What if Alberto Salazar found Alan Webb as a HS freshman, before Raczko??

Webb's local pharmacist would be a lot richer.

Webb would have perfect running form, be rail thin, and have people questioning his sexuality.

I think if Salazar had discovered him first he could have imbued him with some sense of the bigger picture that has always seemed to be missing. From most of his major career decisions it's clear that he focuses way too much on the here and now, which makes it impossible for him to get past injuries and disappointing performances. The key though is whether he could have bought into the program of being beaten in high school and college for the sake of medals down the road. It's impossible to tell if his tunnel vision is something innate or something that's developed over the years, but the story from Sub 4 of him petitioning the school board to come to school late so he could develop into an Olympic swimmer doesn't hold much hope for the latter.

Woulda , coulda , shoulda...

Al would have probably developed his first super star , probably experimental as Al at that stage was just coming into his own on the coaching stage.

More important though Al would have kept Ray Flynn the agent from letting the Webb over race , so much of the blame gets forgotten of who was designer of his demise. Raczko was a high school coach you have to remember , Flynn saw a meal ticket with nothing in his way. The rest is history.

I do not think Alan Webb would have broken the high school record in the mile, would have broken the American record in the mile a few years later than he did, and he would (assuming he mentally kept it together and stayed with Al Sal) still be running at a very high level today.

Really sick wrote:

Webb's local pharmacist would be a lot richer.

A standard dose of Levothyroxine 100mcg goes for about $7 a month. Even the 3 times normal 300mcg tabs will only set you back 14 for 30 tabs.

pharmacy does not takeBitCoin? wrote:

Really sick wrote:

Webb's local pharmacist would be a lot richer.

A standard dose of Levothyroxine 100mcg goes for about $7 a month. Even the 3 times normal 300mcg tabs will only set you back 14 for 30 tabs.

OK. Multiply that by 36 more TUEs, multiple PEDs and whatnot. Big pharmacy bill.

ttc wrote:

First off, I wouldn't want to go back & change the past. Raczko coached Webb to the most memorable, inspirational race of my lifetime, & many others. Webb also won 3 USATF 1500M titles, incl over a 2007 Lagat. Pretty good for supposedly lacking tactics. He finished World Top 10 2X, was an Olympian, set records incl the coveted Mile, made money, & is a legend- inarguable. So Webb made good.

But Alberto is awesome at developing. That said, for Webb's talent, other coaches that tried didn't bring out Webb's talent like Raczko.

I'd guess Webb's valleys would've been higher, & peaks lower. He probably would've still run the 1500m, but maybe moved up sooner.

As many have said before, the biggest key to a coaches success is...recruiting...having the luck to get really talented athletes...and not screw them up.

Alberto's coaching has only been as effective as the talent he's recruited -- and then his gimmicks for keeping his athletes as injury free as possible.

No doubt Webb is/was a special talent, and I wish the guy the best and it would be cool if he had a resurgence in the 5,000.

I was lucky enough to be at Hayward when he broke Jim Ryun's record.

--How many times have you been at, or watch a race where the high school phenom was supposed to just break 4mins and disapointed -- let alone smash Jim Ryun's record??? That was an electric race at Hayward...El G., but everyone was watching the phenom come down the home stretch.

I was also lucky enough to be sitting on the finish line, 3rd row, when Webb schooled the OT's 1500 field and came flying down the home stretch.

Running careers are often bewitched. Training science is getting better at knowing how to peak runners at the right time...but there are still a lot of mysteries we don't have answers to...even with testing for bio-markers of over training.

If Alberto had lucked into coaching Webb from that early age...who knows?

The statistical luck of him "fluke-ing" into finding Rupp...is more than a one in a million shot.

Here's an interesting question...

What if we had a testing system where we identified the talent early, and then sent them to a school and training group where they could be developed? We'd never do it, but it is the only way we could both max develop our talent -- and -- by protecting them from injury by bringing them along slow.

The closest thing we have now, is the smart parents of Mary Cain reaching out and hiring Alberto.

If you are a USA track fan, you can only hope that our best talents find the right coaching.

You'ns should be havin' bloodlines wit jor runners liken we duz wit r horseys. marry off kids from Shorter, Beardsley, Rodgers, Kardong, then get a pair of grandkids hitched and voila! Super-runner!

I pray everyday that I might get the chance to advise a young talented runner so that they can reach full potential.

This should have been a subplot in that recent Stephen King novel

A Duck wrote:

What if we had a testing system where we identified the talent early, and then sent them to a school and training group where they could be developed?

I think I read somewhere that El G was found this way. It was some kind of a test that involved a short run, a jump, and something else.

uygtfgy wrote:

A Duck wrote:

What if we had a testing system where we identified the talent early, and then sent them to a school and training group where they could be developed?

I think I read somewhere that El G was found this way. It was some kind of a test that involved a short run, a jump, and something else.

I recall reading that too and recall the first his coaches did was develop his 5000. He ran 13:48 at age 18. But there was a long term goal in the 1500 and he was targeted for success there.

Webb was an incredible phenom even in today's world class definition. He was a middle distance runner that ran no more than 50-60 miles a week max in high school and still ran 8:44 for 2 miles in high school indoor and 14:38 over cross country 5k. And a 1:47 800 runner his senior year.

I remember the high school district race where he went out in 2:14 and closed in 1:52 to run a 4:06.

Perhaps if Salazar found that talent the way he did Rupp at an early age and single-mindedly groomed him with the Nike resources things would have been different.

Still that HSR 3:53 that Webb ran is the greatest memory I have in 30 years following this sport and Rupp moving past strong to get the Olympic Silver medal is a close second.

Webb never ran 8:44 indoors for 2: miles in high school.

coach d. wrote:

Webb never ran 8:44 indoors for 2: miles in high school.

I stand corrected. 8:45.19 for2 miles.

George Atlas wrote: Still that HSR 3:53 that Webb ran is the greatest memory I have in 30 years following this sport and Rupp moving past strong to get the Olympic Silver medal is a close second.

There are much better accomplishments in this sport than Webb in HS and Rupp in the 10k.

Jim Ryun, while still a high schooler, beating Peter Snell (reigning Olympic Gold Medalist) in the mile in 1966. Ryun set an American record, not just a HS record (3:55.3).

Amazingly, at the same meet in 1966, Gerry Lindgren, age 19, tied Billy Mills, with both setting a World Record for six miles, with a time of 27:11.6.

Here is a link to a story about the meet.

BM could have won more Olympics medals but was hurt when tortured without his consent by the Marines he joined to pay for college.

More to see than that... wrote:

George Atlas wrote: Still that HSR 3:53 that Webb ran is the greatest memory I have in 30 years following this sport and Rupp moving past strong to get the Olympic Silver medal is a close second.

There are much better accomplishments in this sport than Webb in HS and Rupp in the 10k.

Jim Ryun, while still a high schooler, beating Peter Snell (reigning Olympic Gold Medalist) in the mile in 1966. Ryun set an American record, not just a HS record (3:55.3).

Amazingly, at the same meet in 1966, Gerry Lindgren, age 19, tied Billy Mills, with both setting a World Record for six miles, with a time of 27:11.6.

Here is a link to a story about the meet.

http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1077392/index.htm

I'm only saying in the last 30 years that I have followed this sport Webb's high school 3:53 and Rupp's Silver medal is the only thing that got jumping up and down in excitement. Other than the 1988 Olympic 100. The same as being at a 1997 Cleveland Indians/Baltimore Orioles ACS series and behind third base watching Cleveland double steal for home and going nuts.

The only thing close to that watching track is Webb's 3:53 high school mile and Rupp's Olympic Silver medal.

Other than that all the Olympic Trials 800 meter final races I've watched since 1984.

I can't say what it was like watching Jim Ryun run since I was only 5 in 1972 but his defeat of Peter Snell and winning the race would rank as perhaps the greatest high school middle distance race ever.

The "testing system" you wish we had, to ID young talents?? IMO, the 400M performance when young (12'ish) & before running is the best gauge we have.

If that 1966 meet occurred today. A HS athlete sets the AR at age 18 and beats the Olympic Gold medalist. A 19 year old pushes the Olymoic Gold medalist to a WR and finishes with the same time the LRC boards would go insane.