Ritz out of World Cross

Guess that explains the world's best 10k too. Sucks, I was pretty excited for this race.

damn this is really disappointing. props to him and salazar for making the right decision here and not jeopardizing his entire outdoor season for this race, im sure it was a very tough decision for ritz

"We just got the lab test results and determined that it was too risky to participate in World XC. Our masking agents did not work as expected."

obviously anytime somebody makes an intelligent decision theres always some fkn nobody scumbag lined up to attribute it to doping

His 3 goals for the year were medal in world cross, sub 27 and getting back to marathoning. Of the 3, medaling in world cross would have meant the most IMO. Too bad, tough to see him not running.

obviously its very disappointing, IMO the main goal is returning to the marathon and this decision is in the best interest of achieving that goal, i applaud ritz for making the right choice here despite it being very tough

I knew he wasn't going to really go to world cross.

Deshawn Kemp wrote:

"We just got the lab test results and determined that it was too risky to participate in World XC. Our masking agents did not work as expected."

So you think world championships are the only times they drug test? Not true.

Deshawn Kemp wrote:

"We just got the lab test results and determined that it was too risky to participate in World XC. Our masking agents did not work as expected."

Post of the day!

I didn't think he looked right at world trials. They said the plan was to wait but he just didn't look that fit. No way he lets Smyth push the pace on him for that long if he's healthy.

Ritz,

has to be extremely careful...foot problems are really dangerous for runners..don't want scar tissue to form in this area..

....this current setback reminds of his foot problems dating back to when he used to focus on the 10km training under Wetmore...his old coach Brad seemed to have those problems "managed" even though he was marathon training.....

.....salazar has to remember that ritz's foot is his limitation in IMPROVING...his goals were EXTREMELY ambitious and had him peaking three this year...his foot can't handle it....

...even with salazar's periodization (9 periodizations periods per year...assuming 3 periodizations for each goal) this is WAY too much for ritz considering his history of foot problems.....

....focus on one big goal per year.....peak one time per year.....let his marathon training carry over to other events...rest of the year is for recovery, base, and injury prevention exercises...his foot will last longer maybe until 2012...

....if they are not careful about ramping down his "MANY" goals (5km, 10km, XC, half-marathon, and .marathon).... his foot may not allow him to perform the necessary HARD training needed to medal in London 2012 ( 2 years away)..

....focus on the "big prize" down the road.

Solid post IMHO.

I know I can't expect this from letsrun, but Ritz should be above this kind of criticism at this point. He had a high placing in the 10,000 on Berlin, he broke 13:00 for 5000 meters in Zurich, and he got a bronze at the World Half Marathon. He's not joking around. I don't think there's any doubt that he actually did want to go to World Cross, and I don't doubt that when he pursues his next goal, to break 27:00 in the 10,000, that he'll be running against some of the best 10k people in the world.

Cynicism really is cheap.

Why has no one said it yet? "Lame. Ritz is just dodging the comp. Coward. Doesn't even want to take on the world's best."

But in all seriousness, probably a good move. Better to be cautious than blow the whole season.

Yanqui wrote:

I know I can't expect this from letsrun, but Ritz should be above this kind of criticism at this point. He had a high placing in the 10,000 on Berlin, he broke 13:00 for 5000 meters in Zurich, and he got a bronze at the World Half Marathon. He's not joking around. I don't think there's any doubt that he actually did want to go to World Cross, and I don't doubt that when he pursues his next goal, to break 27:00 in the 10,000, that he'll be running against some of the best 10k people in the world.

Cynicism really is cheap.

Totally agree here too. Despite wanting world cross badly and having the confidence he's on another level after last year, he's doing the smart thing.

meanwhile, no one has said squat about Teg going AWOL. Ritz's main problem is in declaring his goals so early and publicly.

wtf is an airbnb wrote:

meanwhile, no one has said squat about Teg going AWOL. Ritz's main problem is in declaring his goals so early and publicly.

i don't see it as a problem at all, he can't raise the maturity level of those select few who choose to snipe at our greats. but if future talent can learn from his examples of looking at the big picture than he's doing a service. he's certainly disappointed at missing it, as we are for not seeing what he can do. salazar has done a good job on keeping perspective. would have been great to see rupp race a 5K in europe last summer, but it would have cost his u.s. and world championship efforts under the circumstances.

I'm disappointed to read this. Can't help but wonder what the injury is. Anyone else would have been criticized for being so vague about the injury, but after his achievements over the last several months, he's earned the respect to not have to declare the injury. No one thinks he dodges competition.

It does seem fishy that his no-go is also blamed on a stomach virus. AlSal's other protege (Rupp) nearly skipped the indoor 5K due to a similar reason but ran it and did quite well (besting his old indoor PR), although it would have been interesting to see Rupp at 100% in that race.

There will always be questions up in Portland as long as Alberto "Balco" Salazar is around. He is a win at all costs kinda guy. When an athlete puts that much trust in someone it is easy to not be aware what exactly you are taking. An example is Tegenkamps blood centrifuging treatment, which is now illegal and at the time was highly questionable. I hope they are clean in Portland but people should be critical.