mottram - overhype, i think not.

Well compare the hype about mottram to the hype about guys like Isaac Songok. Mottram is hyped much more despite the fact that Songok has run 3:30, 7:28, and 12:48. It's obviously because of Mottram's attitude and because he's white and speaks English, but still, he's hyped much more than guys who are just as good as he is.

People of east, south, and north African descent have dominated the 800-marathon from the 1980s. They've dominated the 5k especially. A person of European descent has never been this competetive at the 5k since the mid-80s (I'd argue that Mottram has already established himself as competetive as Kennedy at least at the point of the 1995 (?) season when the 5k WR went from a few ticks under 13 to well under 12:50, and Kennedy's times ceased to be competetive in the wake of Geb, Tergat, and Komen).

So yes, Mottram is very exciting for people who like 5k's and for people who are of European descent who are not blessed with the genetics the north, east, and south Africans possess. (Read Noakes's Lore of Running if you disagree with the genetics part, especially where Noakes compares elite athletes of European descent to Africans and finds they trained just as hard, but Africans achieved so much more). Perhaps domination from those nationalities (ethnicities?) has been so complete in the 5k Mottram is actually UNDER-hyped.

His last race may have sucked, but clearly we have seen more out of him in the middle distances than any person of European descent at least in the last ten years if not longer.

Songock comes from such a legacy of worldbeating distance runners, he's the type of east, south, or north African we've come to expect from that area. It would grab more attention if Kenya ran out of Isaac Songocks than if they had 15 guys performing at his extremely high level. Mottram is a completely unexpected European descended Aussie.

I don't disagree with you at all. Mottram's hyped because he's not East African and he obviously deserves a lot of this hype, but after his 2 mile and his win at Ostrava a lot of people on this board were talking about him as if he were the hands down favorite for Osaka.

Mottram is an Aussie.

Wasn't he the clear favorite before Bekele beat him with his 8:03 2 mile and tactical/Impressive 13:04?[53 second last lap]

Few people would have guessed Bekele to be in that good of shape in his first race not exactly knowing what his training is like and clearly he doesn't feel "weak" anymore.

Mottram is doing something great for American distance running that can't be ignored. He is challenging the idea that distance runnning belongs to East Africa and Americans are embracing it. In a way he is giving us hope that we can be and will be a threat to the Africans and there's nothing that would make us happier than to compete with the best at the sport we love. It can be argued that Mottram caught caught up in what he has done but that doesn't mean he will stop performing. He will continue to gain ground on the Africans with or without(probably with) all this hype and that can't be argued.