Disgrace of the year? TFN ranks Matthew Centrowitz #5 in its 2016 1500/mile rankings

LRC got it right wrote:

Olympic heat and semi are more important than a diamond league. An Olympic semi is more competitive than a diamond league race. Everyone peaks for the Olympics. That should be worth five diamond league wins.

Oly heats more competitive than Diamonds???

Laughable! The most competitive racing possible in any mid or distance event wouldn't even include euros or US!!! Oly's are cluttered with athletes from all over diluting the talent pool (Africans)

Centro ran the tactical race of his lifetime but that will never happen again. He'll, my money's on Murphy to soon supplant Centro as us #1.

The list is available online, but this is what they have.

On not counting indoors, I don't see that in their criteria. This is what they have online:

I think the factor that tipped it to Rowbury was the same thing took Kiprop to #1 despite a poor Olympic race -- Diamond League points. Kiprop dominated Diamond League which more than made up for the Olympic debacle. Rowbury finished 3rd in Diamond League points, Simpson only 8th. Plus, I think WINNING counts for a lot, especially the Diamond League final which counts for 20 points, and in the minds of the T&FN voters. Centro winning the gold medal got him 5th place with nothing else on his resume -- that tells me winning counts for a lot. People might be upset but I think his 5th considering he ran and won only 1 international competition all year is pretty good. I doubt very much you could find another #5 ranker who got that ranking based on just 1 international race won all season.

Centro should not get a clear path to number 1 based on Oly performance for several reasons.

1. Slowest Oly 1500 since 1914 Olympics.

2. His 1500 time at Rio wold not win the paralympic 1500 t13 heat (visually impaired). He would have been 4th.

3. Winning tactically matters but historically slow time does affect the stature of Centro's gold.

4. Known by some, not all, Rio 1500 final athletes were corralled 15 minutes before start shutting down their warm-ups. --- Apparently most athletes agreed beforehand to that take it out slow because no warmup. Worked well for Centro.

Not so much for Kiprop.

Yay for Centro & US but Centro seems robbed by these rankings only by Leo Manzano @ 4th.

I do think the idea of including indoors changes the game.

Being indoor and outdoor champ the same year is a nice accomplishment.

The big factors after the championship is series of marks and head to head competition.

That's where winning the US trials is nice but doesn't help as a major factor.

He is not facing the other world ranked runners head-to-head there.

I'd still give credit for it, though, but no where near the credit of winning a Diamond League event.

I would like to see the qualifying path for the World Championships totally change.

I would throw out countries selecting teams of three.

Instead I'd have a series of scored events.

I would place the top 30 scorers in the championships and give 6 wild card spots to the top 6 performers.

So either put up one fast time to get there or race your where there through a series of races.

If that gives you ten Kenyans, so be it. The best should be there.

That would give you more head to head races to judge from and ensure a good field with an equal path to the championships.

Anyone who is good and is healthy should be able to make it to the event.

Maybe give the top 12 a bye to the semis to reward them for a good season.

(I think I have gotten off subject)

It seems that the T&FN rankings look at the entire season and an athlete's ability to "maintain high standards over a whole year"

Simpson got the early wins against Rowbury (Prefontaine and USA Champs) as well as a medal in Rio

Rowbury ran a very strong full indoor season. I'm assuming she took a break after indoors and that is why she wasn't in sharp form when the early outdoor races were contested.

However, Rowbury was a close 4th behind Simpson in Rio and then she beat Simpson in both DL races after the Olympics.

Rowbury also posted faster times than Simpson, won a DL race and set an American Record at 5000m to cap off a great season.

Metric Miler wrote:

Apart from Olympic Gold, Centro showed no signs of being world number 1. It was a surprise to everyone that he won.

He showed great tactics in the final but that doesn't make him ranked number one across the entire year.

Does anyone know how rankings work in snooker or tennis? It is very easy to be ranked 2nd or 3rd and win Wimbledon. Ask Andy Murray.

If you don't race often, such as Ronnie O'Sullivan has decided to not play many snooker matches often lately, you can still win the highest competition in the year. That doesn't then make you number one. You have to win many ranked matches. Centro didn't.

Kiprop #1

Makh #2

Centro #3

I can understand people not having Centro at #1, but #5 is ridiculo.

It was not a surprise to everyone that Centro won.

It was not a surprise to me.

I thought that Centro would win the Olympic Gold.

There are 3 reasons why it was not a surprise to me

1) I read this post by wejo ( What???):

wejo said:

This was so good and beautiful I'm starting another thread because Matt Centrowitz wasn't done after he ran 1:49.3 for 800 AFTER the meet. He came back 10-15 minute later and ran another one in 1:47.9 (with a running start).

I started another thread after the first 800 here:

This was a thing of beauty. I'm sitting here uploading some videos, typing about the meet. I hear some splits being yelled and think it's some dad yelling at his kid as there is some activity on the track. I look up and it's Centro being paced I think by Kyle Merber. I hear 53-54-55 as they hit the 800. Another guy in a NOP shirt jumped in on the 2nd lap and Centro motored all the way around again to the finish.

It had to be an 800 and I'm pretty sure I heard someone say 1:49.3. Pretty impressive as Centro only ran 1:47.17 in the race today.

I thought that was it, but they were still jogging around the track. And then it was on again. Merber leading with a running start and I timed this one.27.8, 54.55 (26.7), 1:21.43 (26.9), 1:48.1 (26.7). Merber dropped out after a lap and the other guy paced Centro the second lap. Assistant Coach Pete Julian yelled to Alberto 1:47.9. They were both very happy.

It was cool to see Alberto hobbling/jogging across the infield giving him splits as the crew cleaned up. "Come on Matthew" or something along the lines he yelled as he was I thought very happy during the second one.

Centro's ready for Rio.

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2) I also watched Mo and Centro do some workouts together in Flagstaff. Centro was ahead of Sir Mo a lot.

3) I also heard about another workout before the Olympics by Centro:

Then I had 2 thoughts:

1) Centro is going to win the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1500m.

2)…….I feel like I am going to pass out again………………………………… ………………………………

olyrun wrote:

Take away the cameras, medals and hype the Olympic 1500 is just another race on the Diamond League schedule. In that context Centro's performance was very good but not great. He had a very good season but others had better and he was ranked accordingly. His full potential will be seen in the 5000.

Take away all the things that make the Olympics special and it's just another track meet? Wow what an enlightening thought

The whole point of racing the the world level is to win the Olympics and World Championships, not "being ready for Zurich."

I'm sure Centrowitz is gutted that some desk jockeys ranked him #5. He probably wishes he'd not geared everything toward winning in Rio, but had raced and traveled a lot more instead so he would be higher in year-end rankings.

Olympic Gold Medal gets you past the velvet ropes a lot faster than a win at Doha or something.

I was surprised to see that Steve Cram had ranked #1 in the 1500m five times from 1982-88, while Steve Ovett was #1 three times, and Seb Coe ranked #1 just twice.

So, essentially, Kiprop won three DL races between May 6 and June 9 and he's world #1, despite finishing fifth in the Olympics.

Kiprop also ran the fastest time in the world in both the 1500 and the mile, and was the only one under 3:30 last year.

Kiprop won 4 international races (Eugene, Oslo, Brimingham and Doha) plus the Kenyan Trials.

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

macdaddy wrote:

Again... I'm sure he would take the Olympic gold over anything (who wouldn't), but beating a 40 year old Nick Willis @ the Indoor Champs, not winning a single international outdoor race and not cracking the top 15/20 time in your event does not make you the best runner of the year.

Back in the day when a youngster named Nick Willis was embarrassing us with great times at 17/18 it was reality check but I'm pretty sure I'm no where near 40 and Nick Willis is younger than me.

It looks like the 33 year old "wee sparra' Kiwi Nick Willis has a few words for Mr. Centrowitz to start the year 2017:

Here is the recent media release from Mr. Centrowitz to Mr. Willis:

3 x mile --> 4:05, 4:01, 3:57. Not bad for December

Centro goes 4:05, 4:01, 3:57 in 3 x mile workout 12/8/2016 5:17PM

wowza

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This is insane.

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Oh boy.

Take that Nick "wee sparra" Willis!

homunculus wrote:

It should be noted that the importance of a meet is relative to who competes in it, not how much stock an athlete or their fans might place in it.

So by this criteria winning the US champs in the 100m hurdles means more than winning the Olympics?

That is ridiculous. Certain events (ie the Olympics) need to have a higher weighting regardless of who runs them.

I somewhat agree with the ranking, although I would put him at 4th. Centro had 2 significant victories, he didn't have a great season. I like the fact the rankings reflect an athlete's body of work over a season.

Look, I am not too into AMerican Runners but this is wrong. Centro is number 1 2016. period.

its all political. i guess....

I like the fact the rankings reflect an athlete's body of work over a season.[/quote]

The rankings don't reflect an athlete's body of work. If body of work was essential, Manzano would have been ranked MUCH lower, if at all.

Kenyan performances at the Olympics:

2000: Men: 2 medals outside the steeple, plus two there. Women: 1 medal.

2004: Men: two medals outside the steeple, plus a sweep of the steeple. Women: 2 silvers

2008: Men: seven medals outside the steeple, two in it.

women: five medals

2012: Men: four medals plus two in the steeple, two gold. Women: five medals, none gold.

2016: Men: six medals, including javelin and 400mH; women: seven medals.

six gold total with men's gold in the 800m, steeple, and marathon.

Brojos spent their entire year questioning NOP and Centro.

LRC contributed to his sad ranking.