Earlier today best-selling author and huge track fan Malcolm Gladwell wrote, "(Matthew Centrowitz) doesn’t even belong in the same conversation as, say, Nick Willis, who never won gold but nonetheless was a threat to win ever...
Malcolm Gladwell joins us to discuss his favorite sport and among other things distance running's shoe revolution, performance-enhancing drugs, whether Nike is good or bad for the sport, how to make the sport of track & field...
Gladwell is the most over-rated writer of our age. He is objectively BAD at writing.
What can you expect from a dude that got famous from a book about the radical concept that if you spend a lot of time doing something, you might end up great at it?
Gladwell is the most over-rated writer of our age. He is objectively BAD at writing.
How many books have you sold?
I think Nick Willis is/was a better a runner than Centro, but having an Olympic Gold is kind of a trump card regardless of whatever details might be involved. Not sure why anyone would say they don't belong in the same conversation. They're both extremely fast runners and Olympic medalists.
Awful take by Gladwell that damages his credibility. If he considers himself a true fan of the sport, then he should read the excellent analysis on this matter by Gault and RoJo, retract his nonsensical statement, and issue a written apology to Centro immediately.
Nick Willis in his prime raced how I raced 5K road races in my late 40s & early 50's.
From middle school through college, I would go to the front and race to win. Often I did not win as a track athlete from junior high, senior high and in college, but I raced to win.
From my late 40's to early 50's I raced 5K races in 4th to 7th place until about 500m to go. My goal, 3rd place overall. In Nick Willis' prime, he raced in 4th to 7th place until 300m to go. Not one Olympic or W.C. did Nick Willis race 1500m to win. I know what racing for 3rd looks like. At least we can all agree: 2016 Olympics, Matt C. raced to win.
Gladwell is the most over-rated writer of our age. He is objectively BAD at writing.
What can you expect from a dude that got famous from a book about the radical concept that if you spend a lot of time doing something, you might end up great at it?
The sad part is that Gladwell was EXTREMELY WRONG about that. He was telling people you need to specialize at a very young age. Want to be a pro long jumper? Don't play any other sports growing up, just long jump every single day, according to Gladwell.
Anyone with a brain knew that was a bad idea and it's been debunked countless times. Most famously it was debunked by David Epstein in his book Range.
Olympic 1500 gold medal, world indoor 1500m gold medal, two world championship medals at 1500m, easily puts Centro in the conversation with the very best 1500m runners of all time.
if gladwell doesn’t understand how great cento’s 1500m Olympic win was, he doesn’t understand middle distance running. Centro gave a master class in championship 1500m running that day. His courageousness, tactical brilliance and 1500m running ability that day was magnificent. Failure to recognize this brilliance reveals ignorance of the event.
Nick Willis in his prime raced how I raced 5K road races in my late 40s & early 50's.
From middle school through college, I would go to the front and race to win. Often I did not win as a track athlete from junior high, senior high and in college, but I raced to win.
From my late 40's to early 50's I raced 5K races in 4th to 7th place until about 500m to go. My goal, 3rd place overall. In Nick Willis' prime, he raced in 4th to 7th place until 300m to go. Not one Olympic or W.C. did Nick Willis race 1500m to win. I know what racing for 3rd looks like. At least we can all agree: 2016 Olympics, Matt C. raced to win.
And honestly there’s nothing wrong with this either, but it’s telling that Centro won the few times he had the chance (twice in ‘16 at Millrose, London non-DL) and Willis doesn’t really have wins of that sort.
Gladwell is the most over-rated writer of our age. He is objectively BAD at writing.
How many books have you sold?
I think Nick Willis is/was a better a runner than Centro, but having an Olympic Gold is kind of a trump card regardless of whatever details might be involved. Not sure why anyone would say they don't belong in the same conversation. They're both extremely fast runners and Olympic medalists.
He writes books that people read to sound smart at dinner parties, because Malcolm Gladwell likes to attend dinner parties and sound smart.
Very much so. When faced with a choice of arguing what is evidence based vs what is interesting, he'll argue what is more interesting.
Which I mean, credit to him. Dude's sold more books than I ever will, but a big part of that is a willingness to prioritize entertainment over education. This hot take about Willis is par for the course.
