Agreed. He really wants a XC title and then end his college career the next day.
I think he definitely goes pro either now or right after NCAA track. He's no dummy. He's at his most bankable right now, and he can get in on an Olympic year cycle of bonuses for making the U.S. team, the finals, medaling, etc. That's probably an extra 50k just this year alone just for maintaining fitness until the end of June. Either way, dude is incredible, super fun to watch race (parallels Ritz with his expressions of agony towards the end of races). And he's only 21; likely still 4-6 years away from his peak if he stays healthy. What potential. Not to mention he's a really good role model for younger LGBTQ runners, which, given the current climate, is needed.
If he makes the Olympic team, whatever NIL deal he may have is going to increase significantly.
Furthermore, he really wants to prove to himself that he can win that one race that has eluded him the most, the NCAA XC title.
Bob Kennedy came back for his senior XC campaign after the Olympics and won. Nico wants to do the same.
Don’t worry he’ll get tested soon and prolly popped at some point
Yeah this guy is obviously on the juice lol. do people really believe this dude is clean. Soon we will have college kids running 26:40 first time in a 10k and be like omg they are so clean and talented….yeah nope. The industry is built off not testing. They barely test. Nico is on so much it could kill a cow…mark my words
I like to see Nico win the NCAA XC title & turn pro afterwards. I think he's finally surpassed that Harvard guy (forgot his name) for a revenge race.
Go Nico!
Would have loved to see how these last couple of months would have played out with a healthy Graham Blanks. Looks like we are going to get a race between those two in the NCAA prior to the Olympic Trials.
I think he definitely goes pro either now or right after NCAA track. He's no dummy. He's at his most bankable right now, and he can get in on an Olympic year cycle of bonuses for making the U.S. team, the finals, medaling, etc. That's probably an extra 50k just this year alone just for maintaining fitness until the end of June. Either way, dude is incredible, super fun to watch race (parallels Ritz with his expressions of agony towards the end of races). And he's only 21; likely still 4-6 years away from his peak if he stays healthy. What potential. Not to mention he's a really good role model for younger LGBTQ runners, which, given the current climate, is needed.
If he makes the Olympic team, whatever NIL deal he may have is going to increase significantly.
Furthermore, he really wants to prove to himself that he can win that one race that has eluded him the most, the NCAA XC title.
Bob Kennedy came back for his senior XC campaign after the Olympics and won. Nico wants to do the same.
He stated last year at ncaa XC this was most likely his last one. I do not see him returning next year.
Don’t worry he’ll get tested soon and prolly popped at some point
Yeah this guy is obviously on the juice lol. do people really believe this dude is clean. Soon we will have college kids running 26:40 first time in a 10k and be like omg they are so clean and talented….yeah nope. The industry is built off not testing. They barely test. Nico is on so much it could kill a cow…mark my words
Yeah I have to agree. Nico was blown out of the water in cross country, and now he is running 26:52? Yeah he clearly is not clean but such is life.
Agreed. He really wants a XC title and then end his college career the next day.
I think he definitely goes pro either now or right after NCAA track. He's no dummy. He's at his most bankable right now, and he can get in on an Olympic year cycle of bonuses for making the U.S. team, the finals, medaling, etc. That's probably an extra 50k just this year alone just for maintaining fitness until the end of June. Either way, dude is incredible, super fun to watch race (parallels Ritz with his expressions of agony towards the end of races). And he's only 21; likely still 4-6 years away from his peak if he stays healthy. What potential. Not to mention he's a really good role model for younger LGBTQ runners, which, given the current climate, is needed.
How is that needed 'given the current climate'? If anything, seeing runners like Fisher and Tuntivate run as well as they have given the massive discrimination against straight white and straight Asian males is more impressive.
Why do you even follow the sport? If someone does well you state, with scant evidence, that they're doping. It might seem old fashioned, but try following your claim with concrete evidence. Arguing that because he is doing well he must be doping is lazy.
Great to see how well Nico Young has run this year. He had had a somewhat down indoor and outdoor campaign last year and was back of where we thought he'd be in xc, but now he has had three months for the ages, 7:38, 7:41 NCAA champs record and victory, 12:57 NCAA record, 3:57 converted down to 3:48 from 7,000 ft, and 26:52 NCAA record and second in that field. If all this was due to mechanics changes, I am impressed because trying to apply more power to the ground, as Smith indicated, is very energy intensive and fatiguing (I tried it for a mile the other day and went faster but tired quickly) and hard to believe it would work well at 10k.
Obviously, he had run 27:20 before UNM and he was 2nd in a stacked NCAA xc race, but still that was awfully impressive of Habtom Samuel to run 26:53 after running only 13:14 (BU December) this year and falling back at NCAA 5000m in 13:30. Now, of course, if his listed age were even close to accurate (supposedly born November 30, 2003), he would have been an astonishingly good prospect, running 13:13 two years ago at a listed age of 18, but he just took 27 seconds off of his pr after an indoor season that wasn't nearly at this level. Maybe the marathon or half marathon will be his ultimate best distance.
As for his kick, it's not good enough against world elites in the 5000m or 10000m. Closing in 56 or 57 will not do it even in a fast race. So, let's not overstate the case for him. He is still several years away from contending for world medals.
On the other hand. This past 8 days have been a lot and he is peaking. Odds of him getting injured in the next month is very high as he will be continuing his racing/training. That’s what I find to be the greatest threat.
On the other hand, I'll trust in Mike Smith to manage Nico's training/racing schedule to peak when he needs to, like so many of his runners do.
He outkicked Wolfe (3:54.1 mile) a couple of times last week
Yesterday, he outkicked Almgren (3:32.0 1500m).
What else does he need to do to prove that he has a kick now?
On the other hand. This past 8 days have been a lot and he is peaking. Odds of him getting injured in the next month is very high as he will be continuing his racing/training. That’s what I find to be the greatest threat.
Nico showed a kick in December with his 7:37/13:22 double that we hadn't seen before. Then he won 2 NCAA titles with 1:54 closes. I was happy to make my "Rupp didn't have a kick till he did" comparisons, but now that he's run 12:57/26:52, the standards have changed. Now instead of having the best kick in the NCAA, I'm comparing him to the top 25 guys in the world, and seeing how he stacks up there. He's got a heck of a kick, but it wasn't enough to beat Fisher yesterday, and if the pace is slow at USAs, it may not be enough to beat Kincaid. Remember when Klecker outkicked Fisher between when he ran 26:33 and came 4th at Worlds? I don't think it's a dig to say Woody might outkick Nico at USAs, and in Paris I think Nico will do better.
Also, I think it says a lot that I'm comparing him to Olympic finalists. Outkicking a 3:54 miler isn't saying much when you're a 12:57/26:33 guy . Outkicking Almgren and Ahmed is way more impressive lmao
To be fair to Ahmed, he brought that race back to the lights. They were almost 5 seconds off and he took the lead and got them there and held the lead for a few minutes. So he was probably gassed from that.
That is true, but tbf to Nico, Ahmed didn't bring the race back to the lights until Nico made a move and Ahmed responded. Nico had to run wide on a couple curves to do it too. I think Ahmed got outraced fair and square, which bodes real well for Nico.
Nico is lucky Ahmed didn’t ‘accidentally’ trip him.
Pro runners end their seasons in the summer and begin the next cycle in the fall. Because college runners are training to peak in the spring, they start their cycles in the summer. Nico ended his season in June last year while Grant was still racing outdoors in September, so it's safe to say Nico is probably 1-2 months ahead of Grant in their year-long training plans.
Nico's obviously in great shape, but I think his ceiling is lower at this point than Grant's this season, but it will be fun next year to see how Nico stacks up when he's on the same training schedule as the rest of the pro's.
I guess that makes sense. When you said further along in his training plan, I just assumed you meant Nico is in peak shape because he just did NCAAs, while Fisher is way off peak shape because he's looking towards USAs. End of indoors vs start of outdoors. If Nico beats Grant at all this season I'm bumping this tho <3
"the massive discrimination against straight white and Asian males"
The group with by far the highest income is massively discriminated against? What world are you living in?
They're discriminated against because others need an advantage to keep close enough pace.
Who rules American society? There's been one non-white male president. The leaders of the House and Senate have always been white and almost always male. Asians have been limited in admissions to certain top schools but not limited for a long time in hiring.