Oh Please wrote:
Didn't Centro close in sub 51 in his Olympic victory? That is big time, world class, unparalleled closing speed.
Maybe these other guys will get some gold hardware, maybe they will end up with faster PRs. But Centro will always be Olympic champ with an unbelievable close. And before other folks start yakking about how slow the race was for the first 2.75 laps...then why did none of those other world class athletes close faster?
It's unbelievable how much flak Centro and Rupp get on this board. Americans that have proven to this new generation that we can compete with the best in the world.
Pretty sure a couple of them (Makhloufi for one) did close faster, but Centrowitz had the positioning. Almost everyone in the final ran 50-51.x for their last lap.
I wouldn’t describe it as “unparalleled” finishing speed. Check out Cacho in ‘92 or Morceli in ‘93/‘95, in substantially faster races. A lot of guys in history have been able to run 1100m in 2:59 and then 400m in 50.x. His excellent tactics and positioning made all the difference.