Molly Seidel: "Who’s the GOAT?’ Who fucking cares? Who’s got the story that’s going to get people excited?”

this is 100% correct.

people on the website don’t want to hear it, both because they aren’t the demographic that storylines are meant to be marketed towards and also because a ton of people on this website don’t like molly seidel either for some reason.

honestly, this was the wrong place to ask this question. the people here who actually consistently post enough on this website to care probably make up around 1% of the viewers, and all of them care about goat talk vs the storyline - for the average viewer, it’s the other way around.

nobody cares about your story unless you are great. maybe they will get sucked into a 3 minute interest piece in the middle of a meet, but they aren't thinking about you anymore after that. greatness is what grows and sustains interest. again, it works best if you are both great AND interesting.

im pretty sure kipchoge and or kelvin have no idea who molly seidel even is

fekk it, bro. or don't give a fekk. up to you.

(1) as you LOVE the word AS

(2) the second paragraph makes it sound like you are making fun of mental health struggles. Not cool

Molly is right. She's not really saying there's no place for the GOAT talk. What she is saying is that, without context, nobody cares who the GOAT is. Kipchoge is a good story teller. People are invested in him. We don't know very much about Kiptum. Hassan is more known than Assefa. Whether folks like it or not, nobody cares about our sport enough to simply watch for the fast times. We pick up tons of casuals every Olympics because of the feel good puff pieces that come out about the athletes/their families. That gets people to rally behind them.

Ah yes, this is exactly what to say to press when you're about 10 minutes slower than the world leaders

They sure knew who she was in the Olympics when the Kenyan female runners were pushing her and even punching her

I don't think that's true at all. People cared about Seidel's story because it was interesting and she was ultimately successful, but she's not "great" by any stretch - incredibly good, but still more than 10 minutes behind the WR and will never win a gold medal. But her story is interesting. Same for Keira D'Amato. She'll probably never achieve anything like Grant Fisher, but I bet she generates more interest in the media (outside of Letsrun which, let's face it, is a clubhouse for running nerds), and I'm sure she's shifted more product for Nike than anyone who has ever run for BTC. Athletes don't need to be great if they have an interesting story, just good and fairly competitive.

Yes, the internet classic: Woman lies about men, men call out lie; woman most affected and it's the men who are in the wrong.

Minus a story like Suzy’s…..it’s hard to

fi d a compelling story to the average person. Just as in cycling, it took a cancer survivor that was also a winner to attract eye balls

What’s a “moran”?

I don't endorse her profanity (it makes her look classless and obtuse), but I agree that GOAT arguments are stupid.

Sports change over time. Given that you don't get to pick the date of your birth, and time travel isn't a thing that actually exists, being the best of your era is the most an athlete can do.

She is an absolutely delusional narcissist.

I would say the biggest star in US running over the last 50 years was Joan Benoit. Yes she won olympic gold and set a world record, but the biggest factor was that she won that gold in the first olympics which allowed women to run the marathon. People (especially half the population) could see themselves in all those women doing what had not been allowed (by the men in charge) before, pushing forward. And Joan was out front and fearless. You didn't need to hear her personal story to feel a personal connection with the achievement. She became a symbol of a changing society.

Runners backstories aren't compelling. It's always a partially broken, obsessive person, that has no other interest besides running. They overcome some mild trauma. Now they're back competing, blah, blah, blah.

How many times can you rinse and repeat that story?

Truth. Runners are some of the most boring, narcissistic athletes on the planet. If you have the time, health, and opportunities to run at an elite level, you are probably from a middle-to-upper middle class family and neighborhood. Yet they have stories about how oh-so-hard their lives have been, and they've overcome "hardships" to chase their dreams.

Yawn.

Not having a roof over your head is a hardship. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from is a hardship. Being confined to a hospital bed while fighting cancer is a hardship. Elite runners have no clue what hardship is.

So you’re a transphobe

Thing is, I don't find Molly Seidel's story all that interesting. I think it's attitudes like hers that keep top athletes from getting the sponsorship they deserve. There's also plenty of bias as to whose story is marketable.