Best American Runners Ever Never to Make an Olympic Team

Definitely Chris Solinsky. I don't know much about Joe Falcon. Will Leer, Andrew Bumbalough, David Torrence, Garrett Heath, Chris Derrick are all worth mentioning.

adfad wrote:

Definitely Chris Solinsky. I don't know much about Joe Falcon. Will Leer, Andrew Bumbalough, David Torrence, Garrett Heath, Chris Derrick are all worth mentioning.

Mark Nenow.

This has come up before.

Dick Beardsley, Mark Curp, Herb Lindsay, Greg Meyer, David Morris, Kim Jones, Desiree Linden, Patti Catalano, Lisa Rainsberger

Has been discussed. The answer is Nehemiah, then Falcon, then a big gap.

Mr. Mellotron wrote:

Desiree Linden

She made the 2012 team, but didn't run due to injury.

The Angel of Death wrote:

Mr. Mellotron wrote:

Desiree Linden

She made the 2012 team, but didn't run due to injury.

Actually she did line up and run but only a few miles due to a femoral stress fracture.

Also, Nenow > Falcon. Nenow's 10000 m American record stood for 20 years.

Khalid Khannouchi

I was going to say Dave Patrick (Villanova), who won the (alleged) Olympic Trial at 1500 in 1968, only to be bumped off the team when he placed fourth in the "final" trial at South Lake Tahoe--a meet he'd basically trained through because he'd been told the winners of the first trial meet had a spot on the team. (It was Bill Bowerman who got the procedure changed in midstream.)

However, Payton Jordan, the head coach of that 1968 team, formally announced forty years later that Patrick--who'd beaten Jim Ryun in the 1967 NCAA indoor half-mile, setting a WR in the process--had indeed officially made the 1968 squad.

So that leaves Mark Winzenried: "The 1971 NCAA champion at 880 yards, Winzenried narrowly missed qualifying for the American Olympic team in 1968 and was favored to qualify in 1972 until an injured Achilles tendon spoiled his chances. He held the indoor world best at the unusual distance of 1000 yards from 1972 to 1981, and still holds the world junior best in another non-standard event, 600 meters."--Wiki

Although I wish I'd seen AN's post before making mine. Khalid Khannouchi is a splendid choice. (Dave Patrick was still really good, though.)

Plus Skeets Nehemiah was great, too...

Steve Williams

lease wrote:

I was going to say Dave Patrick (Villanova), who won the (alleged) Olympic Trial at 1500 in 1968, only to be bumped off the team when he placed fourth in the "final" trial at South Lake Tahoe--a meet he'd basically trained through because he'd been told the winners of the first trial meet had a spot on the team. (It was Bill Bowerman who got the procedure changed in midstream.)

However, Payton Jordan, the head coach of that 1968 team, formally announced forty years later that Patrick--who'd beaten Jim Ryun in the 1967 NCAA indoor half-mile, setting a WR in the process--had indeed officially made the 1968 squad.i

All three Americans made the final. That hasn't happened since.

I agree with Nenow. Also, the 10K in Seoul busted open early, which would have suited Mark well as he was toast in sit and kick races. He may have finished top five in the 10K in Seoul.

lease wrote:

Plus Skeets Nehemiah was great, too...

Skeets would be on my short list, but he actually did "make" an Olympic team -- the 1980 team that didn't go to Moscow. (Don Paige, who was ranked No. 1 by T&FN for 800 meters in 1980, ahead of Ovett and Coe, was in a similar situation, although he obviously wasn't dominant in his event like Skeets was.)

Among sprinters, Steve Williams is a top pick. I remember watching him blow away Borzov on the final leg of a relay. I think it was in the US vs. USSR track meet. At the time, Borzov was the 100m- and 200-meter Olympic champion, but Williams totally owned him.

(Among distance runners, KK remains my clear choice.)

steve prefontaine in his 30s

I feel bad for Solinsky. 2010 he was looking like a future Olympic medalist, now he'll never even make a team.

Rick Wohlhuter was best in the world for 2 years. Most of the guys in these answers were never close to that level.

Hal Davis is probably one of the ten greatest American sprinters of all time. But he was great in the 1940s so no soup for him.

As for distance guys who just didn't get it done in an Olympic year, I agree that Wohlhuter is the tops.

The Dingo wrote:

adfad wrote:

Definitely Chris Solinsky. I don't know much about Joe Falcon. Will Leer, Andrew Bumbalough, David Torrence, Garrett Heath, Chris Derrick are all worth mentioning.

Mark Nenow.

This has come up before.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=2556709&thread=2556709#2556709

Clearly Nenow. His 27:20 in 1986 was then the third fastest 10,000 of all-time and stood as an AR for 15 years.

His US Rankings during the 80's:

81 - 5

82 - 2

83 - 4

84 - 3

85 - 2

86 - 1

87 - 1

88 - 4

89 - 1