Greatest female distance runner of all time?

Wan Junxia from China

10000m- 29:31

3000m- 8:06

1500m- 3:51

I'm going to point out that her 10000m record crushes the all-time #2 by over 20 seconds...

And incidentally, her 8:06 3000m leads all other 3000m times by approximately 15 seconds...

Consider This wrote:

The number 2 javelin is from 1999; the closest anyone has come in 10 years is 6 meters, in 2002. Zelezny has the top 6 performances, and won three Olympic gold medals and a silver. There is a good argument that he was the best T&F athlete of all time.

And as far as the others you mentioned, they just have one world record. Tirunesh Dibaba has the 5000 world record, 2 Olympic gold medals and a bronze, 5 WC golds and has won World Cross 5 times. I just don't see how you can pick anyone ahead of her.

Because with women, Olympic Golds and WC Golds don't matter nearly as much.

Dibaba's World Record in the 5000m has been approached within a second by Meseret, and within 9 seconds by Cheruiyot.

The only one to approach Junxia's 3000m and 10000m world records within 15 seconds is herself.

Also, Junxia has a WC Gold, an Olympic Gold, and an Olympic Silver, so it's not like she hasn't performed internationally when it's counted.

Sure Dibaba has a greater medal count, but the average person, or even the average runner, isn't going to know which woman got what medal in what event what year. However, they WILL know which woman has been holding two virtually unbreakable records for nearly two decades.

I don't want to argue about it extensively, but there is something in the back of my mind about WHY those world records are unbreakable that takes something away from them.

Consider This wrote:

I don't want to argue about it extensively, but there is something in the back of my mind about WHY those world records are unbreakable that takes something away from them.

It's not at the back of your mind. It's at the front of your mind.

But incidentally, the same can be said for any world-class athlete competing at any time from 1990-2006

This list would also encompass Bekele, Gebrsellassie, Komen, El Guerrouj, etc., all of whom quite literally top the men's Greatest of All Time list, as well as Dibaba herself.

However, we don't blatantly go around stripping them out of their respectful status, because incidentally, they never tested positive.

The same applies to Dibaba and Junxia.

Seyta wrote:

Consider This wrote:

I don't want to argue about it extensively, but there is something in the back of my mind about WHY those world records are unbreakable that takes something away from them.

It's not at the back of your mind. It's at the front of your mind.

But incidentally, the same can be said for any world-class athlete competing at any time from 1990-2006

This list would also encompass Bekele, Gebrsellassie, Komen, El Guerrouj, etc., all of whom quite literally top the men's Greatest of All Time list, as well as Dibaba herself.

However, we don't blatantly go around stripping them out of their respectful status, because incidentally, they never tested positive.

The same applies to Dibaba and Junxia.

Last post, but let's just say that Komen had run like 7:08 - I would definitely change my opinion about him then. There are people actually close to El G, Geb, Bekele, and Komen. It is conceivable that someone will one day break their records. It is likely that no women will ever even scare 8:06.

Doris Brown .....next thread,

Ray wrote:

Doris Brown .....next thread,

Doris needs to be mentioned. All the world cross titles in the days when they never allowed women to compete on the track over 800 meters.