Billy Mills is the correct answer. All others mentioned are just to keep the thread going or are just fans favorites. Fact is fact and the fact is nothing was bigger than Billy Mills winning the Olympics.
Billy Mills is the correct answer. All others mentioned are just to keep the thread going or are just fans favorites. Fact is fact and the fact is nothing was bigger than Billy Mills winning the Olympics.
Bob Kennedy
heather Dorniden, AKA Heather Kamph, AKA that girl who fell and still won, a lot of people use that race for motivation ( even though it was a prelim).
Dick Beardsley for the Duel in the Sun-- biggest gain for a race the runner didn't win?
Webb 3:46
How many times do you here people say yeah but he ran 3:46
You never hear them say yeah he might have sucked in the WC's but he ran 3:30
Wheating or Solinsky
Ho Hum wrote:
Dick Beardsley for the Duel in the Sun-- biggest gain for a race the runner didn't win?
Beards is an icon because of the Duel, but he had already won London and run a 2:09.
I think it's worth noting that Ryan Hall has only one career Marathon win (2007 Trials race for 2008 Olympic Team). He was the favorite going in.
Barack Obama.
Relax mon! wrote:
Spangler had The Big One Out Of Left Field, for sure, but also at one point she held both the American Junior Record AND American Masters Record in the marathon!
This is true. However, Jenny never figured out the trick of the same Kenyan athlete setting Junior and Masters records in the same year.
Both Sally Pearson (silver) and Dawn Harper-Nelson (gold) in the same race ('08 Olympics).
From Sally being basically a no name even to Australians, and Dawn being unsponsored, they became, by far, the two most dominant hurdlers in the world for a good 8 years now after those break through medals in Beijing.
Rod Dixon winning 83 NYC marathon
Daerg wrote:
Rod Dixon winning 83 NYC marathon
You've got to be kidding. From one of the greatest middle distrance runners of his era to a king of the roads does not make him a one hit wonder. What it does do is make him, perhaps, the elite athlete with the greatest range in the history of running.
And again, Mills 64 gold was amazing, but he was a very good athlete with some big wins prior to that. To qualify as per the OP Switzer takes the gold.
agip wrote:
Pheidippides
I thought so at first, but then death isn't a career boost.
My first thought when I read the question was immediately:
Leonel Manzano
Prior to his Olympic silver, Leo was a top 3 US runner with an international track record about as bad as could possibly be.
Now, he has respect as if he has always been good Internationally, when really, he had one race.
Frank Shorter. Winning the Olympic marathon not only changed his life, it changed the American recreational sporting scene.
malmo wrote:
Truuuth wrote:Didn't Rono have several good performances over 3k-5k?
No.
You mad?
Queen of BS wrote:
Actually a woman by the name of Kathrine Switzer and her so called numbered 1st woman at Boston running effort and getting pushed on the course photo have allowed her to milk the running circuit for years. She is still out there today hawking books, seminars whatever else she can sell.
You mad? Did Katherine Switzer dump you in college or something?
"So called numbered first woman" - what does that even mean? Use your words better.
ukathleticscoach wrote:
Webb 3:46
How many times do you here people say yeah but he ran 3:46
You never hear them say yeah he might have sucked in the WC's but he ran 3:30
Great answer.
Name one other thing Webb has done of note at the world elite level.
paul pilkington... won LA Marathon as a rabbit.
Steve Spence... bronze medal wc marathon
Hayduke wrote:
paul pilkington... won LA Marathon as a rabbit.
Steve Spence... bronze medal wc marathon
The point of this thread is people who got a career boost from one race and became well-known, not had one breakthrough and then did nothing.
Is there a rule against attaching a helium balloon to yourself while running a road race?
Jakob Ingebrigtsen has a 1989 Ferrari 348 GTB and he's just put in paperwork to upgrade it
How rare is it to run a sub 5 minute mile AND bench press 225?
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
Mark Coogan says that if you could only do 3 workouts as a 1500m runner you should do these
Move over Mark Coogan, Rojo and John Kellogg share their 3 favorite mile workouts