I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
Yeah its probably Fisher. The all time lists are littered with Africans who are less likely to get a formal college education, let alone a masters degree.
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
Frank Shorter won the Olympics in 1972, got his JD in 1974, and then a silver in the Olympics in 1976.
My guess is you will find lots of people if you dig back to the 60s and 70s. Running was largely still kind of an amateur so the need to work and be educated was higher, and there were not many Africans so the world rankings were artificially high.
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
grant is like 7th in the 10000 and 5th in the indoor 5 if indoor counts for anything
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
Frank Shorter won the Olympics in 1972, got his JD in 1974, and then a silver in the Olympics in 1976.
My guess is you will find lots of people if you dig back to the 60s and 70s. Running was largely still kind of an amateur so the need to work and be educated was higher, and there were not many Africans so the world rankings were artificially high.
Oh, good one. Forgot about Shorter. Solid points.
For the reasons you mention, I’m thinking over the last ~40 years or so it likely more common in field events than track events?
Frank Shorter won the Olympics in 1972, got his JD in 1974, and then a silver in the Olympics in 1976.
My guess is you will find lots of people if you dig back to the 60s and 70s. . .
Correct.
Regards athletics & academics, no one did it better than -- RIP -- Sir Peter Snell of New Zealand.
Wikipedia states it best: PhD in exercise physiology from Washington State University. He joined University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a research fellow in 1981. He was associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine and also director of their Human Performance Center. A member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
So, Grant's got a ways to go before equaling Snell's accomplishments, both on and off the track.
Adam Nelson got his MBA from Darden (while I was in grad school there, incidentally) and is an Olympic gold medalist. I also overlapped with Mario Ancic at Columbia Law.
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?
grant is like 7th in the 10000 and 5th in the indoor 5 if indoor counts for anything
Another great point. Though 7th may be more impressive, it’s obviously run a lot less frequently.
But on the flip side, if GF were to run just ~2 sec faster at 5000m, it would put him 6th all-time.
Noooo. Because I know enough of the names of the distance running legends from Kenya/Ethiopia, and know they were not in grad school as they were running their PRs. No need to ruin another thread due to Woke garbage.
I’m less knowledgeable of the sprints and field event elites, so I’m actually expecting to learn some interesting stories here.
Frank Shorter won the Olympics in 1972, got his JD in 1974, and then a silver in the Olympics in 1976.
My guess is you will find lots of people if you dig back to the 60s and 70s. . .
Correct.
Regards athletics & academics, no one did it better than -- RIP -- Sir Peter Snell of New Zealand.
Wikipedia states it best: PhD in exercise physiology from Washington State University. He joined University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a research fellow in 1981. He was associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine and also director of their Human Performance Center. A member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
So, Grant's got a ways to go before equaling Snell's accomplishments, both on and off the track.
But was he already a PhD when he was winning / setting WRs? That was one of my qualifiers in my original post.
Thats great if he was.
I’d say there’s some of the amateur lifestyle + pre-African era effect that another poster mentioned with the 60/70s performances.
Regards athletics & academics, no one did it better than -- RIP -- Sir Peter Snell of New Zealand.
Wikipedia states it best: PhD in exercise physiology from Washington State University. He joined University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a research fellow in 1981. He was associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine and also director of their Human Performance Center. A member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
So, Grant's got a ways to go before equaling Snell's accomplishments, both on and off the track.
But was he already a PhD when he was winning / setting WRs? That was one of my qualifiers in my original post.
Thats great if he was.
I’d say there’s some of the amateur lifestyle + pre-African era effect that another poster mentioned with the 60/70s performances.
No, in his competitive heyday he worked as an ad man for a cigarette company, which is hilarious.
I would assume (zero investigation on my part) that Fisher has become the fastest 5000m runner that had also earned a masters degree prior to the day of the performance.
12th fastest athlete all-time in the 5000m, after finishing a couple Stanford Engineering degrees. Impressive.
So, the question is:
What other world-class athletes have achieved a similar combination of athletic and intellectual/educational success?