i thought it was consensus that he is actually 18? did new information come out or something?
anyways, granvilles still the best for now
He turned 19 towards the end of May. A couple of sub 1:47s were at 18. Still pretty undertrained versus what he will do next year. Depending on who coaches Ole Miss by then.
For guys, Cade Flatt has to be the best 800m ever. He holds the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th fastest times, and is only .03 off the record. We all know he could've gotten it since he let up at the line at US champs, so idrc that he didn't get it, and if he hadn't been holding back for the semi-finals, he would have. Regardless of whether you like him or not, I think he's shown he's the best.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th???? Don't you need to be No#1 to be the BEST EVER?
Carl Lewis is the best long jumper ever, not Mike Powell.
Ted Meredith was still a prep at Mercersburg Academy when he won Olympic gold in the 800 meters. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Pennsylvania.
He was listed as age 19 on athletic websites and he (or his mom) told them he would not turn 19 until May. He might be 20 because he looks noticably older than his HS "peers" -- like the Kenyan age-cheats this site loves so much. There is no consensus on when he was actually born because he suddenly got younger, says he and his mom.
Anyway, a big asterisk applies to his post-graduation HS exploits.
Technically it counts but personally anything achieved after the standard age for leaving high school would be stamped with a giant asterisk.
The only reason "it counts" is because someone made up a rule that post-finishing a year in HS meant you were still in that year until the next HS year officially started. But he is no longer in HS and it seems he has been accepted to go to Ole Miss, and he added a year along the way to graduation.
HS should base records on age rather than year (Frosh, Soph). That would put a stop to sports-crazed parents who are intentionally holding back their athletic kids a year to give them the upper-hand in sports. I don't know if Flatt fits in the later category of crazed-parents, but he either spent an extra year finishing HS, or his parents started in school a year late.
This right here. Who cares? When you are 19 in Kenya, Uganda or UK noone cares if you are the best high schooler. At 19 people care how they are doing against the best in the country and against the best internationally.
Are you comparing Kentucky to Kenya? If so this deserves its own thread.
Natalie Cook is a phenomenal athlete at any age but why is a 19year old still in HS?I turned 19 in October of my sophomore year in college. I didn’t know anyone in HS that was 19.
I agree with posts on that thread suggesting comparison to runners of very similar age - whether college freshman, sophmores, or not in NCAA system at all, is more meaningful than just high schoolers. To paraphrase a poster, he/she shouldn't be 'punished' for being 19 in high school, but neither should [whatever college sophmore has run significantly faser] be 'punished' for being 19 in college.
By the way, these 19 year olds were either held back (replaced the term 'flunked') a grade or were intentionally started a year late by parents looking for an athletic (or possibly academic) edge.
Wait a minute...so he got 5 years of eligibility in HS? Please clarify.
More likely repeated an early elemantary grade. However, I suspect in cases such as Flatt and Cook they started 1st grade a year to 1-1/2 older than everyone else.