Bill Rodgers got 3rd in World XC, Craig Virgin was a good High School and College Runner From Illinois he won World XC twice, Lynn Jennings was I think a 3 X World Cross Country Champion Yes Jane hedengren Will Win More World XC Championships than those 2 Combined but They were Good for Their Time. Since we all know and Agree who will be The next American Women to Win World XC and it is a Mere Formality, Who will be the Next American Man To Win World XC? will The Next American Man to win Have even been born when Craig Virgin Won?
I do think it’s a big missed opportunity as this USA team could do great. This Kenyan team might be surprisingly good though. Their 9th placer at Trials (won’t make squad) just won a 10K in 27:13 by a 7-second margin in France. So that shows much of the team is probably pretty fit to outrun him.
They come up with an excuse every year, and their fan bois defend them in this decision.
Frankly its ridiculous that no one among our top runners runs any of the classics in Europe as part of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour. I don't even think people here are aware of such a thing.
It's not like the top US runners are wimpy, or chickensh!t, in comparison to their European/African counterparts. They're not afraid to mix it up. Grant Fisher didn't win 2 Olympic medals by being a big wuss. I suspect these guys are the same as basically any top athlete in any sport - they want to tangle with the best whenever the opportunity arises. They believe they are studs, and they will relish the opportunity to kick the crap out of their rivals. It's not like there is something in the American psyche that says, OMG, that cross-country running...it's so HARD!! European courses have hills and mud that might make me cry! And I might get DIRTY!!! Face it, the guys at the top got there by being talented, sure, but also hard as nails. If the top Americans don't run the big cross country races, it is merely due to a lack of the proper incentives.
Did you see the past 3 global 5000m championships? Dude was out for REVENGE and we were all for it.
No he wasn’t!
Let’s start with the OG 2024: Yes, it must have been OK for Jakob to see that he could toy with 12.36 guy Gebrhiwet, but winning with a 13.02 PB guy on silver, and a very leggy Fisher (because of the 10000m -just listen to what he said in his post race -the 5000m- interview) on the third must have told Jakob that this race was way too easy (even before the information about Gebrhiwet’s covid). And look at Jakob’s face post race -you can tell that this only was a little, and formal redemption for the race that mattered; the 1500m…
In 2024 Jakob’s redemption came a few days later -his 3000m WR, where he outran an Aregawi at his best, and in the dominant and honest, no clown racing style, he prefers, and in an all-out time (that he also prefers)…
In 2023 Jakob looks almost depressed after narrowly beating Katir. Why? Because he knew the 1500m was the real thing, and that Katir was a 12.45 guy, who wasn’t able to hang with the others in that PR run… And of course because it wasn’t funny running being sick.
In 2022 one could maybe talk about REVENGE, since Jakob never had won a global championship 5000m previously, and because he did it in the dominant way he prefers (and the hilarious water drinking, that pretty much showed that Jakob didn’t -really- give a damn about that clown race, and not at all was on a desperate revenge path….). But in the aftermath I think he understood that also that was an easy win -Cheptegei et co not at their best.
Conclusion: I can’t wait to see Jakob doing a really, really good 5000m! And it would also be cool to see him in a course like the Tallahassee one!
This post was edited 9 minutes after it was posted.
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