Nick Willis injured again

So, Walker isn't American.

'Nick Willis didn't lose to Jeff Risely (twice) and Jeremy Roff (1500m Melbourne) because he was "unable to do the long runs needed to build strength, which had prevented him mounting strong finishes", he lost because he raced against two athletes who were probably a bit more hungry and better prepared for racing than he was, and against one athlete in particular (Risely) who is at least equal to the athletic talent he is. '

and because its summer is Australia and Willis is in the middle of his winter training.

What time was that 800m won in, that gives you a clue

Does Warhurst coach Nick anymore or just a bevy of consultants inside "Team Willis"?

Kiwii,

Maybe you should READ what I wrote. At this stage of his career Willis has accomplished about the same as Walker. That is what I was pointing out.

But since you brought some of this up, I'll gladly expound on it:

World Records: 3 - outstanding...what will you say when Willis surpasses these times just like he has others that Walker ran and they aren't world record performances?

Olympic Gold Medal- Yes in 1976...cough, boycott. You can not even compare the depth in 1976 to 30 years later. Was Walker good? YES, he was VERY good, but he wasn't up against the depth of characters that have through over recent years. Kenya alone cranks out 3-4 new John Walker's a year.

Faster Mile/1500m equivalent - hmmm...So Willis's PR's and nationals records outdoor and indoor at 1500m don't count?

National Records at other distances...Yes again I believe once Willis's career is over he'll probably take care of these as well since he probably has barely run the events listed thus far.

Sub 4:00 mile record...A tremendous achievement and a tribute to Walker's longevity. Again what do you want from Willis at age 26? Walker competed through 1990 at age 38. Lets revisit this conversation in 12 years.

World Cross Country...yes great! But once again you left out the part about it not including the African continent in the 70's.

John Walker was an AMAZING runner in his day, but I believe as with most legends sometimes people forget to look at whole story when comparing to others.

Maybe you could simply just say, yeah the Willis kid is pretty good. An Olympic Silver and a Commonwealth Gold isn't too bad. Plus the 1500m was only John Walker's main event and the kid broke his national record so he's probably pretty decent too.

I HAVE read all of your posts and still conclude that you are equating a good runner to a great runner, despite the FACT that the good runner fails to run the same times as the great runner ran THIRTY FIVE YEARS AGO (and yes, at the same age), much less to run a current World Record, or achieve an Olympic gold medal In a year that was as weak as the boycotted '76 Games, easily).

One of the reasons I like Nick is that he would never compare his career to Walker's or Snell's, other than as homage. Hopefully he will soon get past these frustrations.

Walker would have risen to the occasion. As would Snell.

They would have run faster, same way that all the greats from the 50's - Kuts, Zatopek, Delaney, Whitfield, Bannister - would have run much faster had they competed in the 60's or today. In today's environment, Bannister would be a sub 3:50 miler. Snell and Walker would be under 3:30 on the big day too, that is, on the day of the Olympic finals. That's what they were: the best.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'Nick Willis didn't lose to Jeff Risely (twice) and Jeremy Roff (1500m Melbourne) because he was "unable to do the long runs needed to build strength, which had prevented him mounting strong finishes", he lost because he raced against two athletes who were probably a bit more hungry and better prepared for racing than he was, and against one athlete in particular (Risely) who is at least equal to the athletic talent he is. '

and because its summer is Australia and Willis is in the middle of his winter training.

What time was that 800m won in, that gives you a clue

Isn't that the exact point of the quote you are referring to?!?!!?!

Because my skills of comprehension lead to me believe it just might be...

yeah and... wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'Nick Willis didn't lose to Jeff Risely (twice) and Jeremy Roff (1500m Melbourne) because he was "unable to do the long runs needed to build strength, which had prevented him mounting strong finishes", he lost because he raced against two athletes who were probably a bit more hungry and better prepared for racing than he was, and against one athlete in particular (Risely) who is at least equal to the athletic talent he is. '

and because its summer is Australia and Willis is in the middle of his winter training.

What time was that 800m won in, that gives you a clue

Isn't that the exact point of the quote you are referring to?!?!!?!

Because my skills of comprehension lead to me believe it just might be...

And you think that Jeff Risely gives a crap about the Aussie summer? He is in the exact same position as Willis - both building up for Europe and the CWG in October.

How about maybe, just maybe Willis's time has come and gone (which let's face it, it's really tough for a clean MD runner to stay at the top of the sport for a long period of time these days), and Risely is just better than he is now...