Perspective your last two sentences was nothing but
pure truth. Alberto was not unique while he was great, there are a few other WORLD CLASS 44 sec 400m runners
who refuse to even consider the 800m (and would do very well 1:43 range) event and try what Alberto did!
Vipam
Who are you thinking of?
Here goes some of them, may have retired recently but could of proven to have great success over 800m: Andrew
Valmon, Danny Everett, A. Pettigrew, Kenyon (Az), Rickey
Harris (Fl), and any member of the Kenyan Olympic/World
Championship 4x400m teams of 1992 - 2000 (to name a few)! MOST of these runners have more strength than pure raw 200m speed, thus most of them are strong in the last 100m. If trained properly I feel these type of runners would make a great impact on the 800m (not saying all would, but some could/could have if they tried).
Kiptoo is about 37/38 years old, not bad for a windbreak, this guy has been at the very top class level for years , he has run low 1.43's, have a bit of respect for him, who can blame im for wanting to pick up a few more dollars.
How about Andrew Pierce, 44. guy from OSU who from what I was told ran 1:46 for his second and final 800 at Penn Relays 2 years ago in the DMR. Although his is done competing to pursue a goal of becoming a fighter pilot in the Air Force, he is surely a guy that had some serious serious potential in the 800 as well as the 400, a very very good canidate to compare with Alberto.
Vipam wrote:
Not true the 1500m is more of a aerobic type event;
whereas, the 800m and 400H are almost equal anaerobic/aerobic events. In the past MORE 1500m runners
successfully dropped down than 400m runners stepping up.
The foremention fact does not mean they are better suited,
it just mean more 1500m runners try the 800m than 400m
runners! Many 400m runners have stepped magnificantly
i.e. Alberto Juantero, Ana Quirot, Obea Moore (High School
200m 20.77, 400m-45.17, 800m-1:49.06), and Jarmila Kratilova sub 11 sec-100m, 47.7-400m, and current 800m WR
from the early 80's. The 400m runners will prove more
successful once an abundance of them start stepping up and
recieving the proper training!
Marcello Fiasconaro and Harald Schmid are two others who were 400 Meter runners who moved up.
It's too bad that the California Dept. of Corrections doesn't have a track program, otherwise Obea Moore would be in much better shape today.
What happened to Obea Moore? What was he arrested for and how long is he in for?
I remember rickey harris at indoor nc´s run the 800 leg and thought he could be a great 800 guy. i think he is fine in the 400h and 400 now though. one person i remember thinking should move up was tony berrian from az state, who told me he ran hs xc and ran 45 point in college. could´ve run sub 1:47 at least, i think.
Obea is out and back training as his first was a 800m: (went out in 54, got bumped and lost him form) 2min flat!
The debut 800m after so many years off seems very encouraging to me.
Obea Moore
Progression:
200m
1996....20.77.....24 May
400m
1992....49.91.....2 Aug (13yrs old)
1993....47.16.....1 Aug
1995....45.14.....2 July?
1996....45.27.....23 Aug
1997....46.81.....22 Jun
1998....47.23.....26 Jun
(DID NOT COMPETE 1999-2001)
2002....47.87.....11 May
800m
1996....1:50.05...13 Apr
1997....1:50.65...29 Mar
Ran 1:49.16 vs Michael Granville after HS season
Obea ran a 2:00.0 800m earlier this year and have a best
of 47.87 in his only 400m race of the year. The signs are
looking up for Obea and U.S. could definetly use the addition of his talent in our competitions if he is focused on track now! With the right coach and dedication(focus) Obea Moore COULD possible do some damage on the international scene. Good Luck Obea.
Incredibly unlikely..2 flat is not near that encouraging nor does it indicate he can drop to the 1:40's,...EVER
Incredibly Tough- Yes, IMPOSSIBLE-NO!
After almost four years of no running and Obea comes back
and runs a 47.87 in only one 400m race. The time in his 800m shows that he is definetly not in great anaerobic condition; however, his speed is not gone completely and
at 23 he have time to re-develop his conditioning!
Vipam
...was run at arcadia (during the hs season) as a sophomore... my guess is that he ran that 47.8 off almost no training...
Obea's a sprinter. He was a 45 sec quarter miler only 1:50 at 800m. No aerobic capacity whatsoever. By comparison, Ryan Hall ran 1:51 on a 50.5 quarter. I find it hard to believe that Moore will run any faster than he's already run, at any event. Although, I would never mind to be proven wrong on this issue.
Nobody mentioned that Borzakovskiy's 400 metre step down didn't quite have the desired results...
I saw Obea run his 400 this past May. He looked slow and out of shape, and if I hadn't seen the finish time I would have guessed he'd run about a 51. I talked to one of his friends, and he said that Obea really wants to train seriously and get his times back down. I'll put my money on him running 45 again.
Great pic and it would be nice to see him back in top shape and destroy his GREAT High School PR's. Hopefully in 2005
Ritz, Webb, Sage, Torres and Moore will all be on our Worlds team. I didn't know until recently that he struck 2 golds at the JR Worlds in the 400m and 4x400m relay while in High School.