think it's obvious wrote:
slow down----of course you need talent to leverage the extra stuff---and of course Rupp is super talented--but do you seriously believe it was just a great coincidence that Rupp came from same small high school that Salazar coached--as someone else articulated, perhaps there are many HS'ers out there , if given same access to tents etc, would be running 13:20's----
I think the point here is that Salazar DID coach a lot of other high school runners and they were very good by most standards. I believe two of them (at least) ran for Oregon at a competitive level and made NCAAs in track. They were however nowhere in the same league as Rupp. Rupp is Rupp, one of those very few guys that comes around and sets records all over the place. All the rest are simply very good runners.
Are there runners out there that we are missing? Absolutely, that goes for every country including Ehtiopia and Kenya, though to a lesser degree there. A couple things that separate Rupp from the rest. His natural stride and his natural ability to have complete devotion and faith in a coach and system. Trust me, it is very lucky to find a runner with all those things AND a big tank.
Plenty of kids with big tanks out there who would never accomplish what Rupp did because without his effeciency and unwavering devotion every day of the year, year after year you just don't reach the heights that he has. There may be 1-2 potential Rupps out there (big Maybe) who are not discovered every year, but it's not very likely.
You have to remember, almost every kid tries running at some point, and if they have super natural talent it will be evident. They will win some race and some coach will notice. Most likely they will give it a half go and someone with super natural talent will stand out like Wheating and Fernandez and Ritz did, even without a coach like Alberto.