Letter To The Editor (T&Fnews, August '04) from New Orleanian

i think he's missing the point of the term "Orwellian", unless he's insinuating a whole lot about moroccan athletics program.

This is idiocy. Individuals in just about ANY specialized discipline are "narrow." I've met heart surgeons who have complained about their lack of liberal arts training in college, and let's not even talk about most pro baseball or football players, actors, etc.

its harsh but true, athletic life has changed in the last 2 decades, may be its necessary now to be a 24/7 athlete/machine but on the other side Walker and Jones ran 3:49 and 60/2:07 and they had to work(at some times in their careers) and invested time in their hobbies like...drinking or spending time in Pubs while drinking.

hahaha

yeah, Walker and Dixon were great.

i read an old runners world, like 72ish, where after an indoor race they go for "cheap women and cheap beer" and get trashed and end up singing ontop of the tables.

dont see stories of El G doing that

or any stories like that in runnrworld either

John. D. Morvant -- New Orleans, Louisiana wrote:

"So Hicham El Guerrouj is the world's greatest miler. But to what purpose?"

Uhhh ... didn't the first sentence anwser the question posed in the second sentence?

He continues ...

"Here is an under-educated man with a narrow range of interests who apparently makes no decisions for himself."

But being "narrow" could also be deemed being focused. To be the best in the world in an extremely competitive arena, you pretty much have to be a one-dimensional person by most people's standards.

This is an extremely presumptuous letter. This guy can't know nearly as much about El Guerrouj as he pretends to.

El G is fluent in Arabic and French and speaks decent conversational English. He's a worldly and gracious fellow... ask Alan Webb how kind and magnanimous El G was when he same to the Pre Classic.

I'm not going to pump up El G to be anything more than what he is, but what he is is plenty. There's no basis for this guy's letter at all.

so what, El G runs, or focuses on running, 24/7 and has no other interests whatsoever? i would say that's a bit presumptuous. he should scratch a little below the surface of the fellow before making a statement like that. certainly El G makes sacrifices to be the best at what he does. it's really not much different than the sacrifices made by some for a job, kids, a wife, etc. sacrifices sometimes must be made.

nothing significant in life later on, huh. well, it's a bit tough to be a world renowned brain surgeon AND the first man under 4:00 like bannister. compared to him, i doubt there's many who have done any significant later in life or early in life.

unlike bannister, el g has been rewarded handsomely for his endeavors. he's already done something significant and it's only pure speculation about what he'll do later in life. from what i understand, el g has done some rather good stuff in his native country (not quite on the scale of geb, but there's another guy you don't want to be compared to). plus, he's got that hot wife. that's pretty significant, especially when compared to bannister's.

just out of curiosity... does anyone know how his "life is being handled by government officials"???

no word from bautista?

I think this letter begs the following question:

Who would win between John. D. Morvant, Hicham El Gerrouj and Alan Webb in the Tour de France?

you don't run 3:26.00 unless you work every possible aspect of your training and racing -- if you don't someone else will and they will beat you

You don't become a double Olympic Champion from goofing off and having a lot of outside interests. If there is one runner who I love to watch run it is ElGeurrouj. I've seen him race 3 times now, and it just leaves me speechless, the way he appears to float at 54-56 seconds per lap.

Jason

Hello. Did you not see the fine display of air guitar wizardry at the last WC? That was obviously the result of hours of practice, so just because its not "real" guitar doesn't mean its any less of a hobby. I bet there's lots more where that came from.