What if Alan Webb stayed at Michigan, or in college--he took whatever meds he needed/went to therapy
Yep, the talent was always there with Webb. Not sure if Michigan was the answer, but he always seemed to be his own worst enemy. Either too impulsive and/or impatient. Way too many changes. I do wonder what he could have done under a stable program and coach for the bulk of his career.
Maybe not Michigan, but think some kind of college would have been good for Webb. Would have taught him race tactics, team camaraderie, maybe would have leveled him out some.
1. What if Rudolf Harbig had not died in 1944 fighting in the Soviet Union? He held the 800m world record from 1939-1955, taking it from 1:48.4 to 1:46.6. It's possible his best days were behind him by 1944, but maybe he would have moved into coaching?
2. Americans rightly celebrate Prefontaine, but Ivo Van Damme died at 22 having won two silvers at the 1976 Olympics, running 1:43.86 and 3:36.26 for the 800m and the 1500m, respectively. What more could he have accomplished?
3. Finally, and most importantly: what if women had been allowed to run the same events as men from 1896? How many amazing performances and legends were we prevented from seeing due to the IOC and the IAAF fretting that distances longer than 800m would be too much for women?
1. What if Rudolf Harbig had not died in 1944 fighting in the Soviet Union? He held the 800m world record from 1939-1955, taking it from 1:48.4 to 1:46.6. It's possible his best days were behind him by 1944, but maybe he would have moved into coaching?
2. Americans rightly celebrate Prefontaine, but Ivo Van Damme died at 22 having won two silvers at the 1976 Olympics, running 1:43.86 and 3:36.26 for the 800m and the 1500m, respectively. What more could he have accomplished?
3. Finally, and most importantly: what if women had been allowed to run the same events as men from 1896? How many amazing performances and legends were we prevented from seeing due to the IOC and the IAAF fretting that distances longer than 800m would be too much for women?
The W 10000m wasn't included in the Olympics until Barcelona 1992. Imagine what collegiate women would be running today if the event was held even 20 yrs prior in Munich?
I wonder how fast Solinsky would have run but for the hamstring tear. sub 12:50 and sub 26:40 did not seem too far off for him. And you had to figure he was in sub 1:00:00 half marathon shape.
German Fernandez always fascinates as well - so much talent at such a young age.
Would also like to have seen Komen run a 3k at BU with wave light and in super shoes with a pacer through at least 1800m when he was in 1996/1997 shape.
Yep, the talent was always there with Webb. Not sure if Michigan was the answer, but he always seemed to be his own worst enemy. Either too impulsive and/or impatient. Way too many changes. I do wonder what he could have done under a stable program and coach for the bulk of his career.
Maybe not Michigan, but think some kind of college would have been good for Webb. Would have taught him race tactics, team camaraderie, maybe would have leveled him out some.
Looking back on reading Sub-4, the Chris Lear book that chronicles Webb's freshman season at Michigan, it's hard not to wonder about Webb's upbringing, including his coach. Usually, that type of self-defeating neurosis is taught
Kiptum is really the only answer to this question, even after accounting for recency bias
What if Bekele didn't get injured for years and get demotivated? What if he was healthy and turned his full attention to the marathon post 2008? Between him and Kipchoge we might already be living in a 1:5X marathon world.
Tyrese Cooper, the Florida sprint phenom seems like more of a what if than Obea Moore, had a higher ceiling.
Brian Bell, who beat Donavan Brazier in the 800m at nationals in high school their senior year. Was on a tear even though his training in Dayton OH was nowhere close to smart or optimized. Got pneumonia senior spring, went to Houston, kept getting better (1:47?) and went to world juniors but then got kicked out of UH and seemingly went down the wrong path... was a cocky teenager from a rough background and a lot of people didn't like his antics, but it was sad to see his downfall. In his best races he was so exciting to watch.
Earl Jones might be the biggest. Won the legendary 1984 US Olympic trials 800m and broke the American record at the time in 1:43. Then went on to get bronze in those Olympics. Career cut short due to injury in a car accident. Have heard/read a lot of amazing stories/accounts of him, like winning the 55m dash and the 2 mile at some meets while running for Eastern Michigan. He also was the first (I think) and still one of the only clean athletes to break 45.0 in the 400m and 4:00 in the mile (please fact check me on this because I'm curious about the others!). Insane range and really was the ultimate frontrunner, arguably more than Johnny Gray. Could he have broken the 800m world record?
German’s definitely up there. One could realistically argue that him soloing a 4 flat 1600m and 8:34 only a couple hours apart at the 2008 CIF state meet was the greatest single day of HS distance performance ever.
That pitcher for the Yankees, Brian Taylor. Injuries sort of derailed him in the minor leagues.
Grady Sizemore
Brien Taylor destroyed his arm throwing a haymaker at a bar in one of the Carolinas defending his brother in a barfight. If only Patrick Swayze was there from Road House
Jack Foster: NZ phenom who didn't run marathons until he was over 40 - and ran 2:11:05 (or so). This was back in the 80s when the WR was 2:08:34. I asked him once "Do you ever think about what you could have run if you started earlier?" And he answered "Why think about that?" (He was being funny - we all had a chuckle.)
Oops..misread the question so deleted the original response.
Pre not dying if a big one not only in terms of his performance on the track, but what he was doing off the track as well in terms of shining light on the plight of athletes.
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Michael Slagowski - broke 4 minutes for the full mile twice, once at Jesuit Twilight (after being paced by his teammate through 800 in about 2:02) and once at Prefontaine.
Also ran 1:48 on his own at a small meet in Idaho.
Completely disappeared after graduating high school in 2016.
What if Julia Stamps did not get into a skateboarding accident?
What if Sarah Baxter, Megan Goethals, Erin Keogh, Amber Trotter, Mary Cain and many others did not fall victim to what is now known as RED-S and end up entirely out of the sport? What if Mary Cain had chosen the NCAA?