Will Sumner to join team Rinaldi/Fast 8 TC

If you get Mathas to 1.44 I will fly to Melbourne and bow down at your feet.

I always find it strange when people think a coaches most outstanding achievements are based off their fastest athletes. To be honest, getting Deng to run 1:43.99 isn't that hard, you just need him to show up to practice for 12 weeks in a row and his talent takes care of the rest. He's actually under performing in terms of what he is truly capable of.

Getting Mathas down in to the 1:45's (while he holds a full time job) and trying to get him to 1:44 is something I'm extremely proud off. Seeing Jeff hobbling around after surgery thinking his career was over to getting him on his 4th Olympic Team was amazing. Taking a 24 year old 1:51.1 guy from the Cook Islands and seeing him run 1:47.24 NR in Tokyo was also up there.

Look forward to seeing 'Agree' in Melbourne soon :)

Mathas has a full time job as well? Damn impressive. You've gotta make that pamphlet sooner rather than later so that we who also wants to get soooome improvement can buy it:)

So, let's look at the logic here. He gets coached from halfway around the world, which does not work, by a guy whose best ever guy is apparently a 1:43.99 guy who can just show up and do 12 weeks of training and run that--while under the cloud of a very unsatisfactory clearance from positive tests, which might explain the "talent" of not training much and running fast, and who underachieves according to his own coach. He gets guys into the 1:44s, which is good, but doesn't cut it with a guy who ran 1:44.12, a nearly 2.5 second year over year pr improvement, in his first college track season. And then I get downvoted for my doubts; a guy who asks me to name groups with 1:42 guys (I said, that "have had 1:42 guys") gets 17 up votes to my downvote; I then name half a dozen groups that have or have had 1:42 guys; and that post has barely 2-3 or 3-2 votes. That makes zero sense. If it's such a brilliant question to ask for groups with 1:42 guys, then my naming many of them shoots that down completely. I wish the best for Rinaldi but I don't want our best 800 talent since Brazier to max out at 1:44 flat, or even to continue a very low mileage approach that got him an NCAA championship but missed a US team lacking any 1:42-43 guys.

Don't be a cry baby

Perhaps you get downvoted because you don't know what you're talking about.

Does this mean he is done at Georgia?

Dude, your reply and logic is terrible. You say Rinaldis group limits his upside because the best Rinaldi coached athlete has run is 1.43 high.

Then you name alternatives which are:

Colm O'Connel: Sure, its a really valid alternative to move to Kenya for a young American..

OTC: Are you joking? Mcbride isnt a product of Rowland, Amos is banned. Rowland is a good coach but going by 800m credentials you're left with one (?) which is Symmonds.

Bosse: You think he should move to France to train with a guy whos struggled for years? PS: That guy has trained with Rinaldis group at times and complimented him;)

Ereng: Valid

Tukas coach: Come on..What a joke.

Gray: Valid, but risky.

Your suggestions shows exactly that its no easy alternative. If Deng ran 1.42,8 this year, would you suddenly find it OK?...

I would love to see Cade Flatt join your group and train with WIll. Cade ran 22.01 for the 200 and 46.89 for the 400 in high school to go along with his 800m times. He needs a coach that will embrace that speed and develop his 800m skills accordingly.

Will mentioned he would be training in Marietta and wanted to stay close to home until after the Olympic year. Since his mom Coaches track & XC at the Chiropractic College in Marietta (Life University), I would assume that she will be coaching him again.

Brads story is one of my absolute favorites in track and I couldn't be happier seeing him run the way he is. He is the ultimate commitment guy - just wants it so bad and has willed himself to become a very solid international performer in the right way.

I remember reading about him wanting to quit the sport a while ago just after he had moved to Australia because he was injured/lack of support from NZ/burnt out and it's not easy to come back from that.

We see the top stars in DL meets etc etc but this crew of sub "elite" Road Warriors that are all excellent athletes in their own right, are really the heart and soul of European track and field. There would be an awesome Netflix documentary in there. Mathas is the epitome of that - sport actually needs guys like him as much as they need a Paul Korir (ahem....), and maybe even more.

You've done a great job with him.

You didn't point out the most boneheaded logic underlying all of this - that what, you just pick the coach that has the fastest athlete and say "go write me a program" please and thats how you entrust your future to someone?

By the way don't think for a second his new primary sponsor adidas don't have a say in this - so any other brand directly sponsored group isn't happening for a start.

How about:

1) Pro athlete lifestyle and training philosophy of the coach and how that matches up with the athlete.

2) Potential training partners at points in the year (who do you have to go and hang with for 4 weeks in warm weather training etc). Do you want guys super competitive in training or are you looking for a Steve Ovett/Matt Patterson situation?

3) Maybe other interpersonal connections to the coach (I could be wrong but I believe Sumner parents and JR know each and are family friends)

Spouting off a bunch of 1.42 runners and saying "oh yeah well they must have better coaches than 4-5 guys that ran "only" ran 1.44" is so hilariously ignorant it defies belief. Well Donovan Brazier is the American record holder shouldn't Sumner just go train with Pete Julian? Yeah and his body parts can start falling off within 24 months, nice.

Rinaldi hasn't confirmed or denied but I for one think it would be a great fit and hope that my original intel was in fact true. I think it would be great for both parties.

No one's crying. Give me a reason to think that I am wrong.

Again, Deng's just gotten off of a positive test on a technicality. Why would anyone credit his coach if he all of a sudden drops a second after all this time? Is it less valid to be coached by O'Connell in Kenya than Rinaldi, who has none of his credentials, in Australia? Let's say that both were remote coaches. Which would you prefer? Bosse is retired, to my knowledge. Who got him to the 1:42s? How is Tuka's coach a joke? Did he run 1:42 or not? It's not as if I mentioned Jama Aden. And I did point out the boneheaded logic of picking a coach who can only write him programs and not coach him in person. At this level, you have the luxury to pick a coach with a proven track record at the top level. You don't just say my personality meshes with this guy. You look for that among the top groups in the country and world where it makes sense for you to train. If he's with Arop, that's helpful. I would bet that his own parents will have as much of a coaching role as Rinaldi at that distance.

I should also remind you that I was asked to provide a list of 1:42 coaches and gave some of them. Rinaldi's a pretty good 800 coach on the Aussie level. Will Sumner deserves a lot better.

Everyone knows why he's joining.

Pretty obvious, really.

On top of the world!

The most “fun” setup might actually be with Lewandowski’s group. Extremely young and featuring Ermias Girma (world Junior 800 champ) Niels Laros. But he’s more on the strength side than those two, or Marcin was. Same issue (beyond obvious travel/lifestyle issues) with 2 running club, Rongai or even Brother Colm.

You don’t even have the correct B sample guy - shows you know nothing

Rinaldi is currently coaching the 4th place finisher at the 2021 Olympics in Bol and Australian record holder and 1:43 man, Joseph Deng. Even Brad Mathas, who may previously have qualified as a "nobody," has clocked 1:45 this season and seems to be taking his career to new heights - as a 30 year old. I believe Rinaldi was also consulted by Sumners parents on his high school training and may be a reason for Will's prep success. Seems like a good fit.