Jim Ryun in the 800 meters at the 1968 Olympic Trials in Lake Tahoe. He dropped out of the race, despite being the world record holder.
Also, if Ryun was at a level to win a gold medal in Munich in the 1500 meters (as some believe), surely his fourth place finish in the 1972 Olympic Trials for 800 meters was a choke.
Since Pekka Vasala ran the 800 meters in 1972 in 1:44.5, it's hard to see how Jim Ryun would have beaten him in the 1500 meters, based on their 800 meter performances that year.
Geezus, thank you.
People here have serious spelling inabilities.
A "chocker"? Really? That's how you think it's spelled? "Chock"?!
Honestly. And this is from people whose first language is f ucking English.
Yup... Mamede. total head case.
Not to take anything away from Billy Mills because that guy had a heart of a lion, but Ron Clarke of Australia in 1964....that dude blew it.
Wow, I wonder how many of you with opinions have actually been in the position of stepping on the track at the Olympic games. If you haven't, you can't imagine how hard it is to not even choke at the starting line.
ptwife wrote:
Wow, I wonder how many of you with opinions have actually been in the position of stepping on the track at the Olympic games. If you haven't, you can't imagine how hard it is to not even choke at the starting line.
It wouldn't be choking if there wasn't pressure.
Don't act like you've been on the line either, get off the nuts.
Slowpokeman wrote:
And, I was a fan of his up to that point, but the way he completely cut up his USA jersey upset me at the time.
Just another hoser wrote:
I'm not an American (though I'm married to one and live in the states) but even way back then I thought it was a ridiculous move. Not only did it offend people but he looked like an idiot.
What a jerk. He should have just suffered heat stroke so as not to offend you.
Herb Elliott - anything post 1960
OSU at this years NCAA XC championships
Ouch in Oklahoma wrote:
OSU at this years NCAA XC championships
I mean add in German Fernandez and they were 3rd and came in ranked 2nd. They ran poorly, but I wouldn't consider that one of the worst choking moments in running, not even close.
The biggest chokers are all the Rupp haters that are choking on his c*ck & b@lls after he laid it down yesterday.
Anyone who has had success would never ever respond to a thread about choking let alone starting a thread about choking. I had to click on this just to see the respondents.
Get strong by moving forward and don't revel in other's foul ups.
Kendra Schaaf at NCAA Nats this year.
Sorry but this needs to be corrected, Joe didn't choke in the 1988 finals...it was not made public at the time, but he got food poisoning from a hotel meal after the semi-finals and experienced vomiting and severe dehydration leading up to the finals. He was far from 100% when he ran the finals...hope that clears it up for you. Unfortunately my brother just had horrible luck when it came to the Olympic Trials....
chelanga failing to defeat rupp
Gabe Jennings in Sydney. He was expected to medal, and he didn't make it past the first round.
Morceli in 1992. I mean he won the world championships in 1991, 1993 and 1995 in dominant fashion over the last lap and he got 7th+ in Barcelona, not even in contention. What a puss.
Nobody expected Gabe Jennings to medal except Gabe Jennings -- and doing so messed him up for the next year or two. He would have been over-achieving if he had even made the final. Good runner that year, but not an Olympic medalist by any stretch of the imagination.
Ron Clarke was not a choker. He was just not a big kicker, and if you aren't a big kicker in an Olympic distance final, you're going to be extremely lucky to even medal, much less win.
And to the "TrackCoach" who claims Jim Ryun "clearly" choked in 1968: Patently untrue.
To save myself the work, I'll just cut-and-paste from Wikipedia: "Having completely recovered from mononucleosis in the spring of 1968, he won a silver medal in the 1500 meters that autumn in the high altitude of Mexico City, losing to Kip Keino from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1,500-meter record for 16 years. (Before the race Ryun had thought that a time of 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude of Mexico City. He ended up running faster than that with a 3:37.8, but Keino's 3:34.9 was too tough to beat at that altitude. Years later, in 1981, he told Tex Maule in an interview for The Runner magazine, "We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level." Ryun was attacked by some writers who believed he had let his nation down. "Some even said I had let down the whole world. I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly.")
Keino also had a Kenyan countryman who set a blazing pace, which worked in Keino's favor. Privately, Ryun has expressed some bitterness about this.
Running 3:37.8 at 7,469 feet? That ain't chokin', that's haulin' ass.