Alyssa Montano - Shaking My Head

Djdnfnfnf wrote:

As one earlier poster me mentioned, the real story is that she gave Martinez the inside and the bronze.

When I watched the race in real time, and saw her drifting outwards at the end of the race, my initial thought was that she did it purposely to try and block any more runners from passing her on her right side. Kind of like Cliff Huxtable trying to shove Tailwind Turner wide at the end of their 4x400m race. :)

The criticism of this athlete shows the ignorance of some people. I'd rather see her run the way she did as opposed to a "tactical" race, when they jog the first lap in 65 seconds, and sprint the straight for home and end up running 2:05. She left her best race on the track; not running 10 seconds slower than her best like some of our 1500 men contestants did and not make the final. She did her best, and you know what? She beat everyone in the world except three people, and came within a couple of inches of a medal. What's wrong with that? I applaud her and respect the fact she made a race of the event.

T&F Nut wrote:

The criticism of this athlete shows the ignorance of some people. I'd rather see her run the way she did as opposed to a "tactical" race, when they jog the first lap in 65 seconds, and sprint the straight for home and end up running 2:05. She left her best race on the track; not running 10 seconds slower than her best like some of our 1500 men contestants did and not make the final. She did her best, and you know what? She beat everyone in the world except three people, and came within a couple of inches of a medal. What's wrong with that? I applaud her and respect the fact she made a race of the event.

Is this her coach or even Montano herself?

There has never been a championship race when they ran the first lap in 65.

What people are saying here, she goes out way too fast and dies. She needs to learn how to control her energy. It's ok to front run, but not the ways she does.

After reading this post, it's shame. She will never medal with this attitude.

I was a fan of hers, now I am not. She is suborn and unwillingness to try other racing tactics.

I gave up on her.

... And what was the result?

Results first. If you don't get the results you want, change your strategy and try again.

T&F Nut wrote:

The criticism of this athlete shows the ignorance of some people. I'd rather see her run the way she did as opposed to a "tactical" race, when they jog the first lap in 65 seconds, and sprint the straight for home and end up running 2:05. She left her best race on the track; not running 10 seconds slower than her best like some of our 1500 men contestants did and not make the final. She did her best, and you know what? She beat everyone in the world except three people, and came within a couple of inches of a medal. What's wrong with that? I applaud her and respect the fact she made a race of the event.

No, your post shows your ignorance. The Women's 800 at the Olympics or World Championships has not been run in 2:05 since 1960. It has always been won in under 2:00 since 1972.

What's wrong with beating everyone except three people? She had the talent to not only medal, but win. Her poor decision on tactics cost her a medal. This MIGHT be understandable if this was her first appearance at a world championships final, but she made the same mistake in London. And, no, she did not make a race of the event. She was too far out in front. The real race was way behind her. Her "race" came in the last 50 meters when she was completely spent.

You can applaud and respect her - but your criticism of other posters here shows your ignorance.

Here is the unfortunate truth wrote:

Some people just do not learn regardless of how many races they have run.

There may be an interesting psychological aspect a professional shrink could analyze that links her public statements to her racing style.

If you've ever heard her interviewed about the why she wears the flower in her hair, it's always the same rhetoric... I'm a bold woman, I'm a strong woman, I'm a courageous woman, the flower represents my boldness and my strength and my courage... blah blah blah blah... there may be a link between her obsessive/compulsive need to consistently remind people that she is bold, strong, and courageous to her zany & kamikaze front running tactics.

sp23 wrote:

'Well, she's run 1:57 this way!'

...is also not one. It's completely irrelevant to the question.

If you'd read the whole thread, you might have seen me mention how she has never gone 1:57 by starting slower. Always around 27 low. 28 just doesn't get her there.

I think what is confusing most of you is you're skinny. She's not skinny. She's big, and has to rely on her type2b power for advantage, because her aerobic systems can carry her only so fast.

[quote]building most of that ridiculous first-lap lead in just the first 200.

The first 200 is almost entirely anaerobic. About 10 seconds of ATP-CP, then anaerobic glycolysis. It takes that long for aerobic systems to get into gear. If your advantage is anaerobic power, the first 200 meters is where to use it.

I guess you can't expect a skinny distance runner to know a simple thing like that. But now that you do, consider stepping off your soapbox and finding a thread you're more competent to comment on.

There are too many races these days that look like a group training run, someone like Montano makes a race more interesting to watch. Go back and watch some of the MD races from the 70s and 80s when you had guys like Filbert Bayai, the flying Singh, Yifter, Pre, Ryun, Rono and Johnny Gray and then tell me what you think. Sometimes the out-of-the-box tactics worked and sometimes they didn't, but it was always interesting. I use to watch track & field on Wide World of Sports in prime time and the various characters and tatics are what made it intersting.

Everybody can't have the same strategy, nowadays everybody wants to out kick each other.

TrackCoach wrote:

There are too many races these days that look like a group training run, someone like Montano makes a race more interesting to watch. Go back and watch some of the MD races from the 70s and 80s when you had guys like Filbert Bayai, the flying Singh, Yifter, Pre, Ryun, Rono and Johnny Gray and then tell me what you think. Sometimes the out-of-the-box tactics worked and sometimes they didn't, but it was always interesting. I use to watch track & field on Wide World of Sports in prime time and the various characters and tatics are what made it intersting.

Everybody can't have the same strategy, nowadays everybody wants to out kick each other.

No one is saying that Alyssa should not front run. Re-read the posts. She needs to run slower the first lap, and still front run, so she has more left in the tank the last 100m.

Anyways, I rather win a medal than make things interesting. If her goal is to make things interesting, she will never medal.

She runs like mad women.

Bad Wigins wrote:

56 is exactly how fast a 52.09 400 runner should go out. It's 93 percent of 400 race pace, the equivalent of 50.5 for a 47-second 400 runner.

...and how did that work out. A sprinter should go out slower because they lack the endurance not faster

Maybe if she had done even pace 56 it might have worked out 28.0 1st 200m instead of 26.9

T&F Nut wrote:

The criticism of this athlete shows the ignorance of some people. I'd rather see her run the way she did as opposed to a "tactical" race, when they jog the first lap in 65 seconds, and sprint the straight for home and end up running 2:05. She left her best race on the track; not running 10 seconds slower than her best like some of our 1500 men contestants did and not make the final. She did her best, and you know what? She beat everyone in the world except three people, and came within a couple of inches of a medal. What's wrong with that? I applaud her and respect the fact she made a race of the event.

Clearly you know little about track. Its a race not a time trial

Balian wrote:

Gutsy run. But she drifted out of lane one towads the end and this let a hard charging Martinez come through.

What was sorry was the announcer who refused to admit that Martinez was 3rd when it was very obvious she had secured that position. Maybe sadder that when Frank missed Ereng at the finish of the '88 OG 800.

She ran like an idiot.

Djdnfnfnf wrote:

As one earlier poster me mentioned, the real story is that she gave Martinez the inside and the bronze.

No, because then Martinez would have gone around her, and Poistogova and Wilson would have passed her as well.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Maybe if she had done even pace 56 it might have worked out 28.0 1st 200m instead of 26.9

In all the years she has been a top world elite, do you suppose she has never tried going out in 28?

See if you can find me an example of Montano going out in 28 and finishing faster than 1:58.

Bad Wigins wrote:

See if you can find me an example of Montano going out in 28 and finishing faster than 1:58.

1) She's never gone out that slow;

2) Show me a race where she's bettered 60 seconds the second 400 meters and there isn't one, which proves the point, she is weak the second lap and needs to work on it.

2) Show me a race where she's bettered 60 seconds the second 400 meters and there isn't one, which proves the point, she is weak the second lap and needs to work on it.[/quote]

This is correct.

I will say that frontrunning puts the question to the field, and if Sum wasn't so strong and didn't chase her, dragging the field with her, maybe they hesitate a little, Savinova chases with no draft for herself, Montano wins.

I'll also say that 26.8 is a little much.

I'd love to see what happens if she runs a bit slower. She at least put it all in and knew that she didn't leave it out there on the track.

She is gorgeous, too. Too bad she is married. Between Brenda, her, and Ajee (and all the randoms in the top 10) it is easy on the eyes to watch the event. Almost to the level of the US hurdles with Rollins, Queen, Castlin, Lolo, and a bunch of others.