Is it just because of a medal around your neck? I'm assuming there is a money bonus from sponsors and usatf, but that couldn't have caused the emotion. To me third and fourth are similar in result, but it seems like everyone values a medal as the end all be all. I understand it was at the line loss, but it was for third place, not for winning the race. Basically, why is a bronze medal soooo much better than 4th place, especially in that close of a finish.
Why was 3rd place in the women's 10k such a huge deal over 4th place?
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Basically it just seems runners are very hung up on arbitrary things. I mean am I the only one who wouldn't really care if i ran 4:00.01 vs 3:59.99. They are basically the same thing.
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runner85 wrote:
Basically it just seems runners are very hung up on arbitrary things. I mean am I the only one who wouldn't really care if i ran 4:00.01 vs 3:59.99. They are basically the same thing.
When you run 4:00.01 you become one of those guys that "could have" or "should have" gone sub 4, but never actually did. Likely, you would be one of those guys who often speaks of how you have "sub 4 ablity" when really you don't. -
I'm guessing you'll never know.
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This thread is pretty dumb.
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So if 4th is just as good as 3rd, then so is 5th. If 5th is as good as 3rd, than so is 6th.....so in that regard, getting DFL is just as good as 3rd in your mind.
You're obviously someone who's really into their participant medals. Sorry you don't understand the point of championship racing. -
It is a bit arbitrary. I wonder if if comes from horse racing where there is win, place, show so it was adopted by other sports. (pure conjecture)
I have seen bike races with 5 podium spots before.
3rd and 4th might not always be that similar.
But, yes if you get 3rd in the Olympics you are forever known as Olympic Bronze Medalist ________.
If you end up 4th all the time (or 3rd in swimming) you are known as Lisa Weidenbach (or Larsen or Rainsberger).
Jonny Moseley did a great bit one time on the 4th place party at the bar while the medal ceremony is going on. I think it was a Letterman gag. -
Nice trolling. Several posts from an inane question. Bravo!
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How 'bout you ask Pre...
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Mr. Natural wrote:
Nice trolling. Several posts from an inane question. Bravo!
I suspect that the reason you characterize the question as "inane" is that, upon some reflection, you realize that you can't actually come up with a good answer to it yourself. -
I don't think the question is "inane" either. It's an interesting question. Some races, like certain big road races, a top 10 finish might be considered a big deal, and getting nipped for 3rd wouldn't be so dramatic, because at least you still got a solid 4th. It just happens that, largely for arbitrary reasons, a lot of championship events give medals to the top 3. It could have been decided long ago that medals went to the top 4, or top 6, or top 2, etc. But it wasn't.
In a lot of ways, I like the system, because it makes people fight desperately for those top 3 spots. But sometimes it does seem we get overly hung up on it. When Meb got 4th in the 2012 Olympic marathon in London, I think a lot of the sentiment was like, oh, too bad! - just missed the medals. But if he were to get 4th at the regular London Marathon, that would be considered a top-notch performance. -
Casual Observer of things wrote:
How 'bout you ask Pre...
Or Centro. -
yorkie wrote:
So if 4th is just as good as 3rd, then so is 5th. If 5th is as good as 3rd, than so is 6th.....so in that regard, getting DFL is just as good as 3rd in your mind.
You're obviously someone who's really into their participant medals. Sorry you don't understand the point of championship racing.
After the Seoul Olympic race, Nakayama (who finished 4th) said it wouldn't make any difference whether you were 2nd or DFL if you didn't win. In Barcelona, he was fighting very hard to move into the 3rd spot, and still came up short. Entirely different perspectives from the same runner four years apart. -
Great point! Each athlete and person only gets one story, so perspective changes as we age. If you were always second, then you may rationalize by saying, "Couldn't win, but gave it my best." But if you were always 8th or 50th, then you may say something like, "if you are not first, then why does it matter."
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EOtS wrote:
Mr. Natural wrote:
Nice trolling. Several posts from an inane question. Bravo!
I suspect that the reason you characterize the question as "inane" is that, upon some reflection, you realize that you can't actually come up with a good answer to it yourself.
You must be a millennial.
Another vote for inane. -
Because runners are childish slaves of social rules.
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This is why you are a born loser
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bloob wrote:
Casual Observer of things wrote:
How 'bout you ask Pre...
Or Centro.
You can ask Pre anything but he won't answer, 'cause he's dead. So go ask Centro. -
Because runners are obsessed with trivial matters that don't have much impact in the long run of our lives.
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I'm a nobody male runner and I would beat her in a 10k or 5k, so there's that
