I recently discovered Letrun and enjoy some (but not all) the postings. Having just read some on Craig Virgin and knowing there are some freaks out there (man do I love looking at the names of old race results) that can help my fading memory by identifying the runners that missed their golden moment to Jimmy Carter's ineptness, I am looking for help. Virgin is a great example of someone that more people would know if he his chance to shine wasn't stolen from him. Appreciate your help.
Steve Scott.
Evelyn Ashford
Ashford stuck around until 1984 and got her gold. Not sure she would have beaten the drug-taking East Germans in '80.
Some virtually sure gold medalists in the shorter events lost their rightful place in history ...most notably Renaldo Nehemiah in the 110 hurdles. Edwin Moses would have won the 400 hurdles and, with '76 and '84, that could have been three in a row. Stanley Floyd would have been the favorite in the 100-meter dash.
Virgin would not have beaten Yifter but he had a good chance at bronze in the 10,000. Rodgers probably wouldn't have beaten the drug-cheating Cierpinski in the marathon but would have been a more than even bet for a lesser medal. Tony Sandoval might have gotten one, too.
tom bryant
Bill Rodgers
Don Paige
Matt Centrowitz
year after in 1981 ran 13:12 when the WR was 13:06
bump thanks
Greg Fredericks in the 10000
Benji Durden
Having met Greg Fredrick have to say one of the nicest bloke I have ever met! An unsung legend of distance running!
AlSal in the 10K although he was hurt that spring/summer, I think he ran 2:09 in NYCity that fall of 1980.
I took the first poster's "golden moment" comment to literally mean people who missed out on an opportunity to win gold, or at least some medal. I don't think some of the people mentioned here, like Durden or Frederick, would have been medalists. But their moments of glory were robbed, and their chance to endure as better-known runners.
As far as people who qualified for the 1980 Games and didn't get to compete and are more obscure than they deserve to be are concerned, add Steve Lacey, Dick Buerkle, and Bill McChesney.
No one mentioned any women - they really do on letsrun - so I'll mention Julie Brown and Leann Warren
CrossFan wrote:
Benji Durden
I think most people that were knowledgeable about running in 1980, know that Benji would not have even made the olympic team if it wasn't for the boycott. For Benji Durden, the boycott actually helped his career because he could forever more say he was an Olympian, even though much better runners like Bill Rodgers didn't even compete in the Olympic Trials. Nothing against Benji Durden, but he has lived off of the boycott for years and became much more famous than he would have been without it.
I think most people that were knowledgeable about running in 1980, know that Benji would not have even made the olympic team if it wasn't for the boycott. For Benji Durden, the boycott actually helped his career because he could forever more say he was an Olympian, even though much better runners like Bill Rodgers didn't even compete in the Olympic Trials. Nothing against Benji Durden, but he has lived off of the boycott for years and became much more famous than he would have been without it.[/quote]
How knowledgeable are you? There is no telling what will or would have happened in a marathon. Give Benji some credit, he did hold the American record in the Half Marathon and ran quite a few sub 2:12's. And you to would claim to be an Olympian if you placed top 3 in the Trials. And by the way what do you give back to running? Probably nothing, yet Benji helps make Boulder the great running place it is. By the way you are a poser.
Actually Benji would have probably made the team. The odd man out would have been Kyle Heffner who was the third place finisher at the '80 trials.
Hey Chris,
Were the trails even run in 1980? I thought Tony Sandoval "made the team." I am pretty sure they ran the marathon trials. Who were the top three?
Did they hold the track and field trials?
DII wrote:
How knowledgeable are you? There is no telling what will or would have happened in a marathon. Give Benji some credit, he did hold the American record in the Half Marathon and ran quite a few sub 2:12's. And you to would claim to be an Olympian if you placed top 3 in the Trials. And by the way what do you give back to running? Probably nothing, yet Benji helps make Boulder the great running place it is. By the way you are a poser.
I actually am very knowledgeable and I certainly stand by what I said. Benji Durden was a solid runner, but would most likely not have made the Olympic team that year. That is just a fact. As for Benji giving back to the community, I and many others that I have talked to, find him to be extremely arrogant and that is not the type of person I want "giving back" to running. Give me people like Bill Rodgers or Rob De Castella any day. I am not the caliber of runner than Benji was, but had I been in the top three at the Olympic Trials and people like Bill Rodgers and many others did not compete at the trials and I never actually went to the Olympics, then no, I personally would not call myself an Olympian and many of the top three athletes that year do not call themselves Olympians. The trials were a sham that year and were unlike any other Olympic trials because it was definite that by that time that the Olympics would be boycotted.
Everything I stated in my first post was just an opinion on how the boycott actually helped Benji, not hurt him. There was no attack on him, but you had to take it more personal by attacking me. Sorry to ruin your day with what many would believe to be the truth, but it really was just one persons opinion.
The 80 Marathon Trails was a pretty packed field as it was (Tabb, Wells, Lodwick, Shorter, Thomas, Beardsley, Pfeffer, Fleming, etc.)
Billy would have been the being the only one who didn't run that could have stayed with Sandoval, Durden and Heffner on that day.