1:42 Olympian Duane Solomon announces his retirement

I was unaware that he was still training seriously. He was a beast, and he came oh so close to greatness. It was terrible luck to have to face prime Rudisha and prime Nijel Amos in the same race at the 2012 Olympics. It doesn't get much tougher than that!

I assumed he retired when he had the worst blowup in track history at the trials a few years ago?

Rupp fan wrote:

He was a beast, and he came oh so close to greatness.

Which American 800 runner has been much greater? None of the 1:42's have really panned out globally.

Brazier got the WC gold because he caught the draft from giant Wesley Vazquez.

Another one that seems done is Boris Berrian. I hate to be the bad news bandit but New Balance really ate a crap sandwich with that one $100k a year and hasn't performed since. I get it injuries and all but that is like having a job that pays $100k a year and you are not completing your assigned tasks.

MyOriginalThough wrote:

Another one that seems done is Boris Berrian. I hate to be the bad news bandit but New Balance really ate a crap sandwich with that one $100k a year and hasn't performed since. I get it injuries and all but that is like having a job that pays $100k a year and you are not completing your assigned tasks.

Hell.

Be a Wall Street Hedge Fund CEO and make $1 billion plus in a year you lost your client's money

MyOriginalThough wrote:

Another one that seems done is Boris Berrian. I hate to be the bad news bandit but New Balance really ate a crap sandwich with that one $100k a year and hasn't performed since. I get it injuries and all but that is like having a job that pays $100k a year and you are not completing your assigned tasks.

Injuries don't take THAT long to get back from injury. Almost no 2018 season. No 2019 season.

His PR is from 2015, his indoor WC was against a weak field, his 2018 and 2019 were nonexistent. His fastest 800 since making the Olympic final is 1:45.72

From ages 25-27, he has seen comparatively young runners like Brazier and Murphy surpass him. Perhaps equally frustrating, is seeing people like Bryce Hoppel and Isaiah Harris have consistent success with slower PRs.

So it would be easy for Berian to become disheartened, and basically see running as his job. That guaranteed salary is probably enough for him to just sit back and coast into retirement.

Do you guys not understand how doping and the dopers timeline works. Here is a really simple timeline formula to follow

1) Athlete at stagnant or unknown performance level transforms in short period of time to elite level.

2) Athlete has incredibly good 1-3 seasons (usually 1-2 residual seasons where training/racing effect can be carried-over/maintained

3) Athlete usually succumbs to injury because doping helps athlete perform at level above what their natural talent is - as the improvement is artificial the body physically hasn't naturally adapted it simply can't sustain the stress it's been put under

4) Athlete disappears for a period of time, either never coming back or returns back to their natural performance level found in (1)

Very simple and oddly and invariably accurate.

This is a Duane Solomon thread, but I want to make sure poster you're discussing Boris Berian.

Berian's injury, 2016 was one or both Achilles. Many athletes in several sports are permanently ruined by Achilles injuries. Even if not a ruptured Achilles, Achilles may be damaged enough to reduce the quality of physical performance.

yeah sorry to derail the thread. I was talking about Berian.

Solomon undoubtedly had a better career than Berian (although he theoretically is not done).

At the '12 Trials Johnny Gray was about 10 rows behind me and just as the race ended I headed down to the rail to congratulate KD. Gray went bounding past me like a freight train. He must have been 75 pounds over his race weight of 165 at the time. As usual, another Trials final that provided lots of drama. I'm should be there right now watching Mens 1500 semi, Women's 800 and 5K, and Mens 10K Final tonight.

That sucks.

He should switch to the 60m dash instead and just do it for fun and see how fast he can get.

Duane is natural though so this doesn't apply to him.

did he say what his next career is going to be?

Thanks for some great races Duane. You helped elevate the US 800m and now the new kids will keep pushing the limits.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Rupp fan wrote:

He was a beast, and he came oh so close to greatness.

Which American 800 runner has been much greater? None of the 1:42's have really panned out globally.

Brazier got the WC gold because he caught the draft from giant Wesley Vazquez.

Our list of sub 1:43 guys is

Donavan BRAZIER

Johnny GRAY

Duane SOLOMON

Clayton MURPHY

Nick SYMMOND

I would say pretty much all of those athletes have been better than Solomon when you add up global medals and US titles.

matt_london_413 wrote:

Salvatore Stitchmo wrote:

Do you guys not understand how doping and the dopers timeline works. Here is a really simple timeline formula to follow

1) Athlete at stagnant or unknown performance level transforms in short period of time to elite level.

2) Athlete has incredibly good 1-3 seasons (usually 1-2 residual seasons where training/racing effect can be carried-over/maintained

3) Athlete usually succumbs to injury because doping helps athlete perform at level above what their natural talent is - as the improvement is artificial the body physically hasn't naturally adapted it simply can't sustain the stress it's been put under

4) Athlete disappears for a period of time, either never coming back or returns back to their natural performance level found in (1)

Very simple and oddly and invariably accurate.

Duane is natural though so this doesn't apply to him.

Clearly. He was a natural 1.45-47 runner because that's what he ran for the the six years over the bulk of his career, including what should historically have been his peak years. He was also then back to his natural 1.45 at the end of his career. So 9 seasons as a 1.45 runner and 3 as a 1.42/3 runner sandwiched towards the end of that. Yup, okay. Very "natural".

MyOriginalThough wrote:

Another one that seems done is Boris Berrian. I hate to be the bad news bandit but New Balance really ate a crap sandwich with that one $100k a year and hasn't performed since. I get it injuries and all but that is like having a job that pays $100k a year and you are not completing your assigned tasks.

Just the nature of the sport - every track sponsorship is a calculated risk. Outside a very select few, it's more likely than not that the bet won't return anything.

And even if it was a job, 100k a year is like a random NB employee salary, not something they should be too upset about.

ALways wonder why they don't put in an option to covert the runner to other duties to obtain value...marketing, product development, whatever.