reader of the forums 2.0 wrote:
oh please wrote:One thing's for certain, you can't compare "World Records" broken because the elite / professional scene is vastly different than it was. Not to mention the fact that the World Records are wayyy out there now and almost 100% doped.
Compare titles, comparative domination, absolute times.
No, that's not for certain.
Actually, it IS for certain. By far the simplest argument you can make is money. In the 1950s - 1970s (i.e. the Ryun era), athletics competitions was amateur-only, and there was absolutely NO motivation for running on the world stage besides pure love of the sport.
This meant that after college, very few runners would continue training at a high level, especially considering they actually needed to establish a career of some sort to support themselves. You didn't have Nike-funded athletes who dedicate themselves 24/7 to becoming better runners and nothing else, or legions of Kenyan road-racers who ran purely to make a living.
Athletics back in that era was similar to how Triathlons are now. Competition was diluted by the fact that not everyone capable of performing at a high level could dedicate themselves to training. A top-10 1500m runner now can easily get a contract to support themselves. A top-10 1500m then had better have had a decent job, because running definitely wasn't going to get him anything.