Which American males have a shot at an Olympic medal (800m - Marathon) in 2012 and how many medals total will US get?

dean k is an ultra marathoner medal in 2012 dont hink so.

not fast by his own admission

his 50 marathons in 50 days was unbelievable tho.

Expecting Hall to medal is nuts. There will be about a dozen guys with PRs right around his. They all have a shot at medal but none of them can really expect one.Lagat is going to be 37 in 2012. The list of guys that old with distance medals is not very high. I wish him the best of luck but his career has already been incredibly long

Hall & Oates wrote:

Hall is the only one I would expect to medal. Meb and Lagat may get one and then retire on it as a way out as legends in American distance running. The rest would have to keep doping as usual and a miracle would have to happen such as Africa boycotting the Olympics and IAAF WCs or war in Eth & Ken.

hmmmm... Ronny Ash, Walter Dix, Jeshua Anderson, Allyson Felix, Lashinda Demus should medal. Other than that ask Allah.

if Fernandez gets healthy........

hmmmm wrote:

hmmmm... Ronny Ash, Walter Dix, Jeshua Anderson, Allyson Felix, Lashinda Demus should medal. Other than that ask Allah.

they all movin up to the 800m?

play the 400M tape twice and it's 800M. play the 100M 8 times and it's 800M. that's the only way we'll see a US medal. the US sucks at distances except for MTC and Hall.

big O despite all the hype and jive from Eugene/Portland. makes me sick how only 13k fans showed up at prefontaine when zurich, paris, brussels, rome, and oslo gets 60k.

I am surprised no one commented on the possibility of Webb coming back not in the 1500 but maybe the 5k/10k. I remember a few years back when he put it on Ritz's face in a 10k.

I might be talking out of my ass on this one, but does anybody think its time for Lagat to move up in distance. I mean, doesn't that make sense???

2012 is the year where the Ritz/Teg/Solinsky/Hall/Webb/Symmonds generation will be at or close to their prime, so I imagine if we see any medals from them ever it will be in London. I think all of them have decent chances, especially when you look what the Salazar/Shumaker group has done in the last two years. Two more years, and we could have some real contenders.

Not in 2011 nor 2012 for the US men. The US men look like a big zero again unless Lagat gets leaves with a goodbye medal. The US women has the best chance of one to three medals.

Although, I admit it's a long shot, ROBIN FICKER COULD SURPRISE with his newly sharpened finishing kick.

I think that in a few years, Donn Cabral (soph - Princeton) can make an impact on the international scene with the steeplechase. I believe this is his first year with the steeple, and he's already running 8:35.

big O wrote:

big O despite all the hype and jive from Eugene/Portland. makes me sick how only 13k fans showed up at prefontaine when zurich, paris, brussels, rome, and oslo gets 60k.

The stadium in Zurich has a capacity of 30,000, in Oslo the capacity is 15,400, in Brussels capacity is 47,000 so they certainly don't have an attendance of 60K. The stadium in Rome holds over 70,000, but I don't believe they fill it for the Golden Gala. Record attendance at Paris is 70,253.

I heard the IAAF is pissed at the low TV ratings for the two Diamond League meets and is considering U Penn and Mt Sac for next year.

I think most people are being overly pessimistic. While I confess that for EVERY American it will be a long shot, I think a few have a good shot.

Solid Chances:

Lagat: I think he has NO chance in the 1500, but isn't he a 5k guy now? He's getting old, but aging well. He will still be in the hunt.

Symmonds: He has shown that he can challenge anyone in the world in a one-round competition. As he gains experience and overall fitness he will be in a position to make it through the rounds and still be dangerous in the final. Frankly, I'm surprised more people didn't mention him, as he was quite close in 2008.

Ritz: For the detractors, remember that he ran well in the 2008 games and is worlds better now than then.

Rupp: While I know that Solinsky and Ritz both beat Rupp in significant 10k's, Rupp has a great coach and is getting all the tools. In two years he will be sub-27 and in the mix.

Solinsky: If he works on his wheels he could maybe get a bronze.

Lagat double silver in 5k and 10k

Symmonds: silver 800

Wheating: double bronze in 1500 and 800

Solinsky: bronze 10k

Hall: bronze marathon

Andrews: maybe top 10 finish in 800

Ritz and Hall in the marathon is a pipe dream, they were in over their over there heads in Bejing and I don't see that changing. Same with Solinsky in the 10k, though he has a better chance that these two.[/quote]

Really? A pipe dream? Didn't they finish 9th and 10th in Beijing? Didn't Ritz get 3rd in the Half marathon world championships and miss 2nd place by a second? Ryan Hall is a fine marathoner and has run a swift 1/2.

Maybe if all of you washed up runners on these boards who gave up the dream would encourage those who are still chasing it instead of putting them down for their efforts we might grab some hardware. Even when they begin to run with the world's elite you still call their medal hopes ridiculous. How about we start supporting our athletes.

I think Wheating has a decent chance. He was not far off that lead pack at Pre and he ran the race in such a way to just avoid getting last. He's got two years to get better too, both tactically and fitness wise.

Aahhhh, there is nothing like the letsrun flavors of the month.

No one would have bet on Wheating or Solinsky 3 months ago. Now everything thinks these guys are the answers. They are both very good. We have several guys that have chances. I just find it humorous how the thought processes go with the people on letsrun. A little kneejerk I believe.