I don’t think so, if Nico gets spanked at worlds like he did in Portland , but in FL it’s a bad sign. So far this fall has not been great for him. But as a fan I’m rooting for him. The concern people are pointing out is that the setup he’s in isn’t actually making him better and fall races are usually where you see early proof of concept. Right now, the proof isn’t there. But let’s see in Tallahassee.
Young will be fine. At the 2023 NCAA XC championships, he finished almost 30 seconds behind Blanks but followed it up with a breakout indoor season.
I don’t know why people are taking his USATF XC result so seriously and I doubt if he was particularly motivated for it. The idea that Smith is sabotaging his training is nonsense.
Agree 100%. I think people are bored and trying to stir this up. From a quick turn around and early start to the season, you want to be fit enough to make the team. Which he did. Peaking in early December is not ideal.
More simply, she has baggage from the failed test and it’s not surprising that she can’t find a find a sponsor. It doesn’t go any deeper than that and it’s not possible for her to rebuild credibility.
"failed test" - nice way to describe a convicted doper. Anyway Nike did sign up Gatlin and Gay after their failed tests and bans - albeit years later. Did times change, or was it because they were more successful and competing in the more prestigious 100 m, or will they sign up Houlihan in 1 - 2 years? I guess we'll see.
Paula Radcliffe has criticised Nike’s decision to award the controversial sprinter Justin Gatlin with a new sponsorship deal, describing the decision as not reflecting ‘the core values of the Nike that I am proud to represent...
Young will be fine. At the 2023 NCAA XC championships, he finished almost 30 seconds behind Blanks but followed it up with a breakout indoor season.
I don’t know why people are taking his USATF XC result so seriously and I doubt if he was particularly motivated for it. The idea that Smith is sabotaging his training is nonsense.
Agree 100%. I think people are bored and trying to stir this up. From a quick turn around and early start to the season, you want to be fit enough to make the team. Which he did. Peaking in early December is not ideal.
That wasn’t “early season.” That was a guy in full survival mode from the gun. He wasn’t racing. he was hanging on. When an athlete of that caliber looks that bad, it’s almost always self inflicted. Bad decisions, bad setup, bad priorities this fall. And yeah, it’s fair to ask whether a Nike driven training environment is poisoning the well for an Adidas athlete. Nike doesn’t get paid to make him great, they get paid to make their own guys win and that happened. If this continues into track season, it won’t be a mystery what went wrong.
Agree 100%. I think people are bored and trying to stir this up. From a quick turn around and early start to the season, you want to be fit enough to make the team. Which he did. Peaking in early December is not ideal.
That wasn’t “early season.” That was a guy in full survival mode from the gun. He wasn’t racing. he was hanging on. When an athlete of that caliber looks that bad, it’s almost always self inflicted. Bad decisions, bad setup, bad priorities this fall. And yeah, it’s fair to ask whether a Nike driven training environment is poisoning the well for an Adidas athlete. Nike doesn’t get paid to make him great, they get paid to make their own guys win and that happened. If this continues into track season, it won’t be a mystery what went wrong.
Bad priorities? he was in Japan doubling at the worlds. Are you saying he should have skipped worlds to prioritze the US XC trials? Hes going to be fine. There are reasons that distance runners need big training blocks to get in peak shape. They don’t just come in and dominate off of 6 or 7 weeks of training.
That wasn’t “early season.” That was a guy in full survival mode from the gun. He wasn’t racing. he was hanging on. When an athlete of that caliber looks that bad, it’s almost always self inflicted. Bad decisions, bad setup, bad priorities this fall. And yeah, it’s fair to ask whether a Nike driven training environment is poisoning the well for an Adidas athlete. Nike doesn’t get paid to make him great, they get paid to make their own guys win and that happened. If this continues into track season, it won’t be a mystery what went wrong.
Bad priorities? he was in Japan doubling at the worlds. Are you saying he should have skipped worlds to prioritze the US XC trials? Hes going to be fine. There are reasons that distance runners need big training blocks to get in peak shape. They don’t just come in and dominate off of 6 or 7 weeks of training.
Let’s see how Nico looks at XCWC next month and then this spring. The concern is that he ends up second to the top Nike Swoosh TC men, not because he isn’t talented, but because of the setup. I hope I’m wrong. I’m a Nico fan and genuinely think he’s the future of U.S. distance running. But it’s hard to ignore the reality, training inside a Nike system as a non Nike athlete puts him in a weird spot. That environment is designed to optimize Nike athletes first. Nico risks becoming an outsider in someone else’s machine ( money machine) and you don’t become the best in the country or the world by playing supporting roles in another brand’s program.
Why not include Graham Blanks in this list. He was on the WC team and has been better at XC than Nico - at least in college. If Nico ran so poorly he should have cleaned his clock. Could it possibly be that at the end of a long season you have to take a break and start building up again and two months is not enough time. Given the crunch and the fact they want to be their best in January that they did not sharpen for this, kind of trained through and weren’t their best. Could it be that the main goal was to make the team and their were confident they could do this while training through this race.
Why not include Graham Blanks in this list. He was on the WC team and has been better at XC than Nico - at least in college. If Nico ran so poorly he should have cleaned his clock. Could it possibly be that at the end of a long season you have to take a break and start building up again and two months is not enough time. Given the crunch and the fact they want to be their best in January that they did not sharpen for this, kind of trained through and weren’t their best. Could it be that the main goal was to make the team and their were confident they could do this while training through this race.
Graham doesn’t have a a high of a ceiling as Nico. And yes him ( Graham) moving back to GA to train with no one around might of regressed him a bit.
Why not include Graham Blanks in this list. He was on the WC team and has been better at XC than Nico - at least in college. If Nico ran so poorly he should have cleaned his clock. Could it possibly be that at the end of a long season you have to take a break and start building up again and two months is not enough time. Given the crunch and the fact they want to be their best in January that they did not sharpen for this, kind of trained through and weren’t their best. Could it be that the main goal was to make the team and their were confident they could do this while training through this race.
Graham doesn’t have a a high of a ceiling as Nico. And yes him ( Graham) moving back to GA to train with no one around might of regressed him a bit.
Wait Graham move to Georgia to train ? Is Gibby still his coach ?
Nico Young, Cooper Teare, and Shelby Houlihan probably should not be grouped together. Nico is the only of the (3) I expected to do well. The fact that a half dozen athletes make the team you can bet half of them are trying to win.
These aren’t developing athletes or underfunded grinders, these are heavily resourced, heavily hyped names who are supposed to show up when it matters. Instead, they were invisible when the racing got real. No tactics excuses, no course excuses. This is cross country, compete or get exposed. On a day when hungry, lesser known athletes ran fearless, the so called stars folded. If this is what elite setups are producing,
Shelby will need exceptional circumstances to stay relevant at the very top and I don’t see Shelby going down that road again. Cooper just isn’t world-class. As for Nico, let’s hope it was truly a one off, because he looked really rough.
She never rebuilt credibility No admission. No reconciliation tour. No acknowledgment of responsibility. Compare that to athletes who at least own it and slowly work back in. Brands see pure downside She’s older. She’s already proven how good she can be there’s no “upside story.” Any sponsor gets backlash and zero goodwill. Even finishing 4th doesn’t change the risk calculus. Athletes don’t want the association Training groups don’t want the distraction. Teammates don’t want whispers. Coaches don’t want questions they can’t answer.
Good thing that Rekrunner only reads doping threads. Otherwise you'd be sorry 😞
Ha! Too late. He gets notifications if you mention Foolagain or WreakRunner, and has his canned Presumtions replies ready to altC and altV.
