Salazar says Cain is too "Precious" to risk injuring her.

What's the trade off for Salazar? "I'm the coach whose athlete medaled in Poland" versus "I'm the coach who permanently injured Mary Cain." It's a no-brainer, especially when he reflects on Mary Decker's early career (as I'm sure he does). Don't expect MC to start taking risks until she fully owns her own career. And that will be some time after the 2016 Olympics at least.

It seems prudent to err on the side of caution with Mary. However, this is more odd behavior from NOP. Salazar was not interested in being cautious a month ago with post race workouts and a pretty rigorous racing schedule. If she has a little soreness, it seems NOP would have the treatment resources at their disposal to have her ready and healthy for Worlds. Either way, I wish Mary the best for a long, successful career.

waste of time efforts wrote:What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

Old School Rules wrote:

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

Nolan and Seaver were exceptions.

Salazar is doing the same thing he has always done with Rupp and his other runners.

Rupp has repeatedly been pulled from races at the last minute because the race wasn't Rupp-certified.

Then there was the nonsense with "the Chase" last summer with Hasay and Erdmann supposedly running at one race, then another race, and then another race because Salazar wanted the conditions to be perfect.

There was NOP pulling out of Club XC this year because they thought the course was "risky."

This is one of Salazar's quirks as a coach - pulling runners if conditions aren't perfect and there's any risk of injury. It's annoying and kind of ridiculous but you have to admit that it has worked with Galen to keep him uninjured and steadily progressing.

This is about testing. Different WADA labs in Europe and different protocols. They have USADA covered not because they're corrupt, but because they have people on the inside telling them the details of how to pass tests. Salazar has said before that they'll never test positive and he's right.

For all of you talking about how a 17yo not being on drugs, how old do you think Johnny Manziel was when he started taking HGH? 12-14??? Look up when did Lionel Messi start. MC is an unbelievable runner, but became even more unbelievable in only a few months of training with Salazar. And now a "discomfort" has her pull out of Worlds with a medal on the line? Give me a break.

This is Lance all over again. The signs are all there.

Old School Rules wrote:

waste of time efforts wrote:What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

remember that in the good old days of track you are thinking about...careers were over at age 25. College, one OG and out was the general rule.

Now these athletes are spending 20 years as pros - they don't have to grab at the next ring because their time was running out...these pros will be around for the next one. And the one after that. And the best way to get to the next ring is to stay healthy, not force their way through pain, jeapardizing their career.

Old School Rules wrote:

waste of time efforts wrote:What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

True, to an extent. However, this is what $$$ does to sport. The more money-making potential an athlete has, the more their handlers are going to be cautious with them. The kids today seem like pussies because there is more on the line. It's not just a race. It's a business. Making a minor injury worse by over-training/over-racing doesn't just mean you miss races. It means you lose $$$. Potentially, a lot of it if you're a Mary Cain caliber athlete.

Even in college, you don't want to risk injuring your top runners if they have the potential to go pro someday. It's not about the upcoming race anymore. It's about your financial future. The more pro/Olympic athletes you develop, and the more titles you win, the better your funding, recruiting, job security, etc.

Old School Rules wrote:

waste of time efforts wrote:What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

And the vast majority of those tough guys from the good old days wouldn't even be professionals if they had to compete against these modern "wusses." Better injury prevention and periodization leads to superior performance and longer, more productive careers.

Does anyone else get the feeling that her "soreness" is being downplayed to avoid bad publicity? Could it be something more serious, but Salazar doesn't want anyone to know or else everyone will be like, "I was just waiting for her to be injured, overtrained by Salazar, etc. etc"?

Old School Rules wrote:

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

Remember when Chris Solinsky was considered indestructible back in 2010?

Even in college, you don't want to risk injuring your top runners if they have the potential to go pro someday. It's not about the upcoming race anymore. It's about your financial future. The more pro/Olympic athletes you develop, and the more titles you win, the better your funding, recruiting, job security, etc.

^This. End of conversation.

agip wrote:

please. There will be 50,000 people watching meets in Europe this summer with better fields than we'll see in Poland.

Indoor is a preseason.

Agip, you are quickly becoming one of the dumbest posters on this board.

Conspiracy theories wrote:

That is like sitting your star qb in a playoff game.

Which sometimes is the best option. Starting RG3 in the playoff game vs. the Seahawks was probably, definitely(?), the most idiotic decision that could've been made in those circumstances. The Redskins had mortgaged their future away in getting him, and now they're stuck with a very probable scenario where he is nowhere near the dynamic game-changer he was/should-be. And all of that is because they pushed too hard. If it means drastically increasing your chances of success for many more years to come vs. short-term gain, sometimes you have to make that difficult decision and bench the star QB in a playoff game.

not really guy wrote:

agip wrote:

please. There will be 50,000 people watching meets in Europe this summer with better fields than we'll see in Poland.

Indoor is a preseason.

Agip, you are quickly becoming one of the dumbest posters on this board.

thank you. That implies I have a long way to fall.

Here are the medalists from years ago at the indoors WC. Not nearly as impressive a list as an outdoor WC, no?

800: Aman, Holusa, Osagie

1500: Iguider, Ozbilen, Gebremedhin

3000: Lagat, Choge, Soi

800: Jelimo, Lupu, Moore (moore!)

1500: Dibaba, Selsouli, Alptekin

3000: Obiri, Defar, Burka

a couple of top people there, but Erica moore? Holusa? Lupu?Osagie? fast people, but not top level.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm wrote:

you people have an overblown assessment of the importance of the world indoor championships...

Indoor season is preseason, nothing more

Why is indoor season less important than outdoor? I actually find the indoor races more entertaining to watch. More often than not, lately, the paces have been more honest too. I feel like the only reason it can be construed as less important is due to the fact many of the best athletes don't treat it seriously. This is really indicative of how dead the sport actually is. Indoor is the only major championship this year and the two best US middle distance runners, Jenny Simpson and B. Mart. are taking it off. If track mattered to fans or sponsors they certainly wouldn't be taking indoors off. It is a sad state for the sport.

Let me pose this question. If Jenny Simpson skipped the outdoor world championships to a run a high profile road race in the US do you think anyone (fans or sponsors) would care? I doubt it.

Old School Rules wrote:

waste of time efforts wrote:What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!!

Sadly, the wussification of our professional athletes covers a lot of ground these days. It's just like baseball pitchers who get pulled from a game after throwing 100 pitches. Seriously? Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan routinely threw 150+ per outing and they had long, very productive careers.

With regard to running, the distance athletes are conditioned to be pansies. College cross country teams probably have only six meets on their entire schedule, but the best runners don't even race until Districts (MAYBE they'll run pre-Nats or their conference championshop meet). Always trying to save themselves instead of doing what makes the sport fun - RACING!

And had she raced and got hurt for a few months jeopardizing her outdoor season the same critics would be slamming Salazar for pushing her into racing World indoor when the prudent thing would be to rest and recover.

EVERY move by NOP is scrutinized. It's getting old. Heck, Cain has already raced more this season that half of Schumacher's group will do for the entire year.

we LOOOOVEZ the drugs. we HATEZZZ the drugs.

waste of time efforts wrote:

Umm...ultra sound and deep massage!

What a bunch of frickin pansies!!!!!!!!! They have access to more things than any of us will ever have and a sore calf stops her from starting, give me a frickin break already!!! Risking her career????

You idiots who follow the "she's young and has time crap" are just that, idiots! I've never seen so many runners not run races as I have for the last 5 years or so. A bunch of wimpy pansies, period.

Hey troll response, eat garbage as you're clueless.

Once again, I love that everyone on LetsRun is making medical diagnosis and decisions based off of one or two quotes in a newspaper article. Soreness that reoccurs with high intensity activity is something to be worried about popping or developing into something chronic if you're not careful. Her coach, trainers, etc. have reached a decision based on actually talking to Cain and having first hand knowledge of the situation. Yet, you are more than qualified to determine that she's being a wimp?

It is surprising that Salazar views the Olympics as more important than the world indoor meet?