Ajee won a world youth and world junior, is only 2 years older than Cain, and made a seamless transition into the senior ranks winning DLs and running world leads. Meanwhile, Cain has still not run anywhere near the top girls time wise, can't even dream of winning a DL and has made no impact on the sport at a senior level. Mary Cain is an incredibly talented junior, but why isn't Ajee the won with all the hype, when she is clearly the superior athlete?
You know the reason.
Yeah, but has Ajee Wilson ever won the Mayor's Cup in Boston? That is a major event as evidenced by the lead article and call to comment on the messageboards on this exciting development. Because a win there would signal...I'm not sure exactly, but it would no doubt be huge - as huge as a diamond league win or running the fastest time in the world in your event on the track outdoors (1:57.67 in 2014).
Cause she's from New Jersey
Because Mary is easier to pronounce than Ajee.
here in the northeast Ajee has always been thought of as a prodigy and is well liked and respected.
Linguist wrote:
Because Mary is easier to pronounce than Ajee.
Don't forget the spelling of her name. Technically it's Ajee'
Same reason people swoon over Kara G and Fleshman doing jack squat but don't care that Molly Huddle is crushing it on a regular basis...
Internationally, she has been considered a prodigy since winning the World Junior 800 title if not a bit earlier.
As for why Ajee Wilson is never talked about:
1. She's not very charismatic, her interviews are always dull and flat
2. You can't really market somebody with a personality like that
3. A small part of it has to do with her race, Most black Americans don't follow middle distance or distance stuff, and most white Americans are going to follow the top white athletes, OR the athletes with some type of DRAMA going on.
AJ has been consistently good, that's boring. Mary Cain climbed to the top of the world and fell from grace, went to college, put on weight, ran crappy, she's associated with Salazar, Kisses boys on national tv, uses swear words, lots of charisma on camera, etc. At the end of the day she gives people something to talk about.
I wrote this while 3/4 asleep forgive typos
obviously, and i think this is what people are alluding to, her being white is a factor.
but in defense of the attention Cain gets, i think high school running sort of captures peoples imaginations. i think former top HS runners get a lot of attention even close to a decade later relative to similar/better runners their age
Agree with all of that. But, AJ has no problem getting into any Diamond League meet she wants to run in. MC may get the US press, but AJ gets true respect from the people who really matter. MC can get the same if and when she starts to perform as consistently good as AJ.
Everyone is always waiting for the next great miler, not half miler. If Ajee was doing at the 1500 what she is doing at the 800 a lot more people would take notice. That being said, she is still awesome!
1) Mary Cain started with all the attention in high school by smashing high school records. Ajee was world junior champ but didn't make national TV as a high schooler. So Mary started higher up than Ajee in terms of attention.
2) Mary still acted like a little kid with her stuff animals, etc so the age was played up.
3) Mary joined the most high profile group out there. Ajee didn't.
4) Ajee is very soft spoken.
5) Does adidas do a good job promoting any of its athletes in the US?
6) I wonder if race is a factor. That doesn't mean we're all a bunch of racists. Tiger Woods got more publicity because of his race, Ajee may get less.
6facts wrote:
6) I wonder if race is a factor. That doesn't mean we're all a bunch of racists. Tiger Woods got more publicity because of his race, Ajee may get less.
Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan have made a lot of money for lots of people. The color green matters the most.
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She finished the season injured. Any word on this?