allknowingpeeps wrote:
who cares about the half marathon world record, its significance is really nothing cuz it doesnt carry over into having marathon success. Steve Jones and Paul Tergat are the only former world record holders in the 1/2 that also held the full marathon record as well. Your point was?
Actually, there's a little Ethiopian guy who's a former world record holder in the 1/2 and who subsequently obtained the full marathon record as well. I won't mention his name; you probably haven't heard of him, either.
Regarding Wesley Paul, who hasn't been discussed much here: He was a Korean-American kid, and was a HUGE celebrity in South Korea based on his youth marathon records. Less-than-knowledgeable observers and journalists were speculating that he would crush the adult world records eventually. I remember when Bill Rodgers was asked about that. Rodgers, a nice guy, diplomatically suggested that perhaps Paul's impressive times as a kid might not translate quite so readily into world-class times as an adult.
I don't recall what happened to Paul. Obviously, the running thing didn't continue unabated for him, but I don't recall any negative fallout. I'm guessing that, like many young distance stars, he simply redirected his energies to other pursuits.