or at least as high

You missed a 1500 WC gold there as well and MU topping the list for times

Junior times don't mean much especially when they are training like a pro to get those times. UK consistently does well in sprinting at junior level. In any case a lot of those junior you mentioned have continued to improve, there is always a fall off and even Hasay has continued to improve which is all you can ask for

'Teg and Ritz running incredible times in the 5K/10K'

Those times were in 2010 not 2007/9 and Lagat ran faster over 5km in 2011 than earlier

I would say American distance running has never been better

I hate you so much. F*ck you.

Will Jager become the next great American Steeplechaser?