Is Peter Rono the greatest one race wonder of all-time?

Have to agree with Willy about Moorcroft. While he was 'elite' at the time, never have I seen so many jaws drop as when he did that 13m. In relative terms, I don't think he ever approached that performance before or since.

Note 3:49 mile was even then 'one of the crowd'.

I always thought its one of those cases of a runner truly running very close to his absolute potential.

I forgot the guys name but the he was from Brazil and set the world record in marathon, or the guy who was the rabbit at Chicago that ended up beating Tergat.

1984 1500 World Junior Champion

1984 5000 World Junior champion

1985 All-Africa XC Champion

1986 1500 2nd WJC

1988 1500 Olympic Champion (youngest champion ever)

NOT a one-hit wonder.

On a european level Jan Fitschen winning the european 10000m track gold in 2006 was right out of the blue. He's a very nice chap but even he admitted it took him by surprise. So much so that he had to cancel his camping holiday after the champs so as to take advantage of race invitations.

Splendid.

Follow the sport much? wrote:

1984 1500 World Junior Champion

1984 5000 World Junior champion

1985 All-Africa XC Champion

1986 1500 2nd WJC

1988 1500 Olympic Champion (youngest champion ever)

NOT a one-hit wonder.

You're actually backing up the argument, not refuting it. You're saying he did nothing at all else on the track as a senior before the race, and nothing at all afterwards.

Nicholas Kemboi. Mediocre results - an incredible 10k - mediocre results. Ok, a few decentish results around the time of the 10k, but not at the same level.

Jack Rabbit wrote:

Hwang Young-Cho.

I think this guy had run a 2:08 somewhere before winning in Barcelona but you're right - I never heard anything about him again. I wonder what other races he ran after his great race at the 92 Olympics?

Run undone wrote:

or are there others who have a greater claim?

I'd have to say Benoit Zwierzchiewski.

2:06:36 Paris Marathon, 2003.

How about Alejandro Cruz? At the age of 20, he ran 2:08:57 at the Chicago Marathon in 1988. He never got close to that time again, even though he had a long career.

Chariots of Flab wrote:

Have to agree with Willy about Moorcroft. While he was 'elite' at the time, never have I seen so many jaws drop as when he did that 13m. In relative terms, I don't think he ever approached that performance before or since.

Moorcroft ran his 13:00 on 7/7/82. 10 days later, he ran what was the second-fastest 3000m in history, behind only Rono's WR from 1978.

Note 3:49 mile was even then 'one of the crowd'.

Moorcroft's 3:49.34 for third in Oslo made him the fifth-fastest performer in history, behind only Ovett, Coe, Maree, and Scott.

Moorcroft also won the 1500m at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 5000 at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Chariots of Flab wrote:

Have to agree with Willy about Moorcroft. While he was 'elite' at the time, never have I seen so many jaws drop as when he did that 13m. In relative terms, I don't think he ever approached that performance before or since.

Note 3:49 mile was even then 'one of the crowd'.

I always thought its one of those cases of a runner truly running very close to his absolute potential.

Damn straight brother! Not that he didn't have some decent performances before and after, but he KILLED the world record in the 5,000 that day, and no one was expecting it. Jaw dropping performance for sure.

Peter Rono was neither World Junior Champion over 1500m in 1984 nor over 5000m. In 1985 he was the Pan-African JUNIOR XC Champion. He never ran faster than 3:34,54 and 3:53,06. He didn`t had another really signifacant victory in his career. ONE-RACE-WONDER really discribes that very well, I think.

David Moorcroft had a long and successfull career. He definitely was not a one-race-wonder.

I almost hate to bring this up since this guy is very nice and does alot for the sport.

But how about Mark Plaatjes.

In 1993 he won the World Championship Marathon and was ranked 2nd in the world that year. He was not ranked in the top 10 again any other year. Even worse he wasn't ranked as a top 10 Americans any year but 1993. All this based on his one WC victory.

But hey, if you are going to only have one big race it might as well get you a Gold Medal.

One of the best/funniest stories about Moorcroft's amazing 5k WR is that the guy who placed second thought he won after outkicking the rest of the pack. Apparently he didn't know that Moorcroft was so far ahead.

Now someone will remember this 2nd place guy. I want to say he was Athletics West, but not sure. I think he ran around 13:20 or so.

follow the thread much? wrote:

You're actually backing up the argument, not refuting it. You're saying he did nothing at all else on the track as a senior before the race, and nothing at all afterwards.

Not at all, the topic is "Is Peter Rono the greatest one race wonder of all-time?" Definitely not.

KevinM wrote:

Moorcroft ran his 13:00 on 7/7/82. 10 days later, he ran what was the second-fastest 3000m in history, behind only Rono's WR from 1978.

Moorcroft's 3:49.34 for third in Oslo made him the fifth-fastest performer in history, behind only Ovett, Coe, Maree, and Scott.

Moorcroft also won the 1500m at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and the 5000 at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

In 1981 Moorcroft ran 22:08 for 5 miles on the road, 2nd fastest ever.

Old Track Guy wrote:

One of the best/funniest stories about Moorcroft's amazing 5k WR is that the guy who placed second thought he won after outkicking the rest of the pack. Apparently he didn't know that Moorcroft was so far ahead.

Now someone will remember this 2nd place guy. I want to say he was Athletics West, but not sure. I think he ran around 13:20 or so.

I'm pretty sure it was "Mr Freeze."

and bloody Nick Rose was third.