Tegenkamp Post 5000 Meters Comments

Hey here's a thought why don't you race them more during the next 4 years instead of waiting till the next olympics to be unprepared for their racing style again?

yeah because teg never races in europe...

I hate Rabbits wrote:

Hey here's a thought why don't you race them more during the next 4 years instead of waiting till the next olympics to be unprepared for their racing style again?

Like a guy pointed out in another thread, Ron Clarke, who had no kick, would change up the pace all the time to try and waste his opponents, no differently than what KB and the Africans do now. The West is going backwards. Hell, Teg is far better than Pre ever was but you can bet Pre would have hung on like grim death until his legs buckled had he been in this race.

There were a ton of Africans in the '72 olympic 5k final.

Why do all the top Americans 'switch things up' every few years. Webb follows a new training plan every year. Tegenkamp ran 13:04 a year or two ago. He should just do what he did then.

hanhill wrote:

There were a ton of Africans in the '72 olympic 5k final.

Africans were running in good numbers by the '68 Games. It's just that all the brainwashing in the West has really taken hold, and it's almost funny (but pitiful) to see Western kids so scared and psyched out. There are a few with talent, but without the mentality to do well, they won't.

Very embarrassing wrote:

I hate Rabbits wrote:

Hey here's a thought why don't you race them more during the next 4 years instead of waiting till the next olympics to be unprepared for their racing style again?

Like a guy pointed out in another thread, Ron Clarke, who had no kick, would change up the pace all the time to try and waste his opponents, no differently than what KB and the Africans do now. The West is going backwards. Hell, Teg is far better than Pre ever was but you can bet Pre would have hung on like grim death until his legs buckled had he been in this race.

correction teg has run faster than pre, but pre was a lot better than teg.

example when pre ran his best 5k, i belive he was top 10 on the all time list and withen 10 seconds of the 5k record. teg is not on the all time top 100 list (although at one time he was 90 something on the all time list) and tegs best 5k is 27 seconds off the 5k record.

you have to compete against your own time frame, i mean i may have a faster personal best in the marathon than clarence demar. but there is no way i ever was as good a marathoner as demar.

there are kids that barely can make a top college team and they have run 5 and 10k's faster than emil zatopek, but that does not mean they are as good as zatopek.

when teg runs a 5k under 12:50 then compare him to pre.

right now he runs faster than pre did because of the advances in training, knowledge of coaches etc. but that does not make him as good as pre at least not yet.

dougyou are faster than clarence demar, and teg is faster than pre. there is a reason time and distance are standardized for competition: it's so that we can measure performance and all of the relativist einsteinian time-warping arguments in the world won't mean shite until people start closing in on light speeds.what's with you pre fans--it's like you all have mad cow disease.

doug burke wrote:

there are kids that barely can make a top college team and they have run 5 and 10k's faster than emil zatopek, but that does not mean they are as good as zatopek.

I agree with the substance of your point. However, what top college team wouldn't take a 13:56 and 28:53 kid?

Mundus Vult Decipi wrote:

doug burke wrote:

there are kids that barely can make a top college team and they have run 5 and 10k's faster than emil zatopek, but that does not mean they are as good as zatopek.

I agree with the substance of your point. However, what top college team wouldn't take a 13:56 and 28:53 kid?

not sure about nowadays, but i dont think a 13:56 for 5k and 28:53 10k runner could make the oregon teams of salazar, chapa, martin etc. and certainly not the utep teams of nyambui, musyocki, barie, shanga, etc.

That's a pretty narrow definition of top college teams

The days of being "white" and winning or even contending on the international level are LONG GONE.

SEB COE was the last of the great white runners. Luckily he is probably the greatest middle distance runner to walk the earth...

Whites should stick to swimming, tennis, and golf. They just don't have the wheels to compete with the Africans...

wetwt wrote:

Why do all the top Americans 'switch things up' every few years. Webb follows a new training plan every year. Tegenkamp ran 13:04 a year or two ago. He should just do what he did then.

I'm pretty sure that that is incorrect. I'm very certain that Webb and his coach have actually planned out for years in advance on what they're going to do and what they're going to focus on.

Matt---if your "plan" does not involve regular subcutaneous injections, f***ing forget it. The choice is clear:

USE or LOSE.

Why does it have to be a black and white thing? Why don't we try to be a little less racist? Color means nothing. The Kenyans and Ethiopians are just better than Americans right now. You all are what is wrong with this world.

this isn't baseball or basketball where it is impossible to empirically compare people from different eras. pre couldn't even run with the leaders the first 5000 of the 10000 if he were around today. he may be a better racer than teg (that's debateable) but teg is a faster runner than pre ever was.

he needs to race in Europe more. All the American's do. seriously, one race in Europe this year? what a joke. Get over there and mix it up. If he ends his season today that is bad too.

correction teg has run faster than pre, but pre was a lot better than teg.

example when pre ran his best 5k, i belive he was top 10 on the all time list and withen 10 seconds of the 5k record. teg is not on the all time top 100 list (although at one time he was 90 something on the all time list) and tegs best 5k is 27 seconds off the 5k record.

you have to compete against your own time frame, i mean i may have a faster personal best in the marathon than clarence demar. but there is no way i ever was as good a marathoner as demar.

there are kids that barely can make a top college team and they have run 5 and 10k's faster than emil zatopek, but that does not mean they are as good as zatopek.

when teg runs a 5k under 12:50 then compare him to pre.

right now he runs faster than pre did because of the advances in training, knowledge of coaches etc. but that does not make him as good as pre at least not yet.[/quote]

Now you are using your brain way too much. We should forget the altitude tents, professionalism in athletics, FAT timing and even cinder tracks and compare athletes strickly on PRs. I should have been the best athlete of the early 20th century, I was just born at the wrong time and ended up as above average.

Hey, Teg. They are better than you. You weren't impatient. You raced well. You trained hard. Bekele trained hard. He is a better genetic specimen than you. Patience wouldn't have kept you in that race or gotten you in it. It's called 8:00, 59, 61, 60, 60, 53. Don't beat yourself up over not being able to do that. One person in the history of humankind can do that: KB. Those Kenyans ran incredibly to get medals. You are not as good as them right now. You will never probably be as good as them, but go ahead and try. Just don't cry about how the surges hurt you. Of course they did, because they can surge and hold it better than you. Remember that mile you ran in Wisconsin? Well KB would have beaten you with his closing mile today. Ok? Just say it: those guys are gods compared to you. You're a mortal when it comes to beating Bekele (unless he has a disaster).

Americans, chill the hell out about not getting medals. How would you like to be put on a line with me (Sammy Wanjiru) or Kenny B and face the task of beating us. I'm proud of what Teg did to get in the final and how well he runs. I'm proud of Ritz and Hall and Sell and (gulp) Rupppp and Flanagan and many others. Find another country with white distance runners who had so many finalists, top-10's, A-standards and generally hard-working people. We are lucky to have what we have and need to stop being so stupid about medals. What if they gave points out to the top-15? Then we'd be praising all of our great competitors for their top finishes. This isn't 1972 and Frank Shorter, people. Yea, Shorter would have crushed Wanjiru today. He ran lots of 2:06's in 85 degree heat and humidity. This isn't Steve Spence. Hall and Ritz would have CRUSHED those guys today, like by several minutes. The competition is unbelievably good. UNBELIEVABLY good. Yea, we should have had 3 in front of Asbel Kiprop and Rachid Ramzi. Those guys aren't that good anyway. Yea, Wheating should have beat Alfred Yego for bronze even though Reed couldn't even do it and Kaki couldn't even make the final. Boo hoo, what a tragedy for the US. Jesus. I'm proud of the American competitors, and I'm impressed with the talents of the US and the world. Too much whining on this board and too much whining by stupid athletes who have every right to believe they're the best but need to get real sometimes.