CURTIS BEACH... That was cool man!

I was hoping too! Both guys were helping esp Detmer that crucial 3rd lap. He saved the day for Eaton completely dropping back!

Eaton might need to take a look at the video on that one

Acknowledgement wrote:Awesome comprehension to say that the Olympic spots had already been decided, though. Nice work on that.

which part of only eaton and hardee having the A do you not understand? it didn't matter who was 3rd -- he didn't have the A and wasn't getting it today. nice work on that yourself.

Did you not see him run the first 1300m by himself? Awesome move by those two letting him come across first, but Eaton ran that time on his own.

buffet rule not wrote:

which part of only eaton and hardee having the A do you not understand? it didn't matter who was 3rd -- he didn't have the A and wasn't getting it today. nice work on that yourself.

I was being just a tad sarcastic about Yanqui feeling the need to pontificate about the USATF Olympic qualifying rules, while having no clue about the places, which matter with pride (these are decathletes we're talking about, they are are a different breed) and money. Too subtle for some people to get, obviously. My bad.

Double Dog wrote:

Does anyone think that Steve Prefontaine would have ever given up in a race like Beach did today?

Does anyone think that Steve Prefontaine is basically God so that all one must do in order to know what is the right thing to do is to ask, "What would Steve Prefontaine do?"

You people crack me up.

Just guessing, but from the fact that Beach PASSED his third throw in the jav, he might have had pace-setting duties in mind even then. Those who don't think this was a class act really don't understand the multis.

Double Dog wrote:

I agree with you. How exactly is intentionally slowing down to let another runner beat him classy? Beach should go as hard as he could every time he steps onto the track. If I were him, I would have gone after the decathlon 1500m record which he was close to at last year's NCAA meet.

Does anyone think that Steve Prefontaine would have ever given up in a race like Beach did today?

Beach didn't have to do that. No one expected him to do that. He chose to do that to let Eaton and the crowd fully enjoy the moment. Very classy move. Lots of maturity to think ahead selflessly to do that.

Just wanted to throw in that I think it was an awesome move by Beach so Ashton could cross the line in first!!

I'm not expert, but because this board has mostly distance guys I think it needs to be explained how the dec works.

Coming into the 1500m it was absolutely certain that Beach would not be going to the Olympics. In the dec it doesn't matter if you win an event or not. Technically a guy can win no events and still win the entire thing just as long as he did pretty good in every event. Because the dec is so long, many times athletes will just performance as good as they need to in order to get points, rather than going balls out in every event.

And lets put this in context. Eaton was setting a WORLD RECORD. If beach would have just ran that race an ran a pretty good time no one would remember him. He could tell his buddies he was in the race where Eaton set a WR. But now because he did what he did, Beach will always have a little fame as the guy who was about to crush Eaton in the 1500m but instead slowed and encouraged Eaton and let the crowd get into it.

I hate it when athletes slow up at the line, even if they are killing the comp. I think athletes should race 5 feet past the line. BUT this was a VERY special case and what Beach did was very cool...and this is coming from a guy who things Beach is kinda lame

original poster wrote:

...and this is coming from a guy who things Beach is kinda lame

The rest of your post was fantasitic and right on the money. I'm not sure why he can sometimes come across as "lame," but Curtis is the real deal. Regardless of what he accomplishes in track, he'll be highly successful and I see him as a truly great individual. VERY genuine in my opinion.

I didn't get to see this until late tonight on a replay.

I absolutely loved what CB did. It reflects the brotherhood of the event and respect for a brilliant performance.

The traditional group victory lap is truly one of the finest moments in sports.

another coach wrote:

original poster wrote:

...and this is coming from a guy who things Beach is kinda lame

The rest of your post was fantasitic and right on the money. I'm not sure why he can sometimes come across as "lame," but Curtis is the real deal. Regardless of what he accomplishes in track, he'll be highly successful and I see him as a truly great individual. VERY genuine in my opinion.

Well you're right. I guess he isn't lame. He has done some cool stuff and is fun because he isn't the traditional dec guy. So I take that back. Maybe I am just frustrated because he is bad to the bone at the 800m and some of the sprints but can't get the throws done.

He seems like a genuine dude so I take back my lame statement. He has said interviews that he does the dec because he loves it, so I appreciate that.

I guess Beach isn't lame, but it is irritating that the distance guys on here say how he is the best dec guy because he kills it in the running events. I think he deserves a lot of praise...but he has a lot of improvement to go. I am not sure of his exact place today, but there were a handful of guys that beat him yet they will not get any love.

plus this way Beach gets a better finishing picture of himself on the cover of TFN etc.

the clarifier wrote:

I didn't get to see this until late tonight on a replay.

I absolutely loved what CB did. It reflects the brotherhood of the event and respect for a brilliant performance.

The traditional group victory lap is truly one of the finest moments in sports.

Spot-on. Eaton's WR was celebrated by everyone in the field. Love the Dec.

Kudos to Curtis Beach.

Kudos also to NBC for staying with all that. They usally try to invent stories and it fails GOD awaful.. But this was the real deal!

Haha, YO (super cereal) wrote:

How on earth do you fan boys view this as "cool?" Do you think Eaton would have slowed and let another athlete beat him in ANY circumstance???

NO. That is why Beach will never get to Eatons level. I guarantee you Clay or Hardee would have been fighting all the way through to beat Eaton. Slowing down and letting Eaton win did absolutely nothing for Beach except reenforce the fact that Eaton is heads above him.

Why Curtis, why??

Kind of agree. Don't see how Beach's move in anyway helped Eaton

Don't get why you where hating on beach so much! I loved what he did! Not only did he cheer on Eaton but he celebrated like he had gotten the record when he crossed the line. Obviously a huge fan of the sport and American Track & Field...

I think you forget these are teammates. If he stopped and helped out a China Man or something it would be a lot different!

Hats off for Curtis Beach!! Classy guy! Hope he makes the team in 4 years! he is still very young!

I missed it. Is there video posted anywhere?

Classy gesture by someone who obviously had their heart in the right place. You can argue that it wasn't the correct thing for a competitor to do, but it should in no way be seen as a bad thing that he did.