unbelievable.... wang junxia went to Colorado

That is absolutely incredible. Who knew?

You'd think at some point she would have had class with someone from the XC or track team and they may have recognized her name. Although, I'd bet money on the fact that she was one of the quiet students who sat in front of the class, never saying anything, basically being anonymous. Crazy stuff.

That also goes to show how self / Americentric our athletes and coaches are. They couldn't even pick out the world record holder. Geb could show up in Boulder and be just another African dude out on Magnolia.

Sadly, our best and brightest (alledgedly) have no sense of history.

The link to Wang will not open, can you post the article please.

Damn, that weird. I can't believe no one would have noticed at all. I this wasn't that long after Atlanta either, or her records really. I figure someone would have seen and her and realized who she was. How could none of the coaches have known or someone on the team. I could recognize Geb or Tergat, although I've found most college runners don't follow the sport at all, or at least don't care what happens beyond the college ranks.

actually, i am fairly certain she went to colorado state.

Little did Chris Lear know when he was out at CU preparing to write RWTB that another equally compelling story was walking the halls anonymously. She must have told almost no one that she was the World Record holder. Even if your typical college student doesn't give a crap about track, that is still something that people would be impressed with and undoubtedly pass along. You have to wonder if she would have made CU's top 7! Definitely a fascinating story.

I also seem to remember reading several years ago that she was headed to C.S.U. I didn't hear anything after that, so I was never sure if she actually went or not.

Quite amazing, actually. It must have been kept very quiet. If Michael Sandrock and the local press had known about this, I guarantee there would have been stories on this woman and her unusual talent. Sandrock et al have always done a solid job of covering the local running scene in CO, not missing much. Would have been a great story...makes me wonder why Wang herself kept so quiet. Even the local runners around Boulder apparently didn't know about this. Why would such a famous runner remain so anonymous in Boulder? Was she just being very humble? I can see where one would think she may have had something to hide...

When it comes to running, we're not even Americentric. I'd say Frank Shorter or Billy Rodgers would have maybe a 50/50 shot of being recognized if they walked through our local mall. Bob Kennedy would not be recognized unless I, a track fan, or maybe about 4 other local people who keep up with running, saw his ass.

That's amazing.

You are exactly correct. I see Bob Kennedy out running here in Indy all the time. Hardly anyone ever recognizes him. I've heard other runners on the trails say things like "gosh that guy was running fast" or "he sure is skinny", but never "there goes an american record holder..."

Was she really 17 when she set those records?

As my ol' Pappy used to say, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you read."

I call BS.

My sources say she was never able to actually run at Colorado because Wetmore kept her captive at his home and forced her to perform long hours of yard work.

If Mayeroff knew he never would have left the states and she would have been all over him!

You know, even if she WAS drugged to the gills, how much would the drugs really have helped? Even if it was a 5% gain, say, on her 10k, she'd still have been around a 31:00 10k runner (if my math isn't screwed up) without the drugs, still damn fast -- especially for a 17 year old.

I've no idea how much drugs would actually help. 5% is a total guess. Someone may know.

Could somebody list the dates and times of the records?

all-time 3000 list

Wang Junxia, 8:06.11WR, Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing

Qu Yunxia, 8:12.16, Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing

Wang Junxia, 8:12.19WR, Sept. 12, 1993, Beijing (heats)

Qu Yunxia, 8:12.27, Sept. 12, 1993, Beijing (heats)

Zhang Linii, 8:16.50, Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing

Ma Liyan, 8:19.78, Sept. 12, 1993, Beijing (heats)

Ma Liyan, 8:21.26, Sept. 13, 1993, Beijing

all-time 10000 list

Wang Junxia, 29:31.78WR, Sept. 8, 1993, Beijing

Zhong Huandi, 30:13.37, Sept. 8, 1993, Beijing

Wang isn't listed in the 5000 although obviously she ran at worst 14:45+ - which would put her in the all-time top 20. guess they didn't have enough watches on her at the 5000?

Salazar's co-coach at Central Catholic here in town told me once that half of the kids on the team really had no idea who Salazar was.