idiot alert wrote:
Why the f*** is that preposterous? Right now he is nowhere near 1.43 speed. You can´t use an old result as an argument forever.
7/28/07 doesn't exactly qualify as "old result." we're talking about a guy in his prime, not as if it were his twilight when legspeed tends to diminish. The original poster asked where Webb's "speed" went. What you're arguing, idiot alert, is FITNESS. He ran 1:43 in peak, mid-season condition, as well as a 2s PB over his previous best. So it's not especially enlightening to point out that he's nowhere near 1:43.
While I do think Webb has been disappointing--and his early season is looking more like a reprise of 2008 than his stellar 2007, I think coaching is his #1 issue. #2 is his head. The situation reminds me of John Smoltz...had all the talent in the world, but his breakthrough came when he started seeing a sports psychologist, then BAM! best playoff/big game pitcher of his generation.
When I say Webb is disappointing, I don't mean his PBs. I am impressed that he has cut so much time off of his early successes in h.s. However, his poor performances in major meets is a major downer. (note, the I'm not saying he'd have to medal for me to be back in his corner, just that he has to show some racing acumen...if he got edged out by 3 top guys in a fast race, I can live with no medal. But getting beaten by duffers nowhere near his league, especially in US championships...poor.
Just for show, here are the 7 guys who've run faster than Webb for 1 mile:
Hicham El Geurrouj - 1500m/5000m gold Athens, 1500m silver Sydney, gold in 1500m '97, '99, '01, '03 WC, silver '95, 5000m silver '03 WC, plus 1500m indoords gold '95, '97, '01
Noah Ngeny - 1500m gold Sydney, '99 WC gold
Noureddine Morceli - 1500m gold Atlanta, gold in '91, '93, '95 outdoor WC, '91 indoor WC
Steve Cram - 1500m silver LA
Daniel Komen - 5000m WC '97
Venuste Niyongabo - 5000m gold Atlanta, 1500m bronze WC '95
Said Aouita - 5000m gold LA, 800m bronze Seoul, 5000m gold '87 WC, 1500m bronze '83, 3000m gold indoor '89
plus the list after him all-time in the mile starts with:
Lagat, Coe, Rotich, Scott, Gonzalez, all of whom have at least one WC/Olympic medal.
So yeah, I agree with you that something's wrong. I'm just saying that speed is not the issue here.