I hesitate to mention active runners, but I will say that the rabid hype Hocker gets on these forums is excessive. He's not Ryun, Centro(!), Webb, others. But he could be someday, I suppose. We'll have to see.
To put him in the same category as those guys NOW is massive overhype.
I have always wondered whether Centro was that good or just that lucky. Season after season he would turn in dismal performances at the beginning of the season and then just find his form in time for the national championships and then find the perfectly timed kick in a very tactical final at worlds or OGs.
I hesitate to mention active runners, but I will say that the rabid hype Hocker gets on these forums is excessive. He's not Ryun, Centro(!), Webb, others. But he could be someday, I suppose. We'll have to see.
To put him in the same category as those guys NOW is massive overhype.
He isn't Ryun (Olympic Silver) or Centro (Olympic Gold, WC Silver and Bronze), that I agree.
But he certainly in the same conversation as Alan Webb. NCAA champ, 6th at olympics at age 20, Olympic trials champ. Arguably better than Webb who only has a dismal olympic 25th and a WC 8 and 9th to his name.
I have always wondered whether Centro was that good or just that lucky. Season after season he would turn in dismal performances at the beginning of the season and then just find his form in time for the national championships and then find the perfectly timed kick in a very tactical final at worlds or OGs.
It takes more than luck to win Worlds or the Olympics. Those titles are the ultimate goals of our sport, and everyone is shooting for them. To chalk those championships up to happenstance is a massive disservice.
However, there's always a lot of hype following times that runners drop (think: black screens on LR), even if the meet is small and relatively inconsequential. Like say... a collegiate invitational in the US.
Valuing times over titles is why the hype gets out of control.
I have always wondered whether Centro was that good or just that lucky. Season after season he would turn in dismal performances at the beginning of the season and then just find his form in time for the national championships and then find the perfectly timed kick in a very tactical final at worlds or OGs.
It takes more than luck to win Worlds or the Olympics. Those titles are the ultimate goals of our sport, and everyone is shooting for them. To chalk those championships up to happenstance is a massive disservice.
However, there's always a lot of hype following times that runners drop (think: black screens on LR), even if the meet is small and relatively inconsequential. Like say... a collegiate invitational in the US.
Valuing times over titles is why the hype gets out of control.
1. Pre. (If he had not died young, there would not be a DL meet named after him.)
2. Bannister. (WR in a distance only a small minority of countries care about. Did not medal in his only Olympic appearance.)
3. Ryun. (Leo Manzano also won an Olympic silver medal and Emsley Carr Mile.)
I guess holding the AR from 2k-10k makes you overrated. No wonder you're a hobby jogger. How can you be so wrong on all three? Do you even follow track and field? Or is everyone who ran before 2000 overrated in your book?
Everyone before 2000? I didn't write Herb Elliott, Peter Snell, Ron Clarke, Billy Mills, Bob Schul or Dave Wottle was overrated. Elliott was a far more accomplished runner than Bannister, but didn't get all the hype that Bannister did. Lasse Viren won four Olympic golds and broke the WR. Where is the DL meet named after him? And if I don't follow trach and field, how do I know that Manzano won Emsley Carr Mile?
Pre was the real deal. Nike has made him mythical and done everything possible to hype up his legacy, but that doesn’t change the fact that Pre was the real deal.
Alan Webb, the AR was his only big accomplishment as a pro and it came in a scripted time trial on the other side of the world. One Olympic team and zero international medals, despite being quite dominant on US soil for a brief stretch.
A very good call. He was all hype and little substance. He deserves to be on my list more than Jim Ryun.
I feel like Scott Jurek can't be seen as overrated. I'm not sure how famous he is outside of the ultra community and he may be past his prime now, but his accolades in his prime can't be overlooked
Looking at some of the names I get the impression that anyone who was at all respected was over rated because they didn't win a gold and sometimes even if they did (Centro).
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