Craig Virgin had run 27:29. and change for the 10,000 meters. the winning 10,000 meter time was 27:43. and change. I think virgin would have won the 10,000 and I certainly feel he would have finished no worse than second.
Craig Virgin had run 27:29. and change for the 10,000 meters. the winning 10,000 meter time was 27:43. and change. I think virgin would have won the 10,000 and I certainly feel he would have finished no worse than second.
Craig Virgin had run 27:29. and change for the 10,000 meters. the winning 10,000 meter time was 27:43. and change. I think virgin would have won the 10,000 and I certainly feel he would have finished no worse than second.
nobody was going to beat yifter the shifter... except maybe henry.
McChesney had a legitimate shot for an Olympic medal in “80.”
Bill went on to beat both the Olympic gold and silver medalists in Europe that summer!
Bill was ready, would have kicked ass and brought home a medal!!!
I think you guys are overplaying the McChesney card by a lot. McChesney was ranked in the top ten in the world only one year 1981. 4th at 5k and 9th at 10k. He was not a championship type runner. His best runs were in tume trial conditions.
Pink Panther wrote:
I think you guys are overplaying the McChesney card by a lot. McChesney was ranked in the top ten in the world only one year 1981. 4th at 5k and 9th at 10k. He was not a championship type runner. His best runs were in tume trial conditions.
Here are the top times for 1980:
Rnk Perf Mark Name Nat Pos Venue Date Record
1 1 13:16.34 Miruts YifterETH 1 PTS Bratislava 7Jun1980
2 2 13:17.5a Mohamed KedirETH 2 PTS Bratislava 7Jun1980PB
3 3 13:17.9m Nathaniel MuirGBR 1 Oslo 15Jul1980 PB
4 4 13:18.2m Filbert BayiTAN 2 Oslo 15Jul1980 PB
5 5 13:18.6m Suleiman NyambuiTAN 3 Oslo 15Jul1980
6 6 13:18.6m Bill McChesneyUSA 4 Oslo 15Jul1980
7 7 13:19.1m Craig Virgin USA 5 Oslo 15Jul1980 PB
88 13:19.24George Kiprotich RonoKEN 1 Stuttgart12Jul1980PB
9 9 13:19.62 Craig Virgin 2 Stuttgart 12Jul1980
9 10 13:19.76 Thomas WessinghageFRG 1r1 DNG 8Jul1980
10 11 13:19.8m Henry RonoKEN 6 Oslo 15Jul1980
11 12 13:20.0m Fernando Mamede POR 1 Louvain 4Jun1980
12 13 13:20.36 Wilson WaigwaKEN 1 Bruxelles 22Aug1980 PB
13 14 13:20.47 Brendan FosterGBR 2 DNG Stockholm 8Jul1980
15 13:20.91 Miruts Yifter 1 OG Moskva 1Aug1980
Also 3rd:
13:24.05 Bill McChesney 3 Stuttgart 12Jul1980
As a favor to Craig, Bill set pace for Virgin to a then American record for 10,000 meters and hung on to break 28:00.
1 1 27:29.16 Craig Virgin 1 Paris (Charléty) 17Jul1980 PB
3 3 27:37.88 Fernando MamedePOR 2 Paris(Charléty)17Jul1980
22 26 27:58.50 Bill McChesney USA 3Paris(Charléty17Jul1980
If Bill wasn't a championship runner, he wouldn't have made the Olympic team.
It's obvious you didn't know Bill.
Championship or Duel, Bill wanted to crush the competition.
What do you think ? wrote:
Also as a recovering alcholic myself I feel no event drove me to drink, I would have drank too much be it good times or bad times. Do you agree ? thanks and best of luck in recovery.
Interesting question. Northern Express has experienced substance issues, and has always found that having major projects/goals on the go (especially athletic ones) is the best medicine...
Take the 10 000 and 5000 metre finals. If there hadn't been any boycotts, we would have most probably have seen these guys in there: Salazar, Vigin, Bjorklund, Lindsay,Cummings,Rono, Muysioki. Rono would also have been a contender in the steeplechase, as would have Henry Marsh.
There would certainly have been a couple of your guys in contention in the marathon.
As for the middle distance events, Steve Scott and Craig Masback may well have been outside chances for a medal behind Coe and Ovett. And lets not forget the likes of Boit and Wilson Waigwa.
Carter's decision to boycott those games was an absolout traversty. Thank heavens the British athletes stood up to Maggie Thatcher, otherwise we would never have had those Coe vs Ovett finals. Boycotts achieve nothing whatsoever; all they do is destroy the event and deprive athletes the chance of experiencing the ultimate occasion.
Whatsmore the 1980 boycott didn't affect the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan at all.
Big O wrote:
If Bill wasn't a championship runner, he wouldn't have made the Olympic team.
It's obvious you didn't know Bill.
Championship or Duel, Bill wanted to crush the competition.
That Olympic Trials race was the anomaly. McChesney had an abysmal record at Nationals, consistently underperforming at the big dance. His record was one of fast times when it didn't matter. Wanting to crush the competition and actually doing it aren't the same.
Lindsay was an also-ran on the national scene. His best finish at nationals was 3rd (5k 1979), never coming close again. The same with Masback, whose best finish was 5th in 1981, and never made it out of the Q round in other years.
Cummings and Bjorklund weren't contenders for the team in 1980.
maybe, but i doubt it, women 1500 runners and even some in the 5k have the potential to be attractive... they wear next to nothing... i would imagine they may draw more fans than 40 kenyan male runnersi am serious runner and i like watching the men but i also remember enjoying watching blake russell tear around the track at the cardinal invite last year
armandhammer wrote:
Tell me if you think this is crazy. I think some meets would be more popular if they had only men competing. There is a reason why they don't play WNBA games right after an NBA game. No disrespect intended to the efforts of women. I think races at any level (as evidenced by Penn, Drake, etc.) can be fun to watch, but the most exciting are the highest level of performance. And honeslty, it's got to be a pretty high level women's 10k. before it doesn't almost instantly get strung out over 400 m.
his times are his times, you sound bitter dude.
What's there to be bitter about? McChesney was a great runner, except in championships. Talking about him having a chance at a medal is doing McChesney a disservice.
Well unless you can predict the future you dont know what would have happened.
Thats the reason we compete, come gameday, all the kind of shit your talking doesnt matter...ask Billy Mills
Alice doesnt live here anymore wrote:
Well unless you can predict the future you dont know what would have happened.
Thats the reason we compete, come gameday, all the kind of shit your talking doesnt matter...ask Billy Mills
Who's the one talking shit? McChesney was great at all-comers meets, but he wasn't a "gameday" player.
Billy Mills and Billy McChesney are polar opposites.
jogger only wrote:
In '68, Smith and Carlos were kicked out of the olympics for their political activism. Twelve years later, Carter made the ultimate politcal statement in the realm of athletics w/ the boycott of the Moscow olympics. I viewed the boycott as a sign of weakness on our part.
This is true, however, Carter explained this decision later on. There was a TAC committee of four individuals, he told them the decision was theirs. 3 of the 4 TAC individuals voted to boycott. Carter took their recommendation. at least this is his side of the story. He does accept the blame but has explained that if they had decided to go, he would have allowed it.
Revisionist history by Agosta.
What do you think ? wrote:
Just curious, Do you oldtimes and track fans think the downfall of our sport began with the boycott ?
What runners career was hurt the most ?
Two things have hurt....particularly in the US:
1. The Fall of the Eastern Bloc countries so there is no "us vs. them" mentality.
2. PED's.
What do you think ? wrote:
Just curious, Do you oldtimes and track fans think the downfall of our sport began with the boycott ?
What runners career was hurt the most ?
The baby boom and bust and associated socioeconomic developments overwhelm everything else. The Brits didn't boycott but they don't have Coe/Ovett/Cram any more either. The consequences of the boom and bust went beyond the 30% absolute drop in U.S. births per year by the early- mid-70's. Everyone who came after the early/mid boomers faced a much more competitive "real life" playing field and had to think differently about making a living.
Even with our current population of 300 million, we have yet to surpass 1957's absolute birth total of 4.3M, when the U.S. population was less than 175M. And the current birth rate is skewed towards those economic groups for whom track and field as a leisure time activity or career option isn't exactly high profile.
Craig Virgin was a two time world champ in cross country and I'm sure would have had a chance at gold in the 10,000.
Given the fact that the only U.S. distance runners that the U.S. public remembers from that era are either Pre (because of early death) or Gold medal winners (Shorter), it cost Virgin huge because he had the best chance @ gold.