HRE wrote:
Tell Jim Ryun, Ron Clarke, and everyone in the Olympic marathons from 1956 to 1972 and anyone who raced Henry Rono there was scarcely any African competition before the late 1980s.
The scale is vastly different.
HRE wrote:
Tell Jim Ryun, Ron Clarke, and everyone in the Olympic marathons from 1956 to 1972 and anyone who raced Henry Rono there was scarcely any African competition before the late 1980s.
The scale is vastly different.
Of course the scale is different. 2015 is not 1968 or 1960. But people keep trotting out this nonsense that fast Africans are something new. They aren't and it's an insult to the ones who achieved so much decades ago to dismiss their careers and it's an insult to the athletes who beat them to say "Oh, they didn't have to race Africans."
HRE wrote:
Tell Jim Ryun, Ron Clarke, and everyone in the Olympic marathons from 1956 to 1972 and anyone who raced Henry Rono there was scarcely any African competition before the late 1980s.
If I met them I would tell them exactly that. Kenya did not have world beating marathoners until around 1988 and even then during the period between 1988 and 2008, Kenya never sent their best marathoners to the Olympics or world champs. Wanjiru was the 1st top tier Kenyan to race in an Olympic marathon.
As for Henry Rono, during this era, the number of runners coming out of Africa was not as numerous as it is now. The number of runners coming out of kenya has exploded in the last 20 year or so largely due to an increase in poverty and also because Kenya's population has doubled in the period between 1984 and 2014
Same applies to Ethiopia. Whereas they had one really good marathoner in 1964, now they always have many. At any Olympics, there are at least 3 or 4 Ethiopians who could win gold.
Aside from that, numerous other African nations are producing runners.
If Ryun was running today , he would face competition not just from Keino but also from 3 or 4 other Kenyans plus North Africans many of whom would be representing Bahrain and Qatar.
Same applies to Ron Clarke. He faced no competition from any Kenyan in 1964. And the only Ethiopian he had to worry about was Mamo Wolde. Were he running today, he would have to worry about at least 5 Kenyans two of whom would be running for Bahrain and Qatar plus 3 Ethiopians each and another Ethiopian representing Sweden each of whom is capable of beating him.
When Bernard Lagat defected to the US, he says that one of the reason he left was because when he attended Kenyan trials, he was scared to death because even in his prime, there were 5 runners capable of beating him: Noah Ngeny, Laban Rotich et al.
HRE wrote:
Of course the scale is different. 2015 is not 1968 or 1960. But people keep trotting out this nonsense that fast Africans are something new. They aren't and it's an insult to the ones who achieved so much decades ago to dismiss their careers and it's an insult to the athletes who beat them to say "Oh, they didn't have to race Africans."
No one on this thread has said fast Africans are a new concept.
But what is new is the sheer volume of African runners. Back in the 1960s, 1970s and especially the 1980s, it was not uncommon to find a distance finals with no Kenyan. In fact I was looking at the 1983 world championship results and not only did no Kenyan win a medal but there was really no Kenyan in contention to win a medal.
Proving that westerners were capable of beating Kenyans. There were actually quite a few of them around then. And then came the surrender.
Westerners are capable of beating Africans anytime. It just happens with less frequency because there are far more Africans running today.
100% agree. Like how Americans should stop giving cash and undeserved attention to dopers and foreign creeps nobody cares about like Deba, Tsegaye, Kipsang, and Meb.
Only white people should win wrote:
Top news in Sweden today. The Stockholm marathon has announced that only Scandinavian runners will receive price money. They are tired of kenyans and ethiopians winning every year, and so only Scandinavian people will be able to get price money. If a kenyan show up and win, he will get nothing.
http://www.dn.se/sport/bara-nordbor-far-prispengar-i-stockholm-marathon/
ok, i like your idiot train of thought, i'm going to kenya and demand to run as a transgender woman and i must begiven top prize money and a place on the olympic team. it's my rights. kenyans have no rights
Jerry Cann wrote:
HRE wrote:
Of course the scale is different. 2015 is not 1968 or 1960. But people keep trotting out this nonsense that fast Africans are something new. They aren't and it's an insult to the ones who achieved so much decades ago to dismiss their careers and it's an insult to the athletes who beat them to say "Oh, they didn't have to race Africans."
No one on this thread has said fast Africans are a new concept.
But what is new is the sheer volume of African runners. Back in the 1960s, 1970s and especially the 1980s, it was not uncommon to find a distance finals with no Kenyan. In fact I was looking at the 1983 world championship results and not only did no Kenyan win a medal but there was really no Kenyan in contention to win a medal.
nonono.
bullcrap, us universities was full of africans over age in the 80's.
henry rono, kimwambwa?, nyambui, sydnee marie and etc. etc. etc. 3 WRs right there.
american college boys against world class in their prime african men.
the home grown athletes were completely cheated.
it's like a 160 pounder taking on a heavyweight in boxing.
of course some strawney pathetic white jerk want's to scream racism, what makes these guys go?
somehow its always a case to make racism these days.
actually it's reverse racism, sticking up for your group is bad, you have to stick up for a random bunch of losers or whatever.
somehow, if kenya does not have medals its racism then?
like in 83 there were no africans in the world champs?
in 68 africans won everything, completely
rono had all the world records in early 80s
in 80 yifter won OG
in 84 OG africans won medals
don't be racist, and take care of your own.