From A+++ to F, we hand out grades to all 32 US distance runners who ran in Tokyo

y8o,.mn -0 wrote:

Rupp needs to be lower. The dude is a multi-medalist, and bronze last time in the marathon.

true.

He was never in it.

He plodded to the finish

Awsi Dooger wrote:

Michael S wrote:

LOL Rojo gives the same grade to Cole Hocker, a 6th place finisher, as Paul Chelimo, bronze medal winner

No kidding. That's what stood out to me in the entire piece, the Cole Hocker absurdity extending beyond the message board into what was supposed to be a rational analytical article.

Paul Chelimo constantly understands that you have to aggressively risk the front end in the late stage of international championship races. That's why I admire him despite the antics. He forced Mo Farah to find another gear in 2016 and likewise gave himself a chance here.

The constant discrimination against Chelimo is despicable

Maybe the real grades were the friends we made along the way.

"Rojo’s Response: B-? No. Come on. I don’t want to sound like an old guy who complains about grade inflation and participation trophies but you are forcing me to play that role. This is how grades are supposed to work. A is for excellence, B is for good, C is for fair, D is for disappointment and an F is for failure."

this from the guy who is the poster child for grade inflation and participation trophies

"Rojo’s response: When I was a kid there were some lines below the grade where the teacher could write some comments."

I'm sure that you saw these comments a LOT: "Wow, just wow," "What is your native language?" "Maybe the dog should have eaten your homework," "See me after class."

Still carrying on with the fake news of Amos tripping Jewett from behind, I see. Notwithstanding the latter's step onto the foot of the runner in front of him.

Stop complaining , its childish

AP5000 wrote:

Totally agree with you on these inflating grades. Giving Bs to runners who weren't even remotely competitive in a race is absurd. We were flat out terrible in the 10k both male and female. How on earth is Rupp, who by all accounts was competitive in the marathon except the last few miles, getting the same grade and our 10k women who were all LAPPED by two runners?

The grades are totally based on expectations. The women actually ran close to their PBs in horrific heat. Rupp is a two-time medallist. He's basically expected to contend for a medal.

Michael S wrote:

LOL Rojo gives the same grade to Cole Hocker, a 6th place finisher, as Paul Chelimo, bronze medal winner.

God people are not all that observant. Those arne't my grades. They are Jonathan Gault's grades. I only wrote a few comments mainly in places where when I was editing his article I wanted to yell at the screen because I thought his picks were way, way off.

Generally, I agree more with Rojo's edits, as some of the grades seem too high.

Just from memory, I think B+ is too high for Rupp. I would give him a B-. And in my view some of the grades for the top US women in the 1500 and 5000 are too high.

I am surprised by Riley's "B". I think he is disappointed in 2:16, even in hot weather, but perhaps I don't understand how miserable the conditions were in Japan.

Yes, his 2:10 from the trials puts him in the back of the field, but that 2:10 was on a very hard course. I was kind of hoping for a breakthrough given his time on a course that wiped out a lot of our best marathoners, particularly on the women's side.

I was kind of hoping that his talent would make a 2:16 a C, but the humidity made it into a death march. We cannot read much into it.

I hope he does well in the future.

tlm1959 wrote:

I am surprised by Riley's "B". I think he is disappointed in 2:16, even in hot weather, but perhaps I don't understand how miserable the conditions were in Japan.

Yes, his 2:10 from the trials puts him in the back of the field, but that 2:10 was on a very hard course. I was kind of hoping for a breakthrough given his time on a course that wiped out a lot of our best marathoners, particularly on the women's side.

I was kind of hoping that his talent would make a 2:16 a C, but the humidity made it into a death march. We cannot read much into it.

I hope he does well in the future.

Uh, you do realize that the guy who won has a PR much faster than 2:08?

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

I like Jon, but Rojo is right to call him out on many of these inflated grades. They're absurd. Biggest ones to call out:

Purrier a B-? You can't go from front-running a 3:58 after smoking GDS to trying pick off runners from the back with 4:01s. That's a C-, I assume injury was involved.

Info on both bits there. Some Team USA folks said that Purrier picked up a bit of a foot thing from that bump at the start of the final at trials. Didn't limit training, but getting tossed about like that apparently made her quite cagey with getting caught in packs. Given she got caught in tight, fast moving packs in both semi and final, her confidence to move and back her fitness might not have been there.

Re: Mt Sac, Stafford did an interview with her sister this week on a podcast. Said that she was "thrilled" to run 4 flat at Mt Sac, as Schumacher was loading her hard at altitude and that her mileage didn't stop increasing (switching from Andy Young to Jerry Schumacher was a big shift in workload) until after Florence DL. Also said something about puking right before the race. I didn't catch what she said caused it, but possibly struggling with coffee/caffeine post 2020 illness.

My other post I touched on everything I disagreed with. That was improper. The hefty majority of grades were fair and logical.

I do remain stunned at the apparent belief in Purrier. I didn't share that at all. Throughout every round I considered her on Jessica Hull level in terms of relationship to the true medal contenders. I think that's basically the way it turned out. Maybe we got spoiled by Simpson, who always knew how to vary her tactics given the field strength and how the race set up.

Centro gets an F for not making the final.

crwnikeboy wrote:

Centro gets an F for not making the final.

After all his socials posturing too.

Awsi Dooger wrote:

I do remain stunned at the apparent belief in Purrier. I didn't share that at all. up.

NBC:But she grew up on a dairy farm! Did chores and knows the meaning of hard work! /NBC

rojo wrote:

God people are not all that observant. Those arne't my grades. They are Jonathan Gault's grades. I only wrote a few comments mainly in places where when I was editing his article I wanted to yell at the screen because I thought his picks were way, way off.

God, people, I am observant.

(1) It’s YOUR website. So anything written by an employee of yours is YOUR responsibility

(2) YOU wrote the criticism of bronze medal winner Chelimo, WHO DID NOT BREAK ANY RULES

(3) YOU wrote thread after thread praising Hocker like he was the second coming, and never started such thread for Chelimo, even though Hocker got sixth place and Chelimo is now a TWO TIME OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNER

(4) And in the thread you did start about the men’s 5k final, YOU DIDNT EVEN MENTION CHELIMO’S NAME!!!

Rupp winning a bronze five years ago means he should have won another medal this time? Other runners have slowed down by age 35.

Michael S wrote:

rojo wrote:

God people are not all that observant. Those arne't my grades. They are Jonathan Gault's grades. I only wrote a few comments mainly in places where when I was editing his article I wanted to yell at the screen because I thought his picks were way, way off.

God, people, I am observant.

(1) It’s YOUR website. So anything written by an employee of yours is YOUR responsibility

(2) YOU wrote the criticism of bronze medal winner Chelimo, WHO DID NOT BREAK ANY RULES

(3) YOU wrote thread after thread praising Hocker like he was the second coming, and never started such thread for Chelimo, even though Hocker got sixth place and Chelimo is now a TWO TIME OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNER

(4) And in the thread you did start about the men’s 5k final, YOU DIDNT EVEN MENTION CHELIMO’S NAME!!!

I bet Rojo won’t respond

Twin Twits wrote:

There is no "A+++," Harvard.

There kind of is. Colleges give 5 pts towards your HS GPA for an A in an AP class