Is Ryan Hall wasting is talent at the Olympics?

MachoTime wrote:

The great marathon runners are winning the major marathons that earn them big bucks.

Olympic mens marathon is not that

big of a deal anymore.

Baldini can't win a major, but he won the Olympics.

I think Ryan Hall is in a different league than Baldini.

The best runners are in the major marathons. I'd rather watch Hall in London or Boston this spring.

Do you think that, if he could, Stefano Baldini would be willing to sell his Olympic Gold Medal for 10 wins at London, 10 wins at NYC, 10 wins at Chicago AND 10 wins at Boston?

I think not.

What kind of endorsement deals does he have from that gold? Who do you think commands a higher appearance fee at this point between Baldini and Lel? Hell, I bet Radcliffe earns more than Baldini does. Would those wins result in 5 or 10 WMM titles, on top of the prize money and appearance fees for each of those marathons? He'd be a fool to not take the higher amount of money. I'd sure trade a gold medal for all that 10 firsts at those marathons would guarantee in income for me and my family.

MAYEROFF wrote:

Do you think that, if he could, Stefano Baldini would be willing to sell his Olympic Gold Medal for 10 wins at London, 10 wins at NYC, 10 wins at Chicago AND 10 wins at Boston?

I think not.

He certainly WOULD trade winning one race for winning forty. Winning Chicago, New York, London and Boston for ten years would no doubt make him the greatest marathoner of all time, not to mention netting him at least 10 million dollars by the end of it.

Big city marathons are not like Golden League track events...they pay much better and mean almost as much as the Olympics, and a hell of a lot more the the world championships.

You really think he would not trade his one Olympic Gold for 10 wins each at 4 different marathon majors?

fUrCeOsNhN wrote:

MAYEROFF wrote:

Do you think that, if he could, Stefano Baldini would be willing to sell his Olympic Gold Medal for 10 wins at London, 10 wins at NYC, 10 wins at Chicago AND 10 wins at Boston?

I think not.

He certainly WOULD trade winning one race for winning forty. Winning Chicago, New York, London and Boston for ten years would no doubt make him the greatest marathoner of all time, not to mention netting him at least 10 million dollars by the end of it.

Big city marathons are not like Golden League track events...they pay much better and mean almost as much as the Olympics, and a hell of a lot more the the world championships.

You really think he would not trade his one Olympic Gold for 10 wins each at 4 different marathon majors?

Big city marathons don´t mean shit to non-runners. Baldini became a national hero after his Olympic win. Nobody outside the running world would take notice if he won 40 major maratons.

fUrCeOsNhN wrote:Big city marathons are not like Golden League track events...they pay much better and mean almost as much as the Olympics

hahahahahahahaha, you are such a moron.

Everyone on here that's contending that the Olympic marathon is less competitive than London because of the limitations on the field is failing to take into account that all the top marathoners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Japan, etc, all want one of those three spots. The NBGs are essentially filtering out the ones they see as less likely to medal.

Win the Oly gold and you can cruise the rest of your life. Appear at races, speaking engagements, etc...

I just hope Hall is making some money for all these great runs!

Someone once was talking about the marathon as if the Olympic race was a tactical affair. This isn't the 1500, you just run hard wait for everyone else to die in the last 10k, am I right?

no

Everyone knows that an Olympic gold is the biggest prize. I doubt there is any athlete who wouldn't rather win it than anything else.

What the real shame is, however, is that the Olympic marathon is going to be contested under conditions that do not favor the best runners. It is a complete crap shoot.

On a cool day on a course like London we know that the best guys are going to be up there. But at 90 degrees in some of the most polluted air on the planet it's anybody's guess who is going to be able to handle it. This is the kind of race where the 2:19 guys have a chance against the 2:06's where as they would have zero chance under normal conditons. Contests that are held under terrible conditions do not prove who the best athletes are.

So maybe the top contenders such as Hall are not exactly wasting their talent by running, but they are at a much greater risk then they would under normal conditions of being outrun by a relative plodder.