Anyone else totally disgusted by Dathan Ritzenhein's comments about world cross country?

Yep, I got that now. I've reported the thread, should be gone momentarily.

Its all about the nice pay day.

Run XC for USA and food & gas money vs the $40,000 grand + he'll probably get for NYC???

F*ck USA and all other forms of archaic nationalism.

That's what we are talking about isn't it? Someone got their panties in a bunch because someone else doesn't want to represent the empire for beans.

This situation is the end result but the problem arises much sooner. They have a show called 'The Amazing Race' on TV. I never watch it. I tell my friends who do that there already is an amazing race, World Cross Country Champs. It should be prime time on TV. Instead, there are cooking shows and poker, reality tv etc. World XC deserves much more exposure. This would 'make it worth it' for guys like Ritz. Joe Blow doesn't understand that top 20 in a stacked World Cross field is amazing.

Selfishly, I'd love to see Ritz run World Cross. I love cross country and would love to see the "miracle on dirt" give the Kenyans and Ethiopians a run.

However, the fact is Dathan is a professional athlete in a sport where the total earning period (even for the best runners) is only about 15-20 years. If I knew I'd only earn money for that length of time I'd certainly make some different decisions motivated by finances.

It's a difficult balance between maximizing earnings, developing as a runner, choosing the national events. I don't begrudge any professional's decisions.

Odds on wrote:

Ritz didn't say that.

My apologies to Dathan. The OP used quotes so I made an assumption without reading carefully.

It's completely misleading and should be deleted.

I understand his motives - better payoff at NY than World XC, but like others, just wish he'd state the obvious. World XC has become more and more irrelevant over the years because the top non-Africans have stopped competing in World XC. World Cross used to be a widely popular event - big crowds and televised around the world (even occasionally in the U.S.). Europeans and Americans got tired of seeing nothing but Kenyans and Ethiopians taking the top 10+ places. Unfortunately, it appears that even the Africans are becoming less interested in World Cross.

I wonder how much (appearance fees/prize money) a guy like Ritz could make each winter running cross meets in Europe?

It is totally unfair to take the interview out of context and put words in Ritz's mouth. You are no better than one of the other haters on here who are jealous of the success of the Nike Oregon Project. This is very misleading. After reading the entire interview, it is very clear to me that Ritz is more focused on what gives him the best chance to succeed.

Sleeping just fine in Seattle wrote:

This is another simple situation.

THE NYRR ARE GOOD FOR THEMSELVES AND BAD FOR OUR SPORT.

They have money and will always over pay for athletes in an attempt to keep them from developing as an athlete. The NYRR are smart enough to know that athletes/agents are gready. Offer people enough money and they will do ANYTHING.

Which is just dumb. If there was less money for American runners, there would just be fewer good American runners because they would decide it was time to "grow up" and get a "real job" to support their families instead of running for peanuts. It would not result in more talented American runners going to what are now secondary events like international XC.

On top of which, the US is actually sending a very decent team to world XC, although Ritz would give the team more depth.

LetsRun.com Editor's note: Please understand the quote below is an altered version of a quote that we used for our Quote of the Day today. Dathan Ritzenhein only said the part of the quote that isn't in bold. The stuff in bold was added by the original poster to make a point. You can see Dathan's unaltered, original quote here: http://www.letsrun.com/2013/homepage0228.php Did you guys see the QOD today? If not, check it out below.I've added in a few things in bold to clarify what he was really trying to say. I think the initial statement slightly missed a few things as he may have been talking kind of fast and the reporter probably had trouble writing it all down.

He decided to run a higher profile event that will pay him more. Seems reasonable to me.

life is live na naaa na na na wrote:

Yep, I got that now. I've reported the thread, should be gone momentarily.

The original poster was pretty clear about what he was doing but if you came to the thread from the messageboard directly and not the Homepage without seeing the actual quote of the day, we understand how you might be confused. Thus we have put up a clarification which appears before the first post. It reads:

LetsRun.com Editor's note: Please understand the quote below is an altered version of a quote that we used for our Quote of the Day today. Dathan Ritzenhein only said the part of the quote that isn't in bold. The stuff in bold was added by the original poster to make a point. You can see Dathan's unaltered, original quote here:

Ritz is pretty clear as to what his goals are for 2013, a sub-27:00 for 10,000 and good fall marathon. The NYC Half, in NYC, makes more sense to him than going to Poland.

There won't even be any World Cross Country Championships in five years.

You know, between track and roads and cross country, the calendar's pretty crowded, and people have to make choices. And about travel, too, especially for a father of two small ones. Maybe we likes the idea of racing 13.1 miles in NYC against Wilson Kipsang. Yeah, he's coming, someone let it slip.

life is live na naaa na na na wrote:

If the OP added the words in bold as opposed to just adding the emphasis, then the OP is a despicable retard and this thread should be deleted immediately.

If you didn't realise that the OP added his own comments then you're mentally challenged mind shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the internet.

And if it offends you that much then you've just got another problem to add to the fact that you're an intellectual midget. Take you're faux outrage elsewhere.

I dislike Ritz now because of these idiotic comments. World XC is the toughest race there is - definitely not insignificant. Plus they host the race in such exotic places instead of the pavement jungles like NYC.

He has turned into a true professional runner - putting his needs above the sport's needs. I truly hope he never breaks 27 minutes.

Why do you suppose World Cross Country became a biennial event?

WHO CARES...Dathan never had a chance of medaling at World XC this year. In fact he wasn't even the best we had on the day of the World XC trials; however, he should have been honest and simply stated he wanted to run a 1/2 marathon.

The garbage about it not be exciting is pure trash and he have a right to pick what race he wants but the excuse/lieing wasn't neccessary. Let him run the 1/2 marathon where he could probably run a personal best, instead of going to Worlds in which he would be hard pressed to place TOP 25!

Racists are us. wrote:He has turned into a true professional runner - putting his needs above the sport's needs. I truly hope he never breaks 27 minutes.

Yeah, I'm sure you always make your life plans based on "the sport's needs" instead of your own needs.

I hope you also hate every football, baseball, and basketball player who makes decisions based on their own needs instead of "the sport's needs."

lukaku wrote:

And if it offends you that much then you've just got another problem to add to the fact that you're an intellectual midget. Take you're faux outrage elsewhere.

Oh OK, Mr. intellectual giant. And while I'm at it, perhaps I'll update everything I've learned about the meaning of you're vs. your.

Dum\bfu\ck!

Disgusted!

...for now, perhaps in time, when all things are considered, I might think differently. - This is coming from a big Ritz's fan.

Btw, I understand the argument for having to earn a living and WC losing some of its high profile, etc., but like most fans, I thought Ritz was a purest. Unfortunately for Ritz, he has put a dent in a legacy that was in a way like Pre, in that it exceeded his actual accomplishments as a world class athlete. With that said, I appreciate his honesty.

With out a doubt, the biggest disconnect between fans and U.S. elite distance runners is the way we view World Cross.