BREAKING: Matt Tegenkamp retires from pro running!

Great article on Teg. There was one remark made that he was the first MO high school athlete to break 9:00 which is not entirely correct. Chris Borsa broke 9:00 back in 1985 running 8:54 (Chris ran for CBC high school). Joe Falcon also broke 9:00 running a time of 8:53 in 1984.

Teg was the first one to break 9:00 at the State meet though, while the above runners did so at other meets during the season and not the state meet.

Matt will be missed for sure

Wow, I forgot Teg beat Ritz at USA Jr cross; Ritz was pretty much a XC God at that time. Btw, unless you follow running really close, it is hard to understand to understand while finishing 3rd and 5th at W Jr XC is such a big deal. - Good list.

newname wrote:

Teg was a better 3k and 5k runner than Webb. Not might have been ... WAS.

Looking back at it, Teg's pro career compares very favorably to Webb's. They both have one American Record. Teg was faster at the 3000, 2 mile, 5000 and 10,000. They both had a high water mark of 4th in a World Championships, but Teg made more WC and Olympic teams (and made the Olympic finals when he had rounds in the 5000). The big marks in favor of Webb are the Golden League win, the fact that his AR was in a higher profile event and that he had 3 US Titles to Teg's 1.

Time to stop and smell the roses Matt.

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

The rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of his hand

~

rojo wrote:

Without Lagat, Teg would have won USAs 2006-2009 as he was the runner-up in 2007, 08 and 09.

No, dumbass. Teg won USAs in 2009. Lagat didn't run the 5k.

can anyone find video of the race?

race of 2009 USATF 5k... sorry

Matt was an all-time US stud runner, obviously.

But he should also be remembered for having very broad shoulders and very good upper body muscle definition for a runner.

He was a very aesthetically pleasing athlete in his prime.

Bravo.

chjhcjh wrote:

Matt was an all-time US stud runner, obviously.

But he should also be remembered for having very broad shoulders and very good upper body muscle definition for a runner.

He was a very aesthetically pleasing athlete in his prime.

Bravo.

Oh boy...I sure hope that you are a female. Nothing against homsexuality, but a man simply should not write something like the above post.

2009 US Championship race (with commentary by Wejo and Rojo)

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=14573#ooid=w3cXVuOr4BqJbmScv7WJqoclkcfRbt1t

club 8 hunnit wrote:

race of 2009 USATF 5k... sorry

Yes, the video is on our article - with commentary from yours truly and wejo. I TOTALLY forgot I'd ever done play by play for a video broadcast. One year, Masback let us do a radio broadcat of the 10k.

When I was watching the video yesterday, I thought to myself, "That sounds like Weldon. Then I thought, No that's Ritz. Then I thought, Wait that sounds like me."

I am pretty happy with how it sounded. Not sure if I ever listened to it. I dont think we even had much time to prepare for it.They said maybe they'd want us to do it and then came over to us and said, "HEy do you want to do it." I thought we did a good job of carrying on a conversation, giving splits and talking about things not in the screen (mainly German). And when the race was over, we realized there was still a race going on."

Negatives, my mic was no where near my face so it was hard to hear me a few times. A few awkward silences but that was better than saying something stupid.

Agents, we are available ;)

Homunculus wrote:

Looking back at it, Teg's pro career compares very favorably to Webb's. They both have one American Record. Teg was faster at the 3000, 2 mile, 5000 and 10,000. They both had a high water mark of 4th in a World Championships, but Teg made more WC and Olympic teams (and made the Olympic finals when he had rounds in the 5000). The big marks in favor of Webb are the Golden League win, the fact that his AR was in a higher profile event and that he had 3 US Titles to Teg's 1.[/quote]

What???

When was Webb 4th at Worlds?

Webb 2004 - out in heats.

Webb 2005 - 9th at Worlds

Webb 2007 - 8th at Worlds

That being said, a 2-mile US recod doesn't compare to Webb's mile AR even if the two mile was done on national tv and the mile was done in front of crickets. Plus the sub-3 in HS and the 3:53 that got him on lettermen.

The 2001 USA final was shown on SportsCenter live. A great creative marketing move by Masback. Teg may have obectively had the better overall pro career but how many people turned on the tv, thinking, "I've got to watch Teg run."

I did that for Webb several times. In HS, when he ran Pre. And the 1500 final at Worlds the year he had won in Paris. And that's not even counting the Sportscenter race as I was there.

What about wrote:

Why Retire. wrote:

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

Mo Trafeh retired recently as well I heard

Lagats retireing too. Another one gone

sandybeaver wrote:

Well this was not a huge surprise, remember that interview he gave a while back about how old he felt (he was like 32 at the time)?

Agreed, this has mostly been a love-in for Teg, as it should be, but the last 2-3 years have been a huge disappointment and a sour end to a brilliant career. In fact he really hasn't put up a world class (US Class, maybe, World, no) performance since 2009 when he ran 12:58. or his 2007 2 mile in 8:07 was truly amazing, esp considering his relatively sluggish 1500m/Mile PBs.

When he said he was "too old" for the 5k and moving up, he should have just hung up his spikes/shoes, he was done. At a similar age Teg said was too old, Mo was winning championships and actually getting faster, setting PBs and running the 1500 about 6 seconds faster than Teg.

My guess is that Schumacher burnt out Teg, just like he burnt out Bairu and the "bulletproof" Solinsky.

kdieic wrote:

chjhcjh wrote:

Matt was an all-time US stud runner, obviously.

But he should also be remembered for having very broad shoulders and very good upper body muscle definition for a runner.

He was a very aesthetically pleasing athlete in his prime.

Bravo.

Oh boy...I sure hope that you are a female. Nothing against homsexuality, but a man simply should not write something like the above post.

I'm straight as an arrow, son; people who are secure in their sexuality aren't afraid to appreciate physical beauty in others. Check out this image:

Look at the shoulder to waist ratio. What power. What grace. Bravo.

chjhcjh wrote:

kdieic wrote:

Oh boy...I sure hope that you are a female. Nothing against homsexuality, but a man simply should not write something like the above post.

I'm straight as an arrow, son; people who are secure in their sexuality aren't afraid to appreciate physical beauty in others. Check out this image:

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/matthew-tegenkamp-of-the-united-states-leads-the-pack-as-he-news-photo/82476314?esource=AFF_GI_PHG&source=&aid=skimlinks_phg&cid=110l14&lid=0&asid=

Look at the shoulder to waist ratio. What power. What grace. Bravo.

Well, to each his own...I am not going to be gushing over Tegenkamp's body, but as you say, it does something for you.

hundo

Another one gone wrote:

What about wrote:

Mo Trafeh retired recently as well I heard

Lagats retireing too. Another one gone

Haile Gebrselassie is another one who retired less than a year ago. Who else we got?

The testing has changed and athletes are going to either retire or make excuses not to compete at certain events. BTW what happened to Kenny B. And Abdi Abdomino just dropped out of the U.S olympic marathon trials. I tell you the testing is getting better.