Cam Levins is a gold medal threat in the London 10k

There is no way he will "have" to run the second 5k under 13 minutes. That has only happened by one race, and that was by Kennenisa at the height of his powers. He defeated Geb in that race, displaying how good he was.

I do agree with your point though. There is a good chance the second 5k will be run faster than Levins's current PR (13:18). Levins has more than that in him though. I'd say he's in 13:10 shape at least. Ventolin would know.

In conclusion, Levins has work to do. I would not consider him a medal contender at this point. If he goes out and breaks 27 or 13 between then and now, I'd say he has a shot at top 5.

this is a joke!. no way in hell levins even wins usa trials. the guy is peaking in may. i've seen this many times. guys run theirselves into the dirt and run a few fast times. however if anyone watched last year. world champs jellema or watever his name is. was unheard of basically. and won!. the point i'm making. the africans have 20 guys that could beat levins lol. lets just be real!

I agree with that guy. No chance at U.S. Trials. Or Hungarian Trials for that matter.

Point hungry Southern Utah is over racing this kid to much.

It's about the surges, not how fast his 200 is after an even pace for 24 laps. The Africans will eat him up and spit him out.

Coach Owl Birdo wrote:

It's about the surges, not how fast his 200 is after an even pace for 24 laps. The Africans will eat him up and spit him out.

Cam is a few years away from being able to compete with the world's best on the track. He's a great talent and has proven he can handle killer mileage, improve and still maintain good foot speed at the end of the race.

It would be a tremendous accomplishment if he made the Olympic Final this year. He's been racing a ton and he'll need to recharge the batteries at some point.

Assuming he gets to London healthy, he's already made the 10,000m final. Last year they held Olympic prelims in the event was 2000.

Screw gold, it would be wicked if he nailed Lolo Jones!

this troll really brought the idiots out.

Hey Bud wrote:

He's a great talent and has proven he can handle killer mileage, improve and still maintain good foot speed at the end of the race.

yeah but the africans maintain good leg speed coupled with high foot speed velocity. cam MF levins can't touch that with just foot speed alone.

Billy Mills + Post African Revolution = Impossible

Swagged wrote:There is a good chance the second 5k will be run faster than Levins's current PR (13:18). Levins has more than that in him though. I'd say he's in 13:10 shape at least. Ventolin would know

i don't know much about this guy & can't get much of a handle on him

some mention of a 55 finish in his 27'27 & also that he is high mileage guy

i still don't think the 55 indicates great speed

coupla prelims i get for him are

53.5 / 1'52.2 -> 3'39.3 , 7'38.0 , 13'07.2 , 27'19.4

or

53.0 / 1'51.4 -> 3'38.1 , 7'36.4 , 13'05.5 , 27'18.5

he may have a lot to slash off his 5k...

ZE Chewy wrote:

maybe I'm ignorant, but pretty sure most of the elite kenyans, ethiopians, esc. (eastern africans) run 27:10 in regular road races in flats.

27:10 or better has been run on the road seven times in history by only five different men.

It is pretty exceptional.

ventolin^3 wrote:

Swagged wrote:There is a good chance the second 5k will be run faster than Levins's current PR (13:18). Levins has more than that in him though. I'd say he's in 13:10 shape at least. Ventolin would know

i don't know much about this guy & can't get much of a handle on him

some mention of a 55 finish in his 27'27 & also that he is high mileage guy

i still don't think the 55 indicates great speed

coupla prelims i get for him are

53.5 / 1'52.2 -> 3'39.3 , 7'38.0 , 13'07.2 , 27'19.4

or

53.0 / 1'51.4 -> 3'38.1 , 7'36.4 , 13'05.5 , 27'18.5

he may have a lot to slash off his 5k...

Well Ventolin, you didn't get these times, the calculator did.

Give it a rest on SUU over racing this guy! He has one more meet left in his collegiate career, then maybe you guys can plan his training and racing schedule for him. Those coaches gave a 4:18 miler a chance and he has worked his ass off to get where he is now. Most likely he will finish outside the top 10 at the Olympics, but to think he can even make the final coming from where he did 5 years ago is just outstanding. Either be a fan or leave the kid alone, he has proved all the haters wrong so far and really has nothing left to prove to anyone. If he never runs again after these Olympics he still has had a better career than 99.99% of posters on lets run! Go CAMADA, win or lose I will ride with you man!

jstack79 wrote:

Tell that to Matthew MF Centrowitz ;)

Ah yes, I knew someone was going to bring up Centro Jr.

2011 Centro Jr. had zero indoors. Did not race much before Pac 12's. Had a lot of slow, tactical races (Pac 12, Regional, NCAA) before USA nats ( which is why he ran so well, 3:47 for a national title).

Centro Jr didn't come close to the A standard till he got to Europe.

Far different race schedule & record than Levins.

Cam has trained at over 110 mile weeks for three years now and 130+ for the last two years. You would think if the mileage was going to burn him out it would've happened a long time ago but we're seeing the opposite; natural progression and extreme strength. As for SUU over racing him, get over it! Cam had a say in what he would race and he's a team oriented runner, he wanted SUU to win their championship meet. Cam will win the 5k and 10k at NCAA nats and he will be top 5 at London. And if he doesn't....oh well! He still has accomplished the dream that many people have of going to the Olympics as a professional athletes. And he's also only 23 years old so he has another two Olympics in him at least. I think it will be awesome to a gutsy runner and at least try to face the Kenyans. There's to many U.S. athletes that cower at the sight of them. Although recent U.S. runners haven't improved in that regards.

Meddling chances are absurd, but I will throw another scenario at you: Will he do better than Galen Rupp did in 2008-> 13th Place Galen Rupp 27:36.99 ?

Most useless post ever? He is already faster than that at 800, he did 53 at the end of a 13:44 last year, and did you watch those finishes in April?

ventolin^3 wrote:

Swagged wrote:There is a good chance the second 5k will be run faster than Levins's current PR (13:18). Levins has more than that in him though. I'd say he's in 13:10 shape at least. Ventolin would know

i don't know much about this guy & can't get much of a handle on him

some mention of a 55 finish in his 27'27 & also that he is high mileage guy

i still don't think the 55 indicates great speed

coupla prelims i get for him are

53.5 / 1'52.2 -> 3'39.3 , 7'38.0 , 13'07.2 , 27'19.4

or

53.0 / 1'51.4 -> 3'38.1 , 7'36.4 , 13'05.5 , 27'18.5

he may have a lot to slash off his 5k...