This Mottram guy is a cocky SOB.........

true true, but i think we all remember the 5th Ave Mile. Webb is very very talented runner but is gutsy, which paid off in college but on a world compeition circuit is not gonna work.

above im referring to the comment about Mattram and Webb from much earlier

Surely one of the most cocky athletes ever was Steve Ovett - waving to the crowd in the home straight! But doing it whilst winning races against World Class. That was all part of the Coe vs Ovett saga - two contrasting personalities.

If Mottram's confidence inspires young kids to the extent that they fancy a having a go at running then that is a good thing. We live in a celebrity culture - the more we have some real personalities that youngsters can relate to in the sport, the more appealing it will be.

If he goes out of his way (and I don't actually think he does) to create rivalries, fill newspaper columns (and internet forums!) then that will create more public interest and that can only be a good thing.

Knowing how he felt to be drafted for the entire race to get beat in the final 50 meters I think he took it quite well and gave ample credit to Willis for his race strategy. I think he showed a lot of restraint with his comments given they were made shortly after the race.

I think Mottram could presently lap me in the 800- yet I'm cocky. I bet Mottram's cockiness leads to other faults (besides being one of the top 5 best runners on Earth) like getting laid...alot. Maybe he should be more modest in order to make the averager letsrunner feel better....u douchebags.

Chris Q wrote:

Surely one of the most cocky athletes ever was Steve Ovett - waving to the crowd in the home straight! But doing it whilst winning races against World Class. That was all part of the Coe vs Ovett saga - two contrasting personalities.

If Mottram's confidence inspires young kids to the extent that they fancy a having a go at running then that is a good thing. We live in a celebrity culture - the more we have some real personalities that youngsters can relate to in the sport, the more appealing it will be.

If he goes out of his way (and I don't actually think he does) to create rivalries, fill newspaper columns (and internet forums!) then that will create more public interest and that can only be a good thing.

Goodness me yes, Ovett waving to the crown, how awful, celebrating victory before he had even crossed the line.

Seriously though, a lot of Ovett's fellow competitors did get upset about the waving. I think that shows that they were taking themselves too seriously to be so sensitive as to make an issue out of it.

Mottram is definitely trying to create as much publicity as possible before Melbourne next month.

Willis won because he has hair on his legs and doesnt wear gay white socks to race in. If i looked as girly as Craig Mottram A: I would never get laid B: I would try to be as cocky as possible in order to cover up my flaming homosexuality.

man, i cant wait for the comebacks on this one...

"I'll have my way with him at the Commonwealth Games." I would say that qualifies as both confidence and cockiness. No big deal. I prefer humble athletes, but there's no denying his success.

Nice race for both of those guys.

Being brash is being Australian. Just look at Lleyton Hewitt. He uses it to get under the skin of his opponents and it works against everyone but Federer and Agassi. Maybe it will work for Craig as well.

I would try to be as cocky as possible in order to cover up my flaming homosexuality.

man, i cant wait for the comebacks on this one. Comeback 1. You're the gay one... gay. Either one of these guys has the utmost right to behave as confidently as they wish, they're sure of themselves, does that make them cocky? One of the a-hole commentators ont he Olympics the other night criticized the Russian who wont he 30k pursuit for being unsportsmanlike becuase he celebrated. WTF? If I won the Olympic games I'd hate to think about my behavior. 99.99 % of us have never achieved 2% of the success that either of these guys have in any endeavor at any level. The notion that any of us could critique their behavior would imply that we understand their situations, which, as stated, 99.99 % of us haven't.

Brian G wrote:

Knowing how he felt to be drafted for the entire race to get beat in the final 50 meters I think he took it quite well and gave ample credit to Willis for his race strategy. I think he showed a lot of restraint with his comments given they were made shortly after the race.

THAT'S THE POOOOINT!!! Willis was a LEACH. That big $10,000 check should be shared with Craig!!!!

Chris Q wrote:

If Mottram's confidence inspires young kids to the extent that they fancy a having a go at running then that is a good thing. We live in a celebrity culture - the more we have some real personalities that youngsters can relate to in the sport, the more appealing it will be.

I think this is a good point. Guys like Kenenisa Bekele are absolutely amazing athletes and I have immense respect for him. But that's coming from a runner, he's not going to give some random American kid inspiration to be great. For example, Tim Duncan is a great NBA player and he deserves respect, but he doesn't have personality. It's the other guys (whether they're as talented or not) that are inspiring kids to go and play basketball.

I'm not going to suddenly be inspired to become a professional runner if some Kenyan guy breaks 13:00 in the 5k because 30 of his compatriots have already done that! But if Craig Mottram does that it's great for the sport. And if being confident and a little cocky helps him with publicity, I'm all for it. You'll notice that Mottram never said "I'll have my way with him next time" when he finished less than a second behind Bekele. He's not too cocky for his talent. The fact of the matter is, at this point in their careers, he is flat out better than Nick Willis. You can't deny that. Would he run 6 seconds faster if he drifted off of Willis? Hell no, but he'd beat him every time. If they were both drifting off of someone else Mottram wins 9/10. And of course this isn't even Mottram's best event. People seem to be forgetting that.

Chris Q wrote:

If Mottram's confidence inspires young kids to the extent that they fancy a having a go at running then that is a good thing. We live in a celebrity culture - the more we have some real personalities that youngsters can relate to in the sport, the more appealing it will be.

I think this is a good point. Guys like Kenenisa Bekele are absolutely amazing athletes and I have immense respect for him. But that's coming from a runner, he's not going to give some random American kid inspiration to be great. For example, Tim Duncan is a great NBA player and he deserves respect, but he doesn't have personality. It's the other guys (whether they're as talented or not) that are inspiring kids to go and play basketball.

I'm not going to suddenly be inspired to become a professional runner if some Kenyan guy breaks 13:00 in the 5k because 30 of his compatriots have already done that! But if Craig Mottram does that it's great for the sport. And if being confident and a little cocky helps him with publicity, I'm all for it. You'll notice that Mottram never said "I'll have my way with him next time" when he finished less than a second behind Bekele. He's not too cocky for his talent. The fact of the matter is, at this point in their careers, he is flat out better than Nick Willis. You can't deny that. Would he run 6 seconds faster if he drifted off of Willis? Hell no, but he'd beat him every time. If they were both drifting off of someone else Mottram wins 9/10. And of course this isn't even Mottram's best event. People seem to be forgetting that.

kBrem wrote:

true true, but i think we all remember the 5th Ave Mile. Webb is very very talented runner but is gutsy, which paid off in college but on a world compeition circuit is not gonna work.

webb went to college for a year, and wasn't too happy with it...

Craig Mottram is absolutely gorgeous. Being as beautiful as he is should be illegal:

http://www.pbase.com/rowang/image/55997301

ahem,...Buster.

I've been running a lot of years and I always thought the point of racing was to see who could be who on that day. On Feb 11th Nick Willis beat Craig Mottram, say whatever you want, etc. Two great runners who have raced before, raced that day and will race again many times in their careers. Just enjoy the race for what it was...GREAT.

As for Nick Willis and his ability....if you don't know how good this guy is then your head has been buried in the sand. He's still 22!!!! How many guys do you know his age who have already done what he has...Olympics...World Champs...Commonwealth Games....World Juniors....World XC.....NCAA Champ....NCAA record holder and oh yeah he ran 1:45, 3:32, 7:44 and 13:27 (in his "off" event) and cleaned up a stud field at the Manchester Road Race on the roads too.

The guy has fought battles in the best races in the world, he thrives on competition, he loves it and it only makes him better. In the years to come, this guy will do some great stuff. Before it's over he could realistically hold hold every NZ record on the track from the 800m-10,000m.

Right now he is undoubtably one of the top clean runners in the world. Not even an arguement.

Mottram is a stud, but he is also 25 and in three years we'll see what kind of numbers Willis has put up when he is 25.

As for the talk about the Oslo race last summer, Willis was sick as a dog that day and shouldn't have been racing at all. It was widely known that after the race he collapsed and was under medical treatment for quite awhile. Heck his last lap was brutal to watch and anyone who has ever seen Willis run, knew he was gutting it out.

Just something to think about.

Either way, the Commonwealth Games will have some great races no matter who wins them!

All I have to say is this:

Who among this group of lazy bastards has run 12:50 for 5k?

I don't see any hands.... no hands... going twice... nope, noone.

Shut your damn mouths and try not to drool too much while you watch this guy earn the medals you're passing up criticizing every runner worth a damn on the Letsrun.com message boards...

Mottram is good for the sport. He gets people fired up when he talks and it gets people to watch. Trash talking is great for a struggling American sport like track and field. When Maurice Green and Michael Johnson were trash talking before the 2000 Olympic trials a lot of people tuned in for that flop. Although it was a flop, they nonetheless tuned in. It's like Chad Johnson from the Bengals talking it up before the game. It's good for the sport.