So, Bolt crushed the 1 and 2. Clement/Merrit/Warner pulled double medals in open 400s and relay 400s. Kamel medaled in the 8 and 15. Lagat did the same in 15 and 5. And, of course, Bekele is the man at 5 and 10. So where is the next great 400/800 guy, ala the Cuban great, Alberto Juantorena? Anybody remember him and his long white socks? He was an absolute beast.
I think wariner could have a shot at it as he gets older, maybe in 4 years or so when he hits 29, since clyde hart training is based more in endurance than in speed (he considers 400 metres like 60-40 endurance-speed instead of the usual 30-70 e-s more or less if I remember right from a couple articles I read on him)
plus wariner is not so muscular so not heavy as merrit could be.
Elias Koech running for UTEP was a 44.9 400 guy and 2nd at NCAAs in 2007 in the 800.
I've often wondered why there aren't more 4/8 doublers and wonder if it might be that the scholastic and collegiate schedule don't allow for much time between the events.
Could also be that the 400m is typically considered a sprint, while 800m a mid-distance event, and in the american system, coaches tend to specialize too.
In some states that allow for high schoolers to double (Montana is one) there are a number of very successful 4/8 runners. Obviously this is different from elites.
There's no reason why there shouldn't be more capable 400/800m doubles. Mark Everett was probably the last true elite US guy, earning WC Bronze and running in prelims of WC 4x4. In the US, where there are tons of world class 400m guys and very few wc 800m guys it would make sense for some of the low 45 and high 44 guys to try to move to 800m in order to make it to the next level.
long sprint wrote:
In some states that allow for high schoolers to double (Montana is one) there are a number of very successful 4/8 runners. Obviously this is different from elites.
Are there some states that don't allow people to double? Because I'm pretty sure all 50 states have people that double.
In a standard high school meet schedule the 400/800 are really close together, which doesn't allow for much rest. In a championship meet (HS), there are heats, too. It takes a really strong kid to do that double well.
I remember a high school runner from Muir in Pasadena by the name of Obie Moore who did both events quite well.
Never heard of him! Was he any good?
One Eyed Willy wrote:
I remember a high school runner from Muir in Pasadena by the name of Obie Moore who did both events quite well.
OldGuy2 wrote:
So, Bolt crushed the 1 and 2. Clement/Merrit/Warner pulled double medals in open 400s and relay 400s. Kamel medaled in the 8 and 15. Lagat did the same in 15 and 5. And, of course, Bekele is the man at 5 and 10. So where is the next great 400/800 guy, ala the Cuban great, Alberto Juantorena? Anybody remember him and his long white socks? He was an absolute beast.
And he was doped to the gills ala his friends the Soviets and East Germans.
Matt Scherer
Mark Everett was probably pretty close to the same in the 400 and 800m. But being 6th best in the world in the 400m doesn't make the US team.
OldGuy2 wrote:
So, Bolt crushed the 1 and 2. Clement/Merrit/Warner pulled double medals in open 400s and relay 400s. Kamel medaled in the 8 and 15. Lagat did the same in 15 and 5. And, of course, Bekele is the man at 5 and 10. So where is the next great 400/800 guy, ala the Cuban great, Alberto Juantorena? Anybody remember him and his long white socks? He was an absolute beast.