I'd say the ball here is in Nike's court - is there even a single runner in the World that wouldn't welcome a "Break 4" in the Mile project för indigenous women?
Good thing you took the bait and gave them even more of the clicks they were looking for. Or wait is this a psyop and you work for Citius and this is fake rage-sharing?!?
^^This^^
In spring I put out ant traps around the back deck sliding door and think to myself, "How are these ants this stupid to pile into these traps by the mounds?" But of course, they just have ant brains.
I don't really understand the argument. Is the author saying that if more non-White people broke 4 minutes in the mile people wouldn't care as much? Because that's the opposite of the truth. More non-White people have been breaking 4 in the mile, and, as the article concludes, it's still a meaningful achievement.
Is the author saying that the 4 minute mile is popular only because of the propensity of White athletes to break the barrier? I'd point to the sub 2 hour marathon, which, over the last few years, has been discussed more and certainly held in higher regard than the 4 minute mile. This is a feat, so far, only achieved and attempted by non-White runners.
The truth is, as the author actually gets to eventually, that the 4 minute mile is meaningful because it's hard and it's equivalent to one minute per lap. It's a number that makes sense, and it is not an easy achievement. There's a pretty similar reason why middle and high schoolers get excited to break 5 minutes for the first time
(1) Is a very weak strawman argument, followed by several even weaker strawman arguments. Citius did not say running sub-4 was racist, nor did they say that black athletes have not achieved fame/$ in the sport.
Of course we all know they didn't say that. But those who Citius have triggered need to find something to disagree with because otherwise (God forbid) they might have to engage with what Citius actually said.
(2) Is full of people desperate to disagree, but in doing so providing great evidence for Citius' point. The best/funniest of these is "So fast milers are white? What about the fastest 800m, 5000m".
Does JackHammer actually think there's some magic in 3.5-4min races where white people do better, that doesn't apply in ~2min or ~7min races?! Probably not, he probably know that the best milers in the world run the 1500m. Either way, his reply is the best possible evidence for Citius' point that white milers receive a disproportionate amount of praise and attention (note: this entire debate is obviously U.S. focused).
The guy who wrote the article wrote this post. Hope you enjoyed the attention you ordered.
Citius Mag putting out just an absolutely atrocious take:
”The 4-minute mile is a white man’s achievement. Our sub-four heroes, from Roger Bannister to Jim Ryun to Hobbs Kessler, tend to be white and are always male. As in all aspects of American culture, our historical marginalization of women and people of color, combined with our implicit biases about which athletes we choose to lionize, means that the achievements of white men receive a disproportionate amount of praise and attention. The best middle-distance runners in the world are African, but they don’t run the mile: they primarily run the 1500m. And as a result, Hicham El Guerrouj is not nearly the household name that he might otherwise be.”
Uh, only white American males care and still think running under 4 minute for a mile is anything to write home about for competitive runners. That happened in 1954. 1954! The list of sub 4 minute milers would be 10x larger if other countries ran that distance throughout history. We don't report news when someone high jumps 6'11". Stop listing breaking 4 as some astonishing performance, it isn't.
If that’s not satire then that writer is one dumb limousine liberal. Hello, Morocco IS in Africa, and the 1500m has arguably been dominated by Africans for decades. That excerpt makes no sense
Shouldn't people with this take spend more writing about African runners? He's complaining about something he's in position to fix... yet all his other blog posts are about white ppl. If you want global coverage of the sport you have to come to Letsrun.
The mods deleted a post I spent a lot of time writing last night. Mods, please do not delete a post like this. Here is what I wrote.
The quote comes from a piece from David Melly (I added the link to the first post as there was no attribution)- whom I coached at Cornell for a year. I used to really enjoy talking to him at practice as he was into politcs and ideas. The fact that he had very different conclusions than me wasn't really an issue. After he graduated, I bought him a book explaining how it was imperative that liberals turn away from identity politics.
The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics
From one of the country’s most admired political thinkers, an urgent wake-up call to American liberals to turn from the divisive politics of identity and develop a vision of our future that can persuade all citizens that they share a common destiny.
amazon.com
The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics [Lilla, Mark] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics
Is this column confirmation that he never read it? I should text him and find out.
If he did, I guess he didn't learn from it. It blows my mind that the average liberal doesn't realize their constant virtue signaling and ridiculous takes like this are what led to Trump.
I hope he reads the book or just listens to 10 seconds from Morgan Freeman.
I just made the mistake of taking a look at his twitter account, both his old one and new one. My biggest criticism with David - and I called him up a few years back to talk about this with him - is he's often trying to get into other people's business and get them cancelled/fired if there views/actions aren't something he agrees with.
I find it ironic that he doesn't like the 4-minute mile in part because it's sexist - a biological female can't do it - when last Fall he tried to get Olympian Mara Yamauchi fired from her London commentating job for saying transwomen have no business being in elite women's sports.
Just like the sub 10 second 100m will always be a black mans "achievement" and linked with black me. When you really think about it (100m vs mile etc) why does it even really matter?
The premise is just stupid - the characteristics of the first person/people to do something in any fields formative stages will always become part of the fabric of that field - this isn't exclusive to running btw.
Just like the sub 10 second 100m will always be a black mans "achievement" and linked with black me. When you really think about it (100m vs mile etc) why does it even really matter?
The premise is just stupid - the characteristics of the first person/people to do something in any fields formative stages will always become part of the fabric of that field - this isn't exclusive to running btw.
I was able to read it and disagree and move on with my life. But...I would love to see the counter-argument published (which would be easier to write, since it is correct). Who's going to step up?
The quote comes from a piece from David Melly (I added the link to the first post as there was no attribution)- whom I coached at Cornell for a year. I used to really enjoy talking to him at practice as he was into politcs and ideas. The fact that he had very different conclusions than me wasn't really an issue. After he graduated, I bought him a book explaining how it was imperative that liberals turn away from identity politics.
The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics
From one of the country’s most admired political thinkers, an urgent wake-up call to American liberals to turn from the divisive politics of identity and develop a vision of our future that can persuade all citizens that they share a common destiny.
Is this column confirmation that he never read it? I should text him and find out.
If he did, I guess he didn't learn from it. It blows my mind that the average liberal doesn't realize their constant virtue signaling and ridiculous takes like this are what led to Trump.
I hope he reads the book or just listens to 10 seconds from Morgan Freeman.
I agree with the citius mag, every sub 4 white athlete needs to apologize. It’s unfair that white males get the opportunity’s, facility’s, and sponsorships to break 4min.
I just made the mistake of taking a look at his twitter account, both his old one and new one. My biggest criticism with David - and I called him up a few years back to talk about this with him - is he's often trying to get into other people's business and get them cancelled/fired if there views/actions aren't something he agrees with.
I find it ironic that he doesn't like the 4-minute mile in part because it's sexist - a biological female can't do it - when last Fall he tried to get Olympian Mara Yamauchi fired from her London commentating job for saying transwomen have no business being in elite women's sports.
Does he not realize that he's not being intellectually consistent?
By his logic, a woman should just go break-4 if she wants the attention.
.
Rojo I think the reason is actually quite simple - people like him always push the boundaries or have inflated senses of their intellectual capabilities. They want to come up with smart and provocative statements and comments about things but part of the trick with this is understanding where the line of hypocrisy and breakdown of logic and rational is. Truly smart people with solid takes think about this - almost backwards from their POV trying to expose hypocrisies etc themselves before they open their mouths. So when I read this, and yes you are right pointing out the inconsistencies because they do exist, their "takes" immediately become just remedial or empty "opinionist".