MSCoach wrote:
What I'm trying to say is that they might be faster than they've shown, that they're too wrapped up in what Nike and all the "advantages" they recieve do for them. And while, yes, they are getting faster, they're still not winning and I don't believe they've really fulfilled potential. They're only accomplishing what they are told (by coaches... and I'm guilty of this as well) they can accomplish. I'm suggesting that they don't know how to win because they haven't been asked or expected to. They're only asked to improve their PR's and get faster. They get the "big" contract and their wrapped up in the clock, the technology, the training tables, and all the other crap and they've limited themselves to what they're told they can do. They aren't ready to WIN.
With all due respect, and also not trying to be contentious, but it's easy for you to sit here and make these claims. If you listen to the top athletes, they're not talking about training tables and the clock. They're talking about winning medals. I don't see any evidence for what you're saying. Those guys are training harder than we can imagine, and their mental toughness/will to win have been apparent over the years.