Mottram needs to shut up

do not jump around here and there. we are talking about his attitude not his performance .his performance is not god.

somebody like mottram he is not in a position to talk like that.

every body needs comp. like tergat v haile irrgardless of his race wether he is from asia, africa, euorpe.

your guy, he did little thing and distrub all the web sight and newspaper.

most legend atheletes respect their admirer and also respect other athletes.

Mottram poops on Ritz.

(just thought that sounded funny, and it's true)

i just lost all respect for Mottram. i thought he was classier than that, but i guess i was wrong and i guess he has a lil bit more growing up to do. but since he put that statment out, lets see him beat the WORLDS BEST on a daily basis, as opposed to just one race against Bekele. how about he race Bekele one on one...then Songok one on one..then Haile one on one..and lets see if he is really the best. guy needs to learn some humility before speaking out of his butthole.

Letsrun crowd: "When will someone challenge the Africans?! How come no one likes track anymore? We need someone with personality!"

Mottram: *challenges Africans, has moderate success thus far, is confident* "I'm super badass, now watch as I generate crazy publicitity!"

Letsrun Crowd: "Heeey!!!! Mottram isn't being quiet and boring like other distance runners. . .what an asshole!"

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What was Mottram supposed to say after beating Bekele- "Oh, uhh. . .I shouldn't have won. . . I got lucky. In fact, I can't hold a candle to Bekele."

Hypocrits. I don't care how accurate the statement was- the fact is, we have some guy running his mouth off and now people will be gunning for him to shut him up. It's now different when Salazar told everyone he would win his debut in New York.

I'm with you.

Mottram may come across as cocky, but you need to be cocky and confident and make such statements if you intend to beat the best. If he were to sit back and keep quiet you would think he was timid and call him out for not making a crucial move in a race.

Mottram had a long year starting with the Commonwealth Games and ending with the World Cup. He may have been beat this summer in Europe, but he ran some fast times and I'm not too sure anyone could race as much as he does and be dominant. Race all around the world - Australia, Europe, North America over a 6 month period and let's see how you do.

I'm enjoying his smack and hope he continues to be successful.

there's quite a bit of difference between being timid and cocky. the sport doesn't need mottram being the latter. the sport needs something in the middle. this is especially true for distance running, because cocky does not cut it when this person can't lift 100 pounds. there's no credibility in trying to be rough and tough.

Everyone loves Ritz on this board and he makes outlandish statements and then DOESN'T back them up. People hate Mottram on this board and he makes statements that he DOES back up. Strange dicotomy on this board...

Don't listen to them mate. Mottram is the best non african at distance running. I personally feel he can say what he wants its entertaining and good for the sport!!

Keep up the good work Mottram!

but he doesn't back them up. aside from a B-level championship race where everyone was tired he has yet to be undoubtedly the best one-on-one non-rabbit race championship runner. you really can't claim that when you have only won one race!!!!

and didn't he say he was going to win CWG's? look how that turned out.

Personally I really don't care about all this talk about "challenging the africans" - it would be nice to see americans in the medal podium but doesn't really detract from the enjoyment of the sport. what does detract is guys like mottram who run their mouth without backing it up really.

some athlete wrote:

Ive raced at some of the same meets as mottram before and he is the most arrogant person ive ever seen. Most other people ive spoken to seem to agree. I take my hat off to him for competing with the Africans and he is doing a good job. But he is not better than all of them one on one at all. He walks around with a smug smirk on his face like he is God's gift to athletics! He is one of the best middle/long distance runners in the world but until he starts beating them week-in week-out he should keep quiet.

You haven't met too many Australians then have you. The nation is full of cocky gits. You need to hear some of the nonsense that comes out of their Cricket team. Or how about Leyton Hewitt?? Such belief is just in their nature

I agree entirely with some of the folks on here. FINALLY there is a white guy taking on the Kenyans and beating them.

Face it, he's a step above Teg, Ritz, Webb, Goucher, Kennedy, Pre, Salazar - you name them. They are/were all also rans. Mottram is at least having a go at them and beating them!

Perhaps he's an arrogant shite but then so are most people who are within the best in the world at their choosen field. They are arrogant to you because they are better than you. Deal with it!

My what a short memory Mottram has..

Mottram had Gebrselassie isolated and Geb swept right past him, Mottram unable to respond.

Tegenkamp whooped up on Mottram this year. The man is vulnerable. Period.

No one is perfect.

i dont care if someone is arrogant, if they back it up most of the time. mottram does not. he just seems very small now.

i have no problem with people being faster than me - I love Geb, you know what - he is confident while being humble. that is a lot better to me than some inconsistent runner shooting off his mouth.

lansing wrote:

and didn't he say he was going to win CWG's? look how that turned out.

Personally I really don't care about all this talk about "challenging the africans" - it would be nice to see americans in the medal podium but doesn't really detract from the enjoyment of the sport. what does detract is guys like mottram who run their mouth without backing it up really.

The 5000 at the Commonwealth Games was a classic. Look how it turned out you say? He got silver sure, but look at the times -

Choge runs 12:56.41 and Mottram runs 12:58.19. A difference of 1.78 seconds. Name the last non-African in a championship race to run sub-13. No one did it in Helsinki. He ran his guts out in the 5000 and showed a lot of heart in trying to win it all. He got outkicked, but it obviously made him stronger for later in the year.

Mottram is arguably the best non-african out there racing right now. Look at his progression. He is out there taking on the best in the world and perhaps not winning all the time but his times are competitive.

no one disagrees he can _at times_ run with these guys. but his performances do not approach the words that come out of his mouth. he said he was going to win CWG's. did he? NO.

OK, point taken.

Now let's deal with Ritz since Mottram is being bashed here. What to say about this from the IAAF website -

But Ritzenhein refuses to be overawed by the prospect. “I don’t want to put any limits on myself,” he said. “A lot can happen in the marathon, there are a lot of different points but my confidence is high now.

“If I’m 10th, that would be a bad day. After today I expect to do well. I may even win it.”

Ritz hasn't broken 13, is nominally faster than Mottram in the 10,000 - and note that Mottram did not run a 10,000 this year. Slower for 1500.

So, to quote you "his performances do not approach the words that come out of his mouth". Perhaps that will change next month.

first of all, maybe you could rub my words in my face if 1. i was staunch ritz supporter and 2. i agreed that he would win. did i ever do that? No.

second, even if i did fit both conditions above, there is a HUGE difference between saying you are the best in the world (like mottram did) and saying you MIGHT win it. huge difference. ritz's statement is markedly less cocky arrogant than Buster's. I interpret Ritz's statement as being very optimistic about his chances, but since he said "might" i figure he knows a victory is not the most likely scenario. but that's just my reading.

also, it's not a direct comparison either since ritz is saying stuff BEFORE the marathon, and mottram is saying stuff AFTER his race, which don't back up his words. if ritz runs 2:10 and gets fifth and then the next day says "i was just a beginner but i am clearly the best novice out there and in the next race will destroy everyone" yeah i'd take issue with that as well at the same level i take issue with Mottram's BS.

He maybe among the ten best. Saying he is the best is ridiculous to say the least.

Running is too cautious for a professional sport. No one wants to watch a guy run in a circle, they barely care about a guy doing 1/4 of a circle. Attiudes and excitement is a big part of sport. Being respectful of your competitors is one thing, but getting fired up and talking boldly is great!

Baseball is pretty boring, people don't really get into it until now, the end of the season. When comments are being made and rivalries are fuming people stay up to watch it on sportcenter. No one really cares about world records, at least not enough to say more than, "That's good for him." But the human competitor loves rivalries, boldness and brashness.

We are the only ones who actually care about the splits, the pack times and race conditions. If running is ever going to be respected in the sport community we will need more people like Mottram to keep running his mouth and trying to make running exciting.

the simple fact of the matter is that mottram made a cocky statement (not the first time) that is unsupported by the evidence.

whether you approve or disapprove is a matter of taste.