People say the Oregon Project was created with the goal of making distance running in the west competitive again. Obviously a huge part of this was to be competitive with talents from places like East Africa. But, it was also to make global western distance running competitive in general. NOP’s plan was to take the best talents available in the west, provide the best training available, and put them on the world’s stage. Hopefully, by raising the bar themselves, others in the US and other western countries would follow.
Galen Rupp has always been a face of the NOP. For so long, it seemed a given that he was an American Record holder. After all, he was an NOP athlete, and it’s their goal to be the best runners in the global west.
Well, it seems like the “others” have finally caught up. Sure, NOP has been gone for 4+ years, but it seemed like they continued to look over certain distances with the ghosts of athletes like Rupp. Now, they’re finally all gone. Distance running in the global west is strong again, and it’s because NOP raised the bar. That part of their goal is complete.
Do you agree? Discus.