Is Katelyn Tuhoy overrated?

Dude there have been so many posts claiming she is the GOAT NCAA runner of all time (I contradict this because there are NCAA runners that were and are world contenders while in college while she is not), also saying that she is going to compete and be head to head with KoKo for example at the last race, and that she will beat high-up American pro runners....the predictions and statements have just been crazy (seriously just look back at some of the other threads). Too much pressure for her I think. Also, people are saying she looks "off" in this race and the 1500 she had a little while ago. She didn't look "off", she just ran ALL OUT and was flat tired, she couldn't sit and draft like what she normally does in all of her NCAA races. She was spent in that 1500 and was spent here today. That's what someone should look like when their running as hard as they possibly can...

It's not just that KT’s fans are overzealous, what bothers me is the discrediting of every other young female runner who was/is fast. There is always a reason they were faster than KT – blood doping, PEDS, they were older, training as a pro, didn’t have any homework, etc. No acknowledgement that there may actually be young runners with just as much, if not more talent than KT.

And regarding Jenny, there was certainly never the level of obsession with her when she was breaking college records. I remember her being trashed viciously on this board when she collapsed in the 2009 NCAA XC final.

But I don’t think young readers may fully appreciate what a big deal Jenny’s 3:59 at Pre was at the time. She became only the 3rd American to break the 4:00 barrier and the first in 11 years since SFH. She beat the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist, Nancy Langat, and the US champ Shannon Rowbury (who finished 7th in Beijing). She finished well ahead of every US pro in the field, losing the race by only .01 to former World Indoor 1500 champ Gelete Burka.

In fact, I think Jenny had a legitimate chance to not only make the 1500 team that year, but had at least an outside shot at a medal, considering three of the Americans she beat at Pre (Rowbury, Wurth-Thomas and Willard) finished 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively in the WC final later that year.

The difference is Decker absolutely deserved every bit of hype she received. You cannot overhype someone who was #4 in the world at age 14, defeated the reigning 800m Olympic silver medalist in the 800m at age 14, had broken multiple world records by age 16, set six world records in one year at age 24, held every American record from 800m to 10000m simultaneously, and won both the 1500m and 3000m at the World Championships in '83.

If she hadn't fallen in Los Angeles she would certainly have won two Olympic medals, probably both gold. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers in the 1500m in '83 were Soviets, as were the 3rd and 4th finishers in the 3000m. Due to the boycott, none of them were there in '84. Both of her winning times in '83 were faster than the winning times in '84.

She is the only American to ever win two medals in one championship event and both of them were gold. Only one other runner has won two golds in a career - Athing Mu. Decker would have won as many medals in 365 days as Jenny Simpson won in seven World Championships and three Olympics combined. This is not a slight on Simpson - she is certainly one of the greatest ever. But Decker was in a class by herself.

Decker was the greatest middle distance runner the United States has ever produced. We will probably not see an American that dominant ever again.

Here is that 2009 Pre race if anyone is interested. Jenny was never mentioned by the announcers until she started rapidly closing on Burka with about 30 meters to go.

runnerspace.com

Videos - Womens 1500 - Prefontaine Classic 2009

PreClassic.com - The official Prefontaine Classic websiteEvent 7 Women 1500 Meter Run================================================================ World: W 3:50.46 1993 Qu Yunxia, China American: A 3:57.12 1983 Mary Slaney...

Link:www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&...

That was awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Great race. Simpson always had amazing closing speed in the final 50m.

I have a friend who is a physician and has done work in pediatrics, eating disorders, and adolescent bone density disorders and she has shared the risk is quite real (life-threatening, and long-term impacts) for young women who are wrestling with this unique combination if issues both physical and psychological. Have to believe any responsible coach would be monitoring their athletes who are at risk and would intervene with getting them the right medical treatment over letting them continue to train/race.

Is a day without a thread about how much I should or shouldn't love Katelyn Tuohy overrated?

True. Cook. Hutchins. Wiley. All are faster than Tuohy.

You’re never as good as your best press nor as bad as your detractors make it out to be…

If true…and that’s debatable, why have they not accomplished a fraction of what KT has? Don’t get me wrong there will always be a faster ‘gunslinger’ to come along but till then we can only evaluate what we have…

this is exactly it.

a lotta ppl won't like it, but you can just tell, the way she sorta muscles through everything. she just doesn't have the raw speed or the smoothness. she's better suited for a tough xc course than the great equalizer that is a flat track.

she'll be a solid elite for sure, probably run top times, but unless she gets extremely lucky, won't be a medal contender. and that's just the reality.

Blah. Blah. Blah. "She is fast as a high school sophomore, but it won't last." "She is fast in high school but she won't ever win an ncaa title." "She will never have closing speed." "She is a good college runner, but will never approach an ncaa record." Etc. Rinse. Repeat. At what point do we run out of room to move the goalposts?

Have to disagree. A more natural runner with her form is rare. Yet talent alone isn’t enough. You need the drive to win and the distaste to lose. Additionally, you have to love to outwork your competition. That’s what sets her apart. ‘Muscling through’…what utter garbage. She’s a natural and a superior athlete, not just a fast runner. She gave up hockey and soccer to focus on running and it has borne fruit. She cross trains religiously and has the patience to recover from setbacks like inevitable injuries. She was honestly depressed with her 15:03 record breaking performance because she was expecting to go sub 15. She never repeats a mistake twice and she’ll figure out why she wasn’t able to maintain the brisk pace to the end and adjust accordingly. You can count on it. The internet hasn’t been kind (just count the number of negative troll posts on LR alone). Fortunately, she’s learned not to read anything here and I hope she continues to stay away. Is she a medal candidate in Paris. Not likely…but she’ll be 22 and if luck holds out will make the team next year. In her specialty she’ll probably peak in ‘28, just in time for the Olympics, at age 26…with hopefully another shot in ‘32. She’ll only be 30 and we’ll see what the future holds. If not, she’s got a good head on her shoulders and there’s more to life than competitive running. We’ll know shortly if she continues at NCSt or turns pro this summer. Either way I wish her the very best in whatever the future holds.

I think the limits of "goal post movement" are somewhere around -- Holds every Olympic and World Record from 1,500m to 10,000m (maybe need to throw in a marathon gold medal, too) and has as many total T+F gold medals as Katie Ledecky does in the swimming pool and has been as dominant a force in winning them as Ledecky.

That said, there may be some limits beyond those -- just not coming to mind right now.

Katelyn's hype is well deserved. She herself probably hates the hype and just wants to run.

She has been remarkably consistent since high school. 3 Nike XC national titles is absolutely amazing. Not only is the competition fierce, but that is an unbelievable amount of pressure for a high school kid to defend those titles.

She has provided inspiration for thousands of athletes across the country. Her incredible work ethic and humble demeanor are inspiring. Particularly, she has been quite a role model for young female runners. Katelyn's commitment to lifting weights/hitting the weight room is particularly impressive. I enjoyed watching a video that was made during her senior year of HS that showed her and her team doing circuit training in the gym. Very impressive. Kudos to her high school coach for encouraging his runners to develop overall strength.

Too many top HS runners fall by the wayside. The 2023 US trials for World Junior XC Championships in Richmond VA had two top female runners that are 18 or almost 18 years old and still have prepubescent bodies. They are likely going to run into bone issues/ RED-S because if they were adequately fueling themselves they would not have the bodies of 12 year old girls. In contrast, Katelyn has had a healthy, strong body her entire career. Important bone building years happen as a teenager and many females runners hurt themselves during this important window.

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