I agree Henry Rono and Africans allied with The US boycotting the 1980 Olympics. He set all the records in 78, 80 he would have been prime for him, but after he didn't get his chance he turned to alcohol. But how great was he, Alberto Salazar at his marathon peak, before Boston they raced a very fast 10,000 which Rono won and Alberto said that he had a pretty obvious beer belly but he still ran close to a world record. Amazing!
coachy wrote:
lukas verzbicas
i'm willing to bet that he didn't drop out of school for his passion in triathlon. he dropped out because he's an idiot with such low grades that the school was going to kick him out anyway, so he saved face by doing it on his own terms.
since jakob is clearly the most popular runner on letsrun of this generation, what if hicham el guerrouj was born decades later and is the same age as jakob now with the same shoes, rules, drug tests, etc.
German Fernandez.
The late start to training, inconsistent training due to injuries, perfect form, and god level natural talent—all cut short.
One of the most talented runners in world history IMO.
As a fan of the sport, it’s best to just take in an exceptional performance and appreciate it in the moment, without further expectations.
Austin Mudd
Zola Budd. I don't think we saw her full potential. The "collision", SA Apartheid, moving to and representing GB, barefoot too much of the wrong kind of attention to a young lady (this board continues that tradition of too much pressure and negative attention on young lady's)
What if every runner on the start line of every Olympic track race was clean?
Might as well ask what if rain turned into gold when it touched skin.
Me.
What if I had not spent the prime years of my life lurking this board but instead created an account, heeded the advice of Rojo/Wejo, asked a bunch of randoms whether my 200x200m with 2min recovery in 35s indicated sub-2 marathon shape, took gels via enema to improve absorption, had been born into a way of life that meant running was a way out, and ran my easy days at strictly 7:30s or slower. Could I have been the GOAT?
What if "professionals" had been allowed to compete from the first Olympics?
we may never know wrote:
What if Bo Jackson never had that freak hip injury. What if Barry Sanders wasn't on a trash team in the 90s. What if Alberto Salazar didn't over train.
sal is not a what if. he got a lot out of his body. and then some. sure his marathon could have been a bit better.
"Politics is war without bloodshed." - Mao Zedong
What about Ben Saarel? 8th at cross nationals as a true freshman, 3rd in the indoor 3k. Then he got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about halfway through college and never hit those highs again. At the time, it felt like he was the next big thing in American distance.
Sprints: Wayde Van Niekerk
No question.
- Event-transcending WR and Olympic win in 2016, at 24 years of age (43.03, looking likely to be still standing a decade later).
- Borderline career-ending knee injury in 2017. Still made it back to a very elite 44.08 in 2023, just as he turned 32 years of age.
- His injury was so catastrophic that he had no marks at all in 2018-2019, and his first race back was a 47-point in 2020. The fact that he got back to an elite career reflects how much he could have done without injury, two years of rehab and a long comeback.
Distance: Tossup between Samuel Wanjiru and Kelvin Kiptum (RIP).
I would say that Kiptum and more upside yet to be seen, and notably could have been the first man under 2:00:00 in an official marathon.
- Wanjiru died in 2011 at 24, having won the Olympics and multiple majors over the period 2007-2010.
- Kiptum died in 2024 at 24, having won two majors and broken a WR in 2023 after a 2:01:63 debut in Valencia 2022.
I'm not trying to be gray cloud. But, we can do "what if's" about many people or circumstances.
What if "-" didn't foul on their last jump, they would be an Olympic champion.
What if Elisha Grey got the actual credit she deserved for inventing the telephone instead of Bell?
etc. etc.
Melody Fairchild
Kelvin Kiptum
“Wannabe” ?
LOL. He was a world champion you dummy.
He had Olympic potential in triathlon before his accident. He never would’ve made an Olympic team in Track…
Zola Budd
Ondoro Osoro
What if we didn't suspect a professional runner of doping simply because he/she (notice that I avoided "they") deleted/disabled an Instagram account.
heartfoundation wrote:
Zola Budd
She didn't do Suzy a favor...