Does any one know if Steve Holman officially retired or not?
Does any one know if Steve Holman officially retired or not?
He retired 2 years ago.
He lives in Philly now and is about to or already has started MBA program at Wharton. Still runs for the hell of it.
Thanks
Thanks for the info much respect to his career 3:31, 3:50
He was the Krum of the 90's He was fearless in Europe as he followed Morceli to some fast times!
I don't think the earlier response is correct. Holman lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, still runs. Hasn't "officially" ruled out ever competing again, but has said he thinks injuries would hold him back from doing the kind of training he'd need to do to get competitive again.
I know that he applied to Duke for the MBA program. Don't know what ever happened with it though.
This paragraph from an e-mail I got from Herr Holman seems like pretty good evidence that he's no longer in Minneapolis:
"I have to say that I totally underestimated Philly before I came here. I
thought it was a big, dirty ghetto. In reality it is a big, dirty ghetto
with great food and a sweet running path along the river. Seriously, it is a
great town -- other than Penn Relays, I never spent any time here. If you
ever meander your way up here, definitely let me know. If you wait two
months, you'll get to meet junior(ette?) -- our little girl on the way."
Holman's probably waiting for Paul McMullen to officially retire. It seems as though Holman was great at running fast times when there was no pressure to win (such as running against Morceli in Europe). However, when it came to races where he could have/should have won (like US national meets), he seemed to not run very well.
I also heard a story once (not confirmed, but pretty funny) that McMullen would purposely warm up in the opposite direction of Holman. Each time they'd pass, McMullen would stare Holman down. After passing each other a dozen times, Holman couldn't even look in McMullen's direction and Paul then knew that he had him.
Gosh, Paul couldn't touch him in Europe but here he took it to him!
Tried to intimidate Holman during warm-ups rather than on the track during the race. Gee, can't tell McMullen was a big dumb football player before he started running. :)
Did his wife quit her teaching job in MN?
Holman placed higher than McMullen ever did in the WC's (9th). He also ran to his ability following the '96 trials, including a victory and top places in Nationals. In the 2000 Olympic Trials, Holman was injured during a long and crucial time, but still finished 5th in a strong field. McMullen had only a small injury bug, but did not make the finals.
When Holman did not make the Olympic team in '96, he did not miss a beat and kept at it. When McMullen missed the 2000 Olympic team, he quit. Holman quit too, but it was a planned retirement, not a reactive response.
The '95, '96 Nationals were low points in Holman's career, but he stayed steady and was a mentally different runner following those years. McMullen did what was needed (to Holman) during the '95, '96 Nationals, but to attack a man AFTERWARDS while Holman was down was unnecessary and classless...It was also a surprise to run in the '01 Nationals during the birth of his daughter. He had been making 6 figures for a few years and could not have needed the $ like he claimed.
I simply think that Holman faced some tough situations with class and does not deserve criticism.
McMullen's antics at 96 were simply atrocious, the way he boxed in Holman in a tactical race and stared at him mockingly on the backstretch. This was childish high school antics at its worst. His wife even got in on the act, by making disparging comments about Holman to the press. Well, the karma did nip him pretty good over the next couple of years.
It wasn't Karma that nipped McMullen, it was a lawnmower.
Dude,
That shit McMullen did in the mid 90s was awesome. If you don't have anything solid between your ears, then you can't complain about a guy psyching you out! And to say Holman did so much better at Worlds than McMullen (Holman was 9th; McMullen was 10th two different times) is very misleading.
McMullen has run 3:33. Granted he doesn't have the consistency that Holman had in the 3:31-32 range, he had a lot more guts and was a pure racer (he did make twice as many WC finals as Holman). Holman was a choker; McMullen was a stud--old style competitor.
He retired.