This doesn't happen that often usually if people walk away from the sports its after a slew of injuries or declining potential. One I can think of is Amy Weissenbach. Olympic trials as a HS kid, 2:00 flat pr for the 800 while a sophomore in college, wasn't suffering from injuries, but one day just said F it.
She must have figured out how corrupt the sport is. Who wants to invest themselves heavily in the new version of professional wrestling?
Dr. Steve Brule wrote:
Matt Davis
Matt D. wouldn't be the "most" talented college runner to just walk away but I'll vote for him as he did have major talent. His Jr. xc year (I think, maybe his Sr.) he was injured most of the season and did very little training. He ended up 10th? at nationals. I was very impressed! Had he gone pro and stayed out of injuries I'd say he would have found success in the US but not national level.
Great guy too.
Dazed & Confused wrote:
You guys have no idea how dominating Natosha Rogers would be at the pro level right now if she had not quit. As someone who was around her training almost every day for four years I can say she was definitely profound.
After she originally quit, Natosha Rogers went pro and was training with NB and Mark Coogan as of last year, so I don't think she counts.
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_27467671/new-balance-runners-race-without-starCayla Hatton
Claire Durkin
I remember him mentioning something on Twitter about how bad the staff at Arkansas is and how corrupt the NCAA is. I think he said he was going pro.
I did everything you did, but kept running. Probably got hotter girls too because I stayed in shape. Give yourself every excuse you want, you still wasted your talent.
I am confused
Walked away after College? I would not call that "walking away" at all, many guys were/are in it for scholarship money and realize they are not pros or even close and move on. That is hardly uncommon.,
Rono, while immensely gifted ran 4 years at Arkansas
I think Withrow who walked away in college due to recurring injuries, was one, who was very gifted,
throwing out a few wrote:
Lukas Verzbicas
Kenny Cormier
Johanna Nilsson
Nilsson was a ridiculous talent. Backpacked in Asia during the summer and did absolutely zero training. When she came home her coach let her do an 800m time trial to see exactly how bad her shape was. She ran 2,20 and 3 months later she came 3rd in the European XC championship.
Tragic that she is no longer with us, but her brother and sister are still competing. David ran the marathon in 2,16 and competed in the world championship last year. Her sister is a national level ultra runner.
Billy Orman -- HS in AZ, went to Harvard, I think transferred to Stanford?
Reuben Reina? Footlocker record holder then....what
What about Caitlin Chock- sub 16 in HS. Went to Richmond for like half a year then.....painting and writing for RW
Dazed & Confused wrote:
You guys have no idea how dominating Natosha Rogers would be at the pro level right now if she had not quit. As someone who was around her training almost every day for four years I can say she was definitely profound.
Rogers didn't just walk away, she had a debilitating knee injury that forced her to quit. There was a discussion here a couple years ago with people calling her "soft" and "selfish" but running with a f'ed up knee is almost impossible.
http://www.runnersworld.com/newswire/why-an-ncaa-10-k-champion-quit-runningThis Guy Who Knows wrote:
Liz Mueller
Did she even run enough in college to count? 2:05 800m/ foot locker champion off like 25mpw and some cross training. For a person only with relationship issues (some crap with her coaches and parents) and not injuries it ranks way up there.
certified quitter wrote:
Given the state of athletics in the overall world of sport, there is really not a huge amount of incentive for a young person to stay in the sport long term unless they feel they have good shot of reaching the top or just simply love running that much. Why put up with all of the brutal hard work; early mornings; monitoring diet; no alcohol; skipping parties and social events for such little pay off? Add on top of this the fact that most of the public are convinced that runners are just as doped as cyclists and you have a dying sport at the competitive level.
I mean, the bottom line is that outside of running, Rupp is a nobody although he works just as hard as Mo at the game. Try asking the general public who Rupp is and you’ll be met with confused looks. Running at a very elite level is just not viewed as cool and will never compete with other sports especially team ones which are more social and thus will never attract a lot of cash or respect. The general public have no idea of the difference between a sub 5:00 and a sub 4:00 mile let alone the difference between a 1:45 800m runner and a 1:42 guy.
I woke up just after my 18th birthday when I was busting myself doing 400m repeats on a cold running track and suddenly found myself asking, ‘what is this all for?’. I made a decision there and then to quite based on the likelihood that I was never going to make it really big and just did not enjoy the sacrifices needed for further improvement. I had a fair bit of talent (sub 1:50 800m & sub 3:45 1500m HS runner) but just figured I’d go down the education road.
Do I have any regrets? None at all as I’ve lived a far more balanced life and enjoyed my 20s to the absolute max in so many ways – studied, partied, learned guitar, made lots of friends, travelled, got laid more times than I can even remember; started a fulfilling career; met my now wife. Oh and all the while still enjoying running as a means of keeping fit and to blow off steam. Yes, I’m now a hobby jogger as defined by LR but I’d rather be a ‘nobody’ hobby jogger than a ‘nobody’ who makes the semis in the Olympic Games and is forgotten about the next day or is dropped from the team following a period of injuries.
Everyone’s different but there are many others like me who just simply look at the broader picture and think, ‘ah fuc* this for a laugh, there’s way more to life!’
^
This sums it all up for a lot of young folks
Julia Lucas recently announced her retirement. No injury, no real setback, still in shape, 15:08 PB, 0.04 from making the Olympic team last time around... just said she lost motivation to train this year.
another one... wrote:
Julia Lucas recently announced her retirement. No injury, no real setback, still in shape, 15:08 PB, 0.04 from making the Olympic team last time around... just said she lost motivation to train this year.
I guess the title does say college runners and she did have a pro career.
Reuben made the 92 Olympic team in the 5,000, that's what!
You do know that Cait was badly injured after being hit by a car, right? She didn't walk away from the sport by choice.
then... won an ncaa indoor title in 1990?