Blue Collar or Yuppie runner 2021: Mark Coogan says Heather Maclean is a blue-collar kid

Dr Yuengling wrote:

It’s a false narrative though. What special work has been put in because she wasn’t rich and wasn’t an 8th grade prodigy?

The false part is entirely your invention. If you can't see why she's an exception to the rule, I certainly can't force you to.

big bopper wrote:

I am unaware

You could've just stopped right there.

former Iowa Great wrote:

No. Blue collar had a clear meaning for 100 years until very recently when young people starting using the term to mean hard working. Ask in the office on Monday and most people will telll you that white collar means office and blue collar means manual labor. I hate when people try to redefine words to their benefit.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/120215/blue-collar-vs-white-collar-different-social-classes.asp#:~:text=Blue%2Dcollar%20worker%20refers%20to,imply%20another%20physically%20exhausting%20task

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Words and terms get redefined all the time. It's a natural linguistic process but I actually am with you here. The white collar/blue collar distinction was about "mental" versus physical labor. If we apply that distinction to running or to professional sports in general, ALL athletes are blue collar because they earn their livings from physical, not mental effort. (Yes, chess and poker are notable exceptions.)

In sports, the distinction seems between athletes who looked from early in their careers like someone who could be great and was given opportunities to fulfill that potential for greatness versus someone who showed no special potential and was given far fewer opportunities to become great. If I were to draw such a distinction, I'd look at the colleges that looked at a particular athlete. If a distance runner was hearing from Oregon, Wisconsin, Syracuse, etc., or had shoe companies offering professional contracts, I'd vote for white collar. If you were looking at St. Francis of Pa., U Mass, a Patriot League school and so on I'd vote blue collar.