I voted for Jenny. Joan competed in a much less competitive era for women. Her resume is great for sure, but it was a lot easier to win back then.
I voted for Jenny. Joan competed in a much less competitive era for women. Her resume is great for sure, but it was a lot easier to win back then.
I voted for Joanie. I believe she and Decker-Slaney are co number 1. I have Kastor 3rd, Simpson 4th, Jennings 5th.
Men, I have Shorter a clear number 1, followed by Rupp, then Ryun.
Just added my vote for Joanie. The big reason: OLYMPIC GOLD, BABY! Another important thing is that she was on television inspiring the first mass wave of American high school distance girls.
I hadn't voted in this at all, but I just went and voted for Simpson to stop rojo's blatant attempt to CHEAT for Samuelson.
Raysharp001 wrote:
I voted for Joanie. I believe she and Decker-Slaney are co number 1. I have Kastor 3rd, Simpson 4th, Jennings 5th.
Men, I have Shorter a clear number 1, followed by Rupp, then Ryun.
I agree with you except I have Jennings ahead of Simpson
Between 1979 and 1986, Joan ran 7 marathons and only lost one. During this time she won 2 Boston marathons (including course record) an Olympic gold, and Chicago (world record). Much more dominant than Simpson.
rojo wrote:
Currently Simpson leads 54 % to 46%.
Really?
Does anyone else find this shocking?
Or am I just biased because I was 11 when Jonanie won and sort of remember it as being a very big deal.
LRC Note: Voting ends Sunday night at 12 midnight ET.
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/american-distance-goat-vote-in-the-womens-semifinals/
Simpson winning medals in an era in which certain polititcally favored third world nations is quite an accomplishment. Don’t try and pretend the East Africans are clean.
Quit acting so racist, Flojo by a landslide.
jaded undeniable truth wrote:
Simpson winning medals in an era in which certain polititcally favored third world nations is quite an accomplishment. Don’t try and pretend the East Africans are clean.
What? You are claiming that 2nd and 3rd place metal are winning? And outright winning multiple marathons medals is not as impressive as 2nd and 3rd place metal. Medal for 1st place. Metal for the also rans.
doctorj wrote:
Notice Simpson also had am impressive NCAA career while Joan didn't. Inside and outside the NCAA Simpson had a strong running presence.That sealed the deal for me.
1) Joan Benoit Samuelson
Major marathon wins: 1979 and 1983 Boston Marathons
Note that Joan Benoit won the 1979 Boston Marathon while in college. When she showed up for dinner at the Bowdoin dining hall that evening, the students gave her a standing ovation.
That’s definitely more impressive than a couple of 1979 NCAA cross country, 5,000m, 10,000m or titles on her resume would be, in my opinion.
Jenny Simpson's collective resume is just otherworldly. She is my pick to win in the final as well.
Also, I may break my phone if Shorter beats Rupp. Rupp has routinely faced GOAT candidates like Bekele, Lagat, and Farah. Shorter faced... lol
Billy in 4C wrote:
I voted for Jenny. Joan competed in a much less competitive era for women. Her resume is great for sure, but it was a lot easier to win back then.
I think I voted for Joan (can't remember), but it's a close call and this comment is spot-on. I voted for Rupp over Shorter for the same reason (also a close call).
Rupp fan wrote:
Jenny Simpson's collective resume is just otherworldly. She is my pick to win in the final as well.
Also, I may break my phone if Shorter beats Rupp. Rupp has routinely faced GOAT candidates like Bekele, Lagat, and Farah. Shorter faced... lol
+1
rojo wrote:
Currently Simpson leads 54 % to 46%.
Really?
Does anyone else find this shocking?
Or am I just biased because I was 11 when Jonanie won and sort of remember it as being a very big deal.
LRC Note: Voting ends Sunday night at 12 midnight ET.
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/american-distance-goat-vote-in-the-womens-semifinals/
Make an argument if you like, but this is just point and sputter.
fdgdfgsf wrote:
What is really ridiculous is that Mary Slaney was not included in the contest. Yeah, she tested positive in 1996, about 10-15 years after the peak of her career. There's no evidence I'm aware of that she was doping in the early 80s when she was defeating some of the most doped women of all time, setting world records, etc.
I think you should have left it up to the voters to decide whether someone with a later career doping positive should advance through the rounds. Most of the women in your contest don't measure up to the greatness of Slaney. She was the only female track athlete to ever be named Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year.
BTW I'm not a big fan of Slaney, I thought she was whiny and something of a nutcase.
I agree with this. Whatever else I think of Mary Decker Slaney, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone else who warrants the title of greatest American female distance runner. It's especially odd to me that Mary was purportedly excluded solely by virtue of the 1999 sanction arising out of a T/E ratio test suggestive of exogenous testosterone, whereas Alberto Salazar, who was allowed in this competition, was later sanctioned much more seriously for a wide range of doping infractions, and -- more importantly, to me -- admitted in sworn testimony that he was using exogenous testosterone for at least several months in 1991 leading up to the 1992 Olympic trials, and admitted that he also tried and failed on multiple occasions over several years to obtain a TUE for exogenous testosterone use.
(I also think it's outrageous that letsrun refused to recognize any of Lagat's performances as an American citizen in 2004, especially his 1500-meter victory over El Guerrouj in Zurich in an American record of 2:27.40, probably the single best performance (by modern scoring standards) of any American middle- or long-distance runner ever, and the performance that was most responsible for Lagat's #1 ranking over El Guerrouj that year, despite Lagat's narrow loss in the Olympic final.)
Avocado's Number wrote:
his 1500-meter victory over El Guerrouj in Zurich in an American record of 2:27.40
3:27.40
Strongly disagree. Drug cheats shouldn't be considered for any GOAT title. That Salazar was included, is just absurd, not to mention against the self-given rules.
Along the same lines, neither Athletics West nor NOP should have been allowed. Letsrun could have made a strong point for clean sport, but of course they didn't. I suppose quite a few people don't vote for Joanie because of that.
It is election tampering but so is the choice who to pair with.
One thing not mentioned in the write-up is that if you applied the current record eligibility standards, Joanie also set (then-unrecognized) world records twice in the Marathon -- Auckland 1980 and Nike OTC/Eugene 1982. This goes along with her two Boston course-record victories, her Olympic gold in the first women's Olympic Marathon, and the Chicago victory.
I believe her dominating performance for Olympic Gold was in the only global track championship that she competed in and one of only two available during her top-tier career (1979-1986) .
Joanie is the Babe Ruth of Women's Running. Jenny is the Larry Walker. Not even close.
the final should be Jenny vs. Mary Slaney to put all scenarios to bed.