146 guy wrote:
Karma Police wrote:Generally speaking, the kids who develop later tend to be better as adults. They get more of the pre-pubescent growth and development before puberty kicks in. In my area, the very early developers I can think of are a 16yo 400/800 (1), formerly top 15yo 100/200 runner (2), national best 100/200 runner for 16yos (3). (1) has improved 1.5 seconds over 400 from 13-16, (2) has barely improved at all from 13-15, and (3) ran 21.7 for 200 when 13, and now at 16 can't break 22. Another holds the National 15yo record (U16) for 100 and 200, and now at 18 can barely run those times.
Those are age spans (13-16) when normal developing boys improve massively. Those kids had that massive improvement at 10-13.
As I say though, who knows. If he's already at 1.50 level, then even if he's like a 17yo in terms of development, normal 17yos still improve a few seconds over 800. And he only needs to improve a few seconds to make it to the Olympics.
As you say speeder, he's certainly got a better chance of making it than someone who wasn't very good when younger.
This kid is just more mature physically than most kids he's racing against. Period. Yes, most of the time kids who develop later end up faster. Considering how most things turn out, it's safe to say this kid will never make the Olympic team. Mark it now. He'll never make it and will likely never break 1:46 (and he'll probably end up slower than that).
That's the thing, I don't think he's even peaked, I think this is just his natural beginning. Just like the decent freshmen end their first year with a 2:0x, he'all end his with a 1:4x. He's just that good. He could easily end up being a 1:43-1:44 guy by his senior year, and if he really is maxed, he could easily just improve his 1500/Mile because he's not done there neither. Michael Granville was a whole different case, he was over trained from a young age to get his times, his 1:46 was probably a 95-105% effort, meaning little to no room for improvement. I don't know much about George Kersh, but I know he ran close to the same as MG and still went on to have a professional career. Same for Donavan Brazier, about a second slower and still went on to improve; this kid is in the same league as them.