German Fernandez Out Two to Four Weeks

Fantastic news!

Yeah sure....Vail, Kosgei and Lowe all faded badly. Why? Because they ran a poorly coached race. Smith had them out far too conservatively, then wanted them to make up the gap too quickly. Bluntly state, they (including German) all went into oxygen debt. The entire team faded during the last couple meters, except for German, and he took a dive. What really took place was poor coaching and a young man who hasn't learned how to lose yet.

Yup. He panicked and went down faster than Sam Ronson does on Hohan...

Its About The Dive wrote:

German, and he took a dive.

It looked like he took a dive [like Suzy Favor admitted to].

He should have DFLed

To be great you need the Tiger Wood attitude that every shot is for the Masters

Get the f*** up and finish, the most important race of your life is the one you are in.

Limp in to show you are not scared to lose.

Don't be saving it for the Olymipics that you won't be in [like Webb at the trials].

It doesn't matter how good you are if you go down like Suzy Favor.

His peers are loving it.

They know he's a huge talent but he showed weakness.

He's probababy good enough so he should have been coached to go for it.

You guys think he faked the injury? What evidence is there for that? Once again, the cynicism on this board is unbelievable. You guys just jump on the explanation that reflects the worst on the person without even thinking about the situation.

To the guy saying German was in oxygen debt and faked the injury because he knew he was going to die: German has shown himself to be much faster than Kosgei all year. Kosgei may have died at the very end, I don't know, but he hung on to the pack and finished 8th overall. I think it's clear that he was not dying when German went down, so I think it's pretty likely that German was feeling at least as good at the time he got hurt. Also, German has shown himself to be a very patient, mature racer, with a fantastic sense of pace. If there's anyone who would have slowly and patiently made up ground without overdoing it, it's him.

But let's say your theory is correct and German was about to fade when he went down. Seriously who the hell would fake an injury because of that? That would never occur to me in a million years. How often do you think that kind of stuff happens anyway? The Suzy Favor story was a bizarre one for the very reason that that kind of thing almost never happens. And she was under a thousand times more pressure than German was. You really think someone would do that, especially knowing that doing so would completely screw their team over? Give the kid a break, seriously, because you're making him out to be a tremendous coward and a complete asshole with zero evidence.

Was he spiked or not? Even if he was not it had to be a serious injury or he wouldn't have gone down. You don't run the times he ran in HS and the doubles he ran if your not tough. Funny how 9:34 two milers think they are tougher than 8:34 two milers.

I'll be willing to say something positive (which is rare for me):

I'm glad he's OK. I'm glad he doesn't have a tear or a rupture that will affect him forever (I hope he doesn't!). A problem with your achilles could hurt him forever. That would not help anyone ... except his competitors in the NCAA and beyond ... and nobody wants that.

I was just looking at Bios on USATF.org and was looking at Dathan's and it hit me that as great as he was in HS (1:54/4:05/8:41/13:44) he still improved tremendously (13:22/27:38) in college and now has gone 7:39/8:11y/13:16 recently.

Even with all his problems how many 8:40-ish HS runners make it to 8:11y? I guess it a rarely run distance for pros, but still he was probably capable of 8:05 for 3k in HS and now has gone 7:39.

I am hoping that Fernandez can do the same.

*side note: It says in DR's bio that he went 13:22 as a freshman? I was almost certain that he went 13:27. Am I right?

What has Fernandez done in running career for anyone to doubt him? Letsrun is full of conference champs who live vicariously through their heroes and when their heroes don't live up to their expectations they are quick to tear them down...I see this all the time and can’t make sense of it.

Chances are Fernandez only tweaked or aggravated something. But, if you have ever had a bad achilles or hammy injury that put you on the shelf for a while; if you feel a twinge, it scares you and it takes a while to completely get over it. A complete achilles tear is one of the most serious sports injuries, usually requiring surgical reattachment. If GF strained his achilles and and continued to run, Fernandez could be done for the year. Moderate achilles tendon injuries can heal on their own in a couple of weeks with ice/rest/compression/motrin. No matter what happened, Fernandez is a great athlete, but he is human and is only 18 years old, he will learn more from disappointments than victories. – Cut this kid a break!

See for yourself... German looks incredibly calm and relaxed ready to move up. The video goes all the way up until seconds before the fall. HE DID NOT FAKE IT, END OF DISCUSSION!

i believe he honestly was in pain. i never had achilles pain from long distance, but once during repeat 200's i thought i hurt it bad. three steps into the 5 rep and my "achilles" hurt bad, couldnt move my foot, toes tried to curl inside my spikes. it was very painful and scary, turns out i strained my soleus, caused it to cramp and a a few weeks i was back on it. not sayin thats what happend to Gdez, but this caused me to fall to the track and grimice in pain for ten minutes or so, and the first 3 being the most painful.

fgfg wrote:

Its About The Dive wrote:

German, and he took a dive.

It looked like he took a dive [like Suzy Favor admitted to].

He should have DFLed...

Get the f*** up and finish, the most important race of your life is the one you are in...

He is out for 2-4 weeks without finishing. This means HE WAS INJURED!!!!! You studmuffins who talk the big game (i.e.:finish...most important race of your life is the one your in...should have DFLed) actually miss the bigger point. Since he was injured, continuing to run (assuming he could reasonably continue) would cause his body to compensate for the injury and very potentially create circumstances for further injury or more pronounced damage at the already injured area.

He could not have been beneficial to his team by finishing the race, so there is no advantage to finishing just to be a studmuffin. the SMART thing to do is prevent further injury AND STAY DOWN so he might be worth a damn to his team at winter and spring track.

I'm pretty sure he the whole "he took a dive" comments were written as a joke meant to troll and get people fired up. Nobody with functioning brain cells would seriously believe that he went down on purpose.

Don't feed the trolls.

German Fernandez is the real deal, he would never take a dive. Last year he had an off day at the footlocker meet and still finished 3rd. After the race he was quick to congratulate Derrick and Fout. Several months later he competed, and was knocked around a bit, at World Cross. He's no stranger to competitive races and is not going to drop out of a championship meet when his team is going for the win. Anyone who saw German, calmly, work his way up to the chase pack would agree, he had plenty left in the tank.

One thing I do agree on is the overall poor tactics of the Oklahoma State team. It's very hard to win the NCAA Championship running from behind. I know Colorado has done this a few times, but their pack was never back in the 200's at the mile. It's just too hard get around that many bodies and still be hungry that last 2K. Dave Smith has had success with that strategy in the past, but there is a big difference between podium racing and winning a championship. In his defense he is still a relatively young coach and continues to get better every year. It took Wetmore, Schumacher, and Lananna several years before they were ever able to do it. Why is everyone surprised that Dave made a few errors his first time?

I believe that Dave, German, and the Cowboys will be back, better, and smarter next year.

it is very good news that he has a minor injury. as for pressure, I just don't think that he had that much pressure at nationals, because of the way that Coach Smith set up the season in terms of team goals. At most other programs, there would have been a lot of pressure for him to win nationals, but Smith had him run w/other teammates throughout the season in races, never really push all out, kept him in the open pre-nats instead of the nationally competitive races, and had him go slow at the start of nationals and run with his teammates. Had he been going for the win, we would have seen different tactics and there would have been much more pressure. He was relaxed and running very well w/his teammate Kosgei at 8.5k until the injury--i.e. he wasn't pushing all out for the highest possible place.

NFW I totally agree with you. I have said for many years, teams don't race much together and have a tendency to not race well together if they aren't used to it. Instead of 7 or 8 races in the fall, teams now race 3 to 5. Of the 3 to 5, a coach will hold out some runners or have the front guys slow down. Nobody really races until the conference or regionals which makes it hard to go out front at the Nationals

In my day (78-82) we raced a lot in cross country, probably to much, however, we were ready for the Nationals and were able to go out hard and hold on.

he should have hopped to the finish

No he shouldn't have, what would it prove for him to linp in at 200th place? Would it make every 14-20 year old think German is tough? You don't run 8:34 in high school off tallent alone, clearly the kid is tough.

At the same time, this is a perfect example of why going pro might have been a better option for him. I'm sure he felt pain leading up to the race, but chose to run for the team. While his unselfishness is admirable, German needs to be in a position where he can put his running first. I am sure Alberto would not allow Galen to run on a bum wheel. Make fun of Alberto/Galen all you want, but they definitely have always kept the big picture in mind and it has priduced results. If German is going to stay in the collegiate system, he needs to tweek the system to work for him.

i diagree

it's weak

he Suzy Favor turtled

not finish can't be an option cause it always sucks

it is easy to f*** this shit up like webb

attitude is going to be the key for him he's obviously got the talent

he needs to be dogged relentless like Tiger/ Jordan

Not a talent turtle like Vince Carter

fgfg wrote:

i diagree

it's weak

he Suzy Favor turtled

not finish can't be an option cause it always sucks

it is easy to f*** this shit up like webb

attitude is going to be the key for him he's obviously got the talent

he needs to be dogged relentless like Tiger/ Jordan

Not a talent turtle like Vince Carter

Why don't you find a site like letsplaysoccer.com? I think that your fiery attitude is just what the world's most popular sport needs to really make it in the USA. It doesn't seem to be making much of a difference here, why not find a more receptive audience?

It's the best thing you could do for our side.