they were both world class milers of similar abilities, I think Centrowitz came away with more hardware in his career and an Olympic title.
No idea why MG would try and suggest they are so different.
Well Nick is sponsored by Tracksmith now. I believe MG was talking A LOT about Tracksmith the last time he talked with JG, and how they were going to help save Track & Field.
I think the LR article here gave a great, straight forward analysis of just how wrong Gladwell is. For someone who's famous for writing about unconscious biases and using data to back up his takes, he was surprisingly comfortable putting out a really weak take. He misses that he's judging Willis over a 20 year stretch compared to a 12/13 one for Centro and doesn't seem to be aware Centro has a better global resume over the course of a decade. Fan's weird obsession with a D-list celebrity like Gladwell is part of what stunts track's growth. A lot of T/F media members revere him, and give him a loud voice because of that. In reality he's not super knowledgeable or particularly qualified to opine on the sport and he ends up spreading misinformation or dishonest analysis. I like a lot of what Epstein and Citius do, but giving this guy a platform because he has mild clout isn't the move.
I'd respect Nick's case even I disagreed with it because I know he has a greater understanding of the sport's history, training, difficulty, competition, etc. than almost everyone on this site. That's not to say a casual fan can't have a valid or well-thought-out opinion on running, just that the amount of power Gladwell holds is disproportionate to his amount of knowledge.
What's crazy is I just roughly calculated Centrow's splits. He's ran very similar times in both races and yet in one he finished 8th and one he finished 2nd.
What's really crazy about 2015 is how good everyone else was? Was the EPO just better that year or what? Kiprop closed in like 38.0. Ridiculous.
I think there's some subtleties to it. 2013 was more of a cagey finish with everyone waiting for Kiprop's move and Chepseba out in front. You can tell nobody is dying at the finish and everyone is basically at top gear with some to spare. In 2015, Makhloufi goes out flying from 300 away and everyone is all out from there. Willis, Manangoi and Tim have saved something for the homestretch but the rest not so much. Centro clearly wasted too much energy earlier in the race to only muster a 40.5. The field is 2015 is better too with Iguider, Manangoi and Makhloufi all in it.
Well Nick is sponsored by Tracksmith now. I believe MG was talking A LOT about Tracksmith the last time he talked with JG, and how they were going to help save Track & Field.
Exactly. Gladwell's poem was used for a Tracksmith commercial, and Tracksmith heavily promoted Gladwell when he raced Chris Chavez, while wearing Tracksmith. He's just a fan of a brand that promotes him, and Nick runs for/works for them. Centro runs for Nike which does not promote Malcolm Gladwell or use him in its advertising, as far as I'm aware.
The more I think about it the more classic "Gladwell" this statement is.
- Start with a profound-sounding, but actually not all that interesting thesis: "our perceptions are skewed by peak performance"
- Then get your facts wrong to prove your thesis
1) Centro had "one great race" when he was actually an extremely consistently world class for six years and the top American for closer to 10...
2) Nick Willis was "a threat to win any big race he was in" when he LITERALLY has never won a single big race, he maybe has one win if you count the commonwealth games.
Maybe he meant to say Alan Webb, although that only works in terms of career longevity and major championship medals (neither of which he had), but not in terms of competitiveness, as Webb won Pre and Ostrava and others.
Gladballs should be tarred and feathered for sharing any of his silly opinions. Go *actually* get good at something before you relentlessly blabber on about it you blowhard nitwit!
not sure if this was mentioned yet, but I think Willis 2008 OG silver equates Centrowitz's 2016 OG gold as Willis was 2nd only to a convicted doper
Well Centro finished behind only the same guy in 2011 and 2013. So if you want to upgrade Centro to a silver in 2011 and a gold in 2013, feel free. I find it hard to believe that Centro in Willis' place does worse than two bronzes at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. Just watched those races, and they make Gladwell's threat to win any race comments even more mind-boggling.
The more I think about it the more classic "Gladwell" this statement is.
- Start with a profound-sounding, but actually not all that interesting thesis: "our perceptions are skewed by peak performance"
- Then get your facts wrong to prove your thesis
1) Centro had "one great race" when he was actually an extremely consistently world class for six years and the top American for closer to 10...
2) Nick Willis was "a threat to win any big race he was in" when he LITERALLY has never won a single big race, he maybe has one win if you count the commonwealth games.
Its a freaking opinion, for god's sake. Gladwell isn't the end-all authority on elite running, so who really cares? And I like Gladwell for the most part.
