All this talk about what this means, etc... What's NOT being discussed is:
Why is this a Ryan Hall thread?
Since when is the 9th place finisher the biggest news in any race.
It seems as though the day of/day after news is usually 'Kenny B wins!' Sometimes everyone is excited about the first American ie 'Desi Second!'
I get it: this IS an American site; a German site praises their local heroes. However, these seem to be A) The First American in the race and B) high places, usually podium.
Sometimes an American actually WINS and the board explodes 'Ben MF True!!'
I get all this. But NOW we will be seeing: 'Billy Bob 23rd place in Turlock Turkey Trot' as the first, and apparently main thread about the race. Hey, I'm a bigger Ryan fan than most. He DOES have an AR. No US citizen, naturalized as an established pro or otherwise has run faster before or since. Not Rupp, not Ritz (he's been close) not Abdi, Meb, or a certain WR holder in the marathon. Hey, I'm a fan.
Nevertheless, this thread is like a Danica Patrick discussion. She, her sponsors, and her publicity team don't want you to realize: Someone actually WINS these races. Every Indy, F1, NASCAR, go-kart race, etc has a winner - and THAT is always bigger news than Danica, Ryan, or whoever scraped into 19th place in whatever competion you might want to look at. Especially when it wasn't even the first American.