Webb is #8 All Time in the World

What an idiot and stupid mind you have! We are talking about sports not racism.

The fact that the record stood for 25 years says everything you need to know about how significant the accomplishment is. Way to go Webb.

I guess Webb could run a WR & win Oly gold and some on this board would find something reason to complain about the performance.

NO ONE (or hardly anyone) IS BASHING WEBB!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!??!

Some people have simply stated that if one combines the 1500 & Mile lists, he is around 20th best all time. How in the hell is that bashing?!?!?

Let me ask you guys this: at what point in time would you have considered it a little silly to have stated that someone made the top 10 all time in the 3-mile race without considering where that time ranked on a converted basis with the all time 5k times ? WELL?!?! The 5k replaced the 3-mile, but for awhile, both races were run, with more and more 5k races replacing the 3-mile. The 1500 has replaced the majority of mile races the last 30 years. The mile is simply not run that often in international races anymore. So..........when one wants to consider where someone ranks on the all time list of the "mile/metric mile", then one should consider both lists. PLAIN AND FREAKING SIMPLE.

I am a huge Webb supporter and pysched he set this record. I hope he gets the gold this summer. But you people are nuts to think that by bringing up the 1500m all time list in this discussion is attacking Webb. Simply nuts.

(and of course I don't think webb is on drugs, but saying he is is not worse than saying most of the people faster than him in history were on drugs. Both are unfair statements mostly)

what was Webb's 1500 split en route?

just like all the us sprinters.....the drug testing is usa is great...urine tests are lame and can be easily masked....wada and usada need to more invasive testing (blood draws)..

runfree wrote:

just like all the us sprinters.....the drug testing is usa is great...urine tests are lame and can be easily masked....wada and usada need to more invasive testing (blood draws)..

I know, what strange bizarre rants from "Fat Albert" & "Fast Parker" (who are obviously the same poster). Reading letrun really opens one's eyes to the insane everyday people that exist in this country and world of ours. This guy is trying to craft posts that he thinks are somehow unique, stylistic and oh-so-intelligent, when they are really just windows into a person with severe brain or emtional damage. But it is useful to read such posts, because every time I wonder how this world of ours is so screwed up, and how this great country of ours manages to elect someone like George Dubya Bush TWICE..... I read LetsRun and remember what a bunch of insane f***ed up people live here. It really, really explains a lot.

(oh, and don't even get me started on "peeps")

I think the one thing Webb's run does disprove is that Africans have superior genetics for distance running.Case closed.

Except that he IS now the 8th fastest Miler of all-time...look at these ridiculous sub-categories you are coming up with to diminish what he has done. "20th fastest 1500/mile guy of all time?" What kind of bullshit is that? He's the 8th fastest mile guy ever. Period. Just cut the passive-aggressive crap and outright bash him. Don't you have a new Ritz PR to downplay anyway? Better get to it!

unbiased observer wrote:

Since when is stating that he's the 20th fastest 1500/mile guy of all-time considered bashing him? There's nothing negative about that statement unless you want to interprete it that way.

I think the point people are making is maybe those guys COULD HAVE covered the mile faster than Webb...but they didn't they covered the 1500 faster than him.

Races are won on the track, not on paper.

unreal wrote:

I think the point people are making is maybe those guys COULD HAVE covered the mile faster than Webb...but they didn't they covered the 1500 faster than him.

Races are won on the track, not on paper.

And when they say that, they do have valid points. I think most of us here accept the standard 1500/mile conversion. It is fair to put Webb's time in perspective by comparing it with the equivalent 1500m times, because the 1500m is a much more often raced event.

On the other hand, Webb did something very special in that he ran the time in a tiny meet with absolutely no one around the last lap, and no big crowds to bring him home (like he did at Pre in 2001). To see that Webb's time still ranks him in the top 20, considering how many big guns have run fast, paced, competitive 1500's says a lot, maybe even more than the fact he is now #8 on the all time mile list. IT IS NOT A CRITICISM!

Webb Standard wrote:

Mile

3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj (Mor) 1999

3:43.40 Noah Ngeny (Ken) 1999

3:44.39 Noureddine Morceli (Alg) 1993

3:46.32 Steve Cram (GB) 1985

3:46.38 Daniel Komen (Ken) 1997

3:46.70 Vénuste Niyongabo (Bur) 1997

3:46.76 Saïd Aouita (Mor) 1987

3:46.93 Alan Webb (USA) 2007

Source: Track & Field News All-Time list

When Webb is 8th on the 1500 list I´ll be really impressed. Nobody outside the US cares about the mile.

YEAH, I'M NOT VERY IMPRESSED THAT HE HAS RUN A FASTER MILE THAN OVETT AND COE. SHEESH. C'MON ALLEN. YOU CAN DO BETTER.

THAT WAS BITING SARCASM, THAT.

bulvan wrote:

Webb Standard wrote:

Mile

3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj (Mor) 1999

3:43.40 Noah Ngeny (Ken) 1999

3:44.39 Noureddine Morceli (Alg) 1993

3:46.32 Steve Cram (GB) 1985

3:46.38 Daniel Komen (Ken) 1997

3:46.70 Vénuste Niyongabo (Bur) 1997

3:46.76 Saïd Aouita (Mor) 1987

3:46.93 Alan Webb (USA) 2007

Source: Track & Field News All-Time list

When Webb is 8th on the 1500 list I´ll be really impressed. Nobody outside the US cares about the mile.

Track fans outside the U.S. care about the mile, just like diehard fans inside the U.S. care about the 1500. What Webb did was amazing and his results this year are really impressive. Saturday was such an impressive performance and you could see that Webb is really starting to understand just how good he can be.

kartelite wrote:

I think the one thing Webb's run does disprove is that Africans have superior genetics for distance running.

Case closed.

I hope/think you are saying that in jest(maybe you are being sarcastic, or goading me, I can't remember where you came down on this issue in the past kartelite), because-

a) the mile is a MIDDLE distance event (and non-Africans have always done quite well in the 800/mile)

b) no one who thinks that the East Africans on the average are more talented or who have more genetic freaks per capita than non-East African nations ever said that there couldn't/wouldn't be exceptions to the rule. There will always be such exceptions

Because based on your logic (possibly saracstic logic), Paula Radcliffe has diproven that men(at least British men) have, on the average a genetic advantage over women, because one year she ran a faster marathoner than ANY of the Great British men. Men faster than women? Paula says "nope". CASE CLOSED.

show me the hardware

No, some of you arent "bashing" him (such as kartelite and ttc in another thread) but you are disrespecting him and his major accomplishment (probably in order to make yourselves feel better about yourselves in some messed up backwards way). Congrats to Webb on a big run.

One thing that can't be disputed is that Alan Webb is the fastest 1500/miler in the world today and the fastest U.S. 1500/miler in history. Anything is possible, but I doubt that Webb has achieved his lifetime PR just yet. Maybe five years from now, he will have established his final place on the all-time world list and have a few WC and Olympic medals to show for his effort.

Until then, Alan Webb is simply the fastest 1500/miler in the world today. I'm guessing there are thousands of young runners who will take notice of that.

SIR LANCELOT, WHY DON'T YOU JUST CHANGE YOUR HANDLE TO SIR RACISTALOT? TIME AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN, YEAR AFTER YEAR, YOU SAY THINGS LIKE...WELL...THE ABOVE.

Troll Patrol wrote:

No, some of you arent "bashing" him (such as kartelite and ttc in another thread) but you are disrespecting him and his major accomplishment (probably in order to make yourselves feel better about yourselves in some messed up backwards way). Congrats to Webb on a big run.

How about you give me a direct quote where you claim I "disrespect him."

And to the guy just above (800M TO 5000M or whatever), I think it is pretty obvious race correlates to a significant degree with running ability. Look how many of the dozens who have run a sub 10.00 100m have been white. Exactly. Of course there are other factors. Is it racist to say black people are more likely to have curly hair? Or whites/Asians are more prone to osteoporosis? Tell me how many of the world's top 100 10,000m runners have come from the tiny countries of Kenya/Ethiopia.