Centro skipped nationals to get 7th place in Europe

I'm laughing my ass off.

Centro thinks he's "too good" for National Champs. Instead sits on his ass at home talking trash. Goes to Europe and gets OBLITERATED by the Africans.

Centro is a one-trick pony. Loads up on the sauce for World Champs and kicks desperately to get 2nd/3rd/4th. Bombs at any and all fast races.

Marta L wrote:

I'm laughing my ass off.

Centro thinks he's "too good" for National Champs. Instead sits on his ass at home talking trash. Goes to Europe and gets OBLITERATED by the Africans.

Centro is a one-trick pony. Loads up on the sauce for World Champs and kicks desperately to get 2nd/3rd/4th. Bombs at any and all fast races.

Did he really talk trash? What did he say?

Watching the race, seeing him stick in dead last for 3 laps, I started to wonder, "Is he in Europe because he didn't think he could win USAs?" His last lap and 3:32 kind of put that theory to bed. He's clearly in shape to have won USAs.

But it seems like it's clearly he's not in shape to run 3:31 or less and win big DL meets, at least not yet.

Lots of DL meets, only one nationals. Just doesn't really make sense to me.

To that end, I think it's BS that so many athletes skipped nationals to run other meets.

erik wrote:

I think it's BS that so many athletes skipped nationals to run other meets.

The US Championships should pay more if they want the best to show up.

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy. If you don't show up at USAs and are healthy, they should ask for the money back. If you are on USOC insurance and don't show up at USAs (and are not injureD), drop them from insurance.

The money you get from USATFs should be a down payment for showing up at USAs.

Track and Field news not rank you as highly if you don't show up. Track should not just be about times but titles.

wejo wrote:

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy. If you don't show up at USAs and are healthy, they should ask for the money back. If you are on USOC insurance and don't show up at USAs (and are not injureD), drop them from insurance.

The money you get from USATFs should be a down payment for showing up at USAs.

Track and Field news not rank you as highly if you don't show up. Track should not just be about times but titles.

And then we have Mo Farah on the exact opposite of the spectrum and he's just as unexciting to watch because he could't care less about times and only cares about titles.

The London Olympics and Moscow World Championships sure were unexciting.

wejo wrote:

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy. If you don't show up at USAs and are healthy, they should ask for the money back. If you are on USOC insurance and don't show up at USAs (and are not injureD), drop them from insurance.

The money you get from USATFs should be a down payment for showing up at USAs.

Track and Field news not rank you as highly if you don't show up. Track should not just be about times but titles.

Great post.

wejo wrote:

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy.

Which is funded in part by the membership fees the athletes are forced to pay in order to compete in the national championships, the national championships that they must then pay again in order to enter.

If USATF wants to be like British Athletics and put athletes on the payroll, then they can definitely make demands like showing up to the national championships. Until then, each athlete is a company of one, open to the highest bidder.

Yeah but he was 3:32 in a 3:31 race. Considering his lengthy illness this winter, the fact that he was able to pull this together is testament to how much of competitor he is.

This is by far the fastest time by an American this year. Maybe by late August his form will have come around more to be in a true 3:30 chase.

wejo wrote:

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy. If you don't show up at USAs and are healthy, they should ask for the money back. If you are on USOC insurance and don't show up at USAs (and are not injureD), drop them from insurance.

The money you get from USATFs should be a down payment for showing up at USAs.

Track and Field news not rank you as highly if you don't show up. Track should not just be about times but titles.

It's not that this is a bad proposal. But the problem with it is the USATF and USOC would be exerting a higher degree of control over these athletes. In labor law control is a proxy for employment, and USATF and USOC do not want to establish an employer/employee relationship with these athletes. That would seriously throw a wrench in their money grab.

Marta L wrote:

I'm laughing my ass off.

Centro thinks he's "too good" for National Champs. Instead sits on his ass at home talking trash. Goes to Europe and gets OBLITERATED by the Africans.

Centro is a one-trick pony. Loads up on the sauce for World Champs and kicks desperately to get 2nd/3rd/4th. Bombs at any and all fast races.

I assume you're 'sitting on your ass at home talking trash' is any different?? And what was the trash-talk by Centro you refer to??

"Skipped nationals to run other meets"

Well, would you also include Marathons as Meets? ...is there really a difference?

I don't think so

By the way, I missed Shalane at USAs, why does she a pass?

wejo wrote:

$7000 for first.

I understand the point but I think the IAAF and USATF need to crack the whip a bit more. Their high performance division pays for guys to go to Oxy. If you don't show up at USAs and are healthy, they should ask for the money back. If you are on USOC insurance and don't show up at USAs (and are not injureD), drop them from insurance.

The money you get from USATFs should be a down payment for showing up at USAs.

Track and Field news not rank you as highly if you don't show up. Track should not just be about times but titles.

Big Brother is hard at work.

Yeah, Wejo has not thought about the big picture. This is dangerously close to COMPELLING athletes to run where and when USATF wants them to. If that is the case USATF is no longer just a governing body. Probably opens up all kinds of tax problems for them. For athletes, this is like going back 50 years when if, an athlete like Steve Prefontaine wanted to race the best in Europe he couldn't because the US track governing body wanted him to run some rinky dink dual meet.

Centro I think did quite well. I didn't expect him to run any faster than 3:33, granted 3:32.7 isn't much faster than that. That's a very legit time for Centro.

I gotta say, I miss the days of Webb. Suddenly we now find US 1500m running back at the 3:35-3:37 range and occasionally someone will pop out a 3:32-3:33. Kinda sad.

Les, probably has a decent point , ala the Pre movie with bogus USATF psuedo org, which was old AAU, I would think.

You want guys to have autonomy, hey it is a free market ecomonomy in everything else.

Basketball, a sport I love being the biggest joke of all, on the other end of spectrum.

I just think it's about what you get done

If Centrowitz never runs faster he actually has more "placed higher big time results" than Webb, who ran just so much faster at EVERYTHING and folks have killed him over the years.

BUt and a huge but, I did not see this race, was he ever in this? and ny the way the fractions are just so far off from pacemakers. at 1:51.x do folks really think guys are gonna run 3:43 1600 type times?

3:28 from guys in this race? How?

Maybe Kiprop could have chased this

For the old guys and Ventolin, Jim Ryun might have loved these set ups in his prime. LOL. Off the pace at 1:53,s with guy still to run down?

It's actually the fastest time by an Amaerican since 2012, and that American was him.

But I think a third US title would be better.

I still wonder why he went home after Oslo and then back to Europe for this.

That's two long trips and and twice having to adjust to time zones.

If you're going to skip nationals just stay in Europe.

Centro did not hit his time goal but he beat some pretty good runners. PRs of the next five runners after Centro: 3:30.77, 3:33.68, 3:31.98, 3:31.45, 3:29.77.

Centro's PR is 3:31.96. A few more races and Centro will probably get a new PR and top 3-4. The closer he is to the front, the better he races. In the past he probably overachieved given his PR in non-rabbited slow races. But I think starting this year he will achieve comparable placings in rabbitted, faster races. We'll see.