based on Letsruns posts and traffic......it must be DGR not getting an Olympic qualifier
Engels is a massive disappointment. He was a world championship finalist in 2019 and hasn't done anything since then.
Drew Hunter is perhaps the biggest disappointment. He can't stay healthy. Picking his mom as his coach shows he's not serious about being competitive at the world level.
I don't think many people expected Spencer Brown to be a top pro, but a lot of people were rooting for him and he let them down with a DISMAL season and now he's pretty much quit.
Controversial but my vote’s Gidey! Her 2:16 is obviously still amazing but I dunno, I was fully expecting her to do something other-worldly like 2:11 and completely rewrite our views on what women can achieve at the marathon. Hopefully in 2023…
I think the thread is fine if you omit the word “choke.” Life and sports are full of disappointments. It is fair game but choke seems a bit too pejorative.
Fisher getting tripped in the 5k has to be it for me. It's the only time I've been watching a race and yelled "NO!" From his 12:53 in February to the DL Final in September, he had an almost perfect season. He was super close to a 10k medal, but it wasn't really disappointing because he still had the 5k. He positioned himself perfectly, he was ready to kick, he looked like he was finally about to get a medal, and it all got (t)ripped away in an instant.
What do you mean 'got tripped'. He tripped. Don't you see how different that is from 'got tripped'. He choked. Plain and simple. If someone tripped him, who got DQ'd?
If we are bracketing them as one it's not even close - it's the debacle of the men's 110m hurdle final in Eugene.
The way that went down was as disappointing a moment as I have ever seen in the sport. The potential story there (or opportunity hereof) - from absolute tragedy to absolute triumph in the most perfect way possible, which was blown up by what was clearly an equipment malfunction and then malfunction of common sense by officials that could have done the right thing but didn't have the gumption to do so - it's impossible to top that.
And at the end of it all we had a sub par world final where the story wasn't about a worthy winner but the controversy surrounding the sensitivity of blocks and reaction times - complete BS.
If we are bracketing them as one it's not even close - it's the debacle of the men's 110m hurdle final in Eugene.
The way that went down was as disappointing a moment as I have ever seen in the sport. The potential story there (or opportunity hereof) - from absolute tragedy to absolute triumph in the most perfect way possible, which was blown up by what was clearly an equipment malfunction and then malfunction of common sense by officials that could have done the right thing but didn't have the gumption to do so - it's impossible to top that.
And at the end of it all we had a sub par world final where the story wasn't about a worthy winner but the controversy surrounding the sensitivity of blocks and reaction times - complete BS.
Yup. Aside from Team USA having their best performance ever. How is it that what average Joe will remember, if they even watched, is empty seats, Guy gets ripped off in a sprint race where a fast start is required and a malfunctioning machine overides the human eye that didnt see the false start to a cameraman on the track about to be run over by the steeplechase final field.
I didnt watch a minute of the World Cup soccer tournament or any pro football, basketball, baseball etc and I know they have bloopers but nobody cares because they dont make the sport look stupid. Track/USATF could do better but how do you market a sport to people that dont care that much? I honestly dont think theres enough in the country to fill a small stadium anymore even with reasonable ticket prices, accomodations etc... Good luck LA 28. That will be full but other than that, I dont see another full American track stadium in the future. I hope Im wrong.
Rai Benjamin shutting it down after Eugene. Man has done 5 Diamond League 400m hurdles in the last 5 years. I get the DL can be hard to fit with an American schedule but of those 5, 2 were in Doha and one was in Shanghai - the two most inconvenient Diamond Leagues to hit (and ones that offer the biggest appearance fees).
benjamin mentioned he was getting surgery after eugene, probably multiple times, as was shutting down his season after the 400h finals as a result. also the reason why he didn't run on the 4x400.
I'm putting in a nomination for Jakob in the 1500. He's quite clearly the best guy in the field but he screwed it by trying to react to every single move made by Cheruiyot and Kipsang. He gave away a gold medal with poor decisions.
While that's true, the tactics of Cheruiyot and Kipsang were worse, leaving Kenya without medal in the men's 1500.
Very true. Maybe Kipsang should go down as a choke as well. He competes so well on the circuit but doesn't turn up at champs.
Threads like this are why LRC is frowned on by the running community. C'mon. You can do better wejo. MUCH better.
Hard disagree. Running is a sport, and fans of any sport discuss best and worst performances all the time. They were whole articles on which teams and players had a bad World Cup. NBA players are always critiqued. I'm not sure why track athletes seem to think fans should only be allowed to say positive things about their performances. LRC often veers into discussion about female athletes' bodies and looks and that should be off limits, but discussion of performance is just part of sport and being a fan
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