agip wrote:
I'm sure half of a world cup team could break 5 - these are some of the best athletes on earth. But watch what they do - they stand around around half the time. It is hardly continuous running. They would be better 400m runners than milers.
there have been many threads on this - the problem is the lack of accurate data. You see everything from some soccerhead claiming his entire high school soccer team ran under 5, to some actual training program for a pro team that suggested 2 or 3 guys could do it.
I do think the best athletes migrate to soccer and let's face it - the remnants do track. So you can't say 'well on my cross country team only 5 guys can break 5" cause most likely the best athletes in the school are doing something else.
It would be nice if we could do an actual study to settle this argument.
I think there's the misguided notion among many that since most folks in the world are more interested in soccer, American football, basketball & baseball, that it then follows that those sports attract the "best" athletes?
And therefore the typical athlete in those four sports can just switch over to the less favored sports, like track, swimming, gymnastics etc and perform on par with athletes who are at say the 98th percentile in the less favored sports? I don't think so.
Each activity requires a particular skill and they do not necessarily overlap. 4:20 mile speed eliminates lots of athletes. And playing soccer is a different skill set.
And what exactly is meant by, "best athlete"?