Who's more talented: Wheating or Webb

theone wrote:

The new guy vs the old new guy.

Webb is more talented. He obviously has some issues though, but he's more talented. Perhaps Wheating will end up running faster than Webb (I'm not calling for that though), but that would be because he developed his SKILL to a higher level than Webb's skill level. When looking at TALENT though (talent is inherent and does not change ever) Webb wins.

I'm with flagpole...I think. Obviously Wheating's talent is still being discovered to some degree (am I the only crazy person who actually thinks there's a chance he might be a better 3k/5k guy than 1500/800). But we know Webb at the very least has the talent to split 47.x and run 3:53 in high school, run 1:43/3:46 and also run 27:34. Obviously, he worked hard for all those, especially the 1:43/3:46, but that kind of range takes incredible talent.

Who knows, though. In a few years, Wheating may make it apparent that he has even more talent than we now realize. Certainly a few weeks ago most people pegged him for around 3:33 and that 3:30 surprised a lot of people. I have a feeling though, that though he will improve, we won't see any more huge surprises like that from him, at least not in the 1500/mile.

Python wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4_V6bOkk4

Too bad at that stage of his life wheating had been running for like a few months.

Kiprop

wheating! He's achieved so much with so little training, compared to webb who was training heavily in high school.

hscoach/podiatrist/runner wrote:

wheating! He's achieved so much with so little training, compared to webb who was training heavily in high school.

Webb didn't train that heavily in HS. Mileage was rarely ever over 50mpw and many weeks in the 30-40mpw range.

mileage is not how you measure if training is heavy or not.

I remember Razcko state at an M&F clinic in Atlantic City that Webb averaged 8 or 9 a day of running and sleeping. He also did core, strength, drills and other ancillary training. He trained much more heavily and seriously than Wheating.

unrated wrote:

mileage is not how you measure if training is heavy or not.

It may not be the only way, but it is certainly one way. Hard 100 mile weeks are a hellava lot more taxing than hard 30 mile weeks.

Webb didn't train that heavily in HS. Mileage was rarely ever over 50mpw and many weeks in the 30-40mpw range.

In an interview last week Wheating said he did about 30-40mpw in HS and is doing mid-50s right now. Also, he made the olympics in his third track season every. That's pretty solid. I would say it's a tie between him and Webb for more talented. Really though, who cares about talent it's about what they actually run.

And since you put up the Webb video,

Here is said interview. A pretty good read actually.

http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2010/07/a-brief-chat-with-andrew-wheating-2.html#more-8810

I'd say Wheating, he STARTED track as a senior...

It doesn't matter when you start running, age is the only deciding factor in highschool, how many male 4 time champions are in Oregon, Florida, Texas, California?

You almost always start winning as a junior/Senior and may get lucky like German and have a few top level injuries to win early in your career.

Webb ran 3:30.54 at age 24, Wheating ran his PB at age 22, so I think you give the edge to Wheating, even though Webb is still faster.

But Gregson at age 20, appears to have more talent than either.

And Alan Webb ran 3:53 as a senior in HS, a time Wheating didn't beat until his senior year in college.

T. Jordan wrote:

And Alan Webb ran 3:53 as a senior in HS, a time Wheating didn't beat until his senior year in college.

Wheating ran 3:30.9 as a senior in college, a time Webb didn't beat until he was 24 (may have the age wrong).

still i don't think Wheating could run a 10k like Webb did, so I'm leaning towards Webb...

coach d wrote:

Webb ran 3:30.54 at age 24, Wheating ran his PB at age 22, so I think you give the edge to Wheating, even though Webb is still faster.

But Gregson at age 20, appears to have more talent than either.

Wheating ran his 3:30 in his first Euro fifteen (this is a sign that he will be one of the great ones) and he also had been running for about five years. Webb ran his 3:30/1:43 ten years or so after leaving the swim team for running (9th grade). Of course, Webb ran 4:06 his 2nd year of hs and 3:53 in his 4th year. Wheating may be able to equal Webb's 800m pr this week.

Gregson has a ton of talent but he has been running professionally for a long time, so that affects the calculation.

Gregson's time in Monaco makes him FASTER than El Guerrouj was at the same age. How much more talented do you want? Gregson has been competing internationally for 4 years, while El Guerrouj had been competing internationally for 3 years...at the same age.