BREAKING: Matt Tegenkamp retires from pro running!

2001 World XC Junior race Teg 5th place

Bekele 1st, Ritz 3rd

Great race

He was a great runner and always seemed like a very decent guy. Good luck on the next phase of his life.

I remember when Teg didn't run no stinkin' 10K

Going out on his terms......... Bravo.

Other options wrote:

Rupp has run 3:34 and will debut in the marathon in two weeks.

But this websites name is LetsHateRupp.com

rojo wrote:

nikeman wrote:

You definitely need to include his 2009 US title at 5,000 meters. The Wisconsin trifecta finish of Teg, Solinsky and Jager was an amazing race.

Indeed, but should we put it up there with an * as Lagat didn't run it as he had a bye for Worlds?

How crazy is that to thank about? If Lagat runs that year, it's likely Teg - a sub 13:00 stud - would have retired with zero NCAA or US titles.

He won at least one US indoor title. Thought they swept it with him and Riley and ???

An accomplishment that often gets overlooked is Teg finished 5th in that 2001 World Jr XC race that Ritz finished 3rd in. When you consider the top African athletes in World Jr XC end up as pros on the DL circuit that same year, finishing even in the top-20 is a major accomplishment. Btw, Kenenisa Bekele won that race.

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

NOT Usain's brother wrote:

blatter wrote:

I can think of a few better than that: Thom Hunt 3:57/2:12, Rudy Chapa 3:38/2:11, Ken Martin 3:57/2:09. I'm sure there are more in that range.

I can't think of any 3:34 guys who even attempted a serious marathon. I suppose if you ran 3:34 you really did not need to consider running a marathon.

Steve Bolt 3:59 / 2:14.06

Alan Culpepper 3:55.12 / 2:09:41.

tegancamp was extremely overweight to be a distance runner. never had near as much talent as alan webb in any distance.

Why Retire. wrote:

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

Mo Trafeh retired recently as well I heard

Why Retire. wrote:

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

Abdi Abdirahman, a four–time U.S. Olympian, has been scratched from the upcoming 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles on Feb. 13 due to a left calf injury.

Wonder if it's really a calf injury or something else

Why Retire. wrote:

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

Solinsky hasn't done anything decent since 2011. So he figured out 5 years ago he better fake an injury and lay low, because Diack would retire in another half a decade?

Tegenkamp's career trajectory is perfectly normal. Nothing remotely suspicious about the timing of his retirement. He's getting old.

Webb retired, what, a year or two ago, after having a few crappy years?

Whether or not any of those guys used drugs, I have no idea, but your theory holds no water.

Amazing career. Leading edge of the US guys getting back into contention on the world stage, so many accomplishments.

Why Retire. wrote:

Let me say something here.

With all these athletes seeming to retire inthe past year or so:

Solinski, Tegingcamp, Webb, Ryan Hall(with low T because of too much oral T?)... and who else?????

I wonder if some and other athletes are no longer protected athletes because of the fall of former president of IAAF Mr Diack.

Possibly some of these and others choose to retire because they can no longer beat the system and can't compete with other cheats.

BOTTOM LINE.....

Their are a lot if athletes retireing as of recent and it kind of seems odd to me.

WHAT do you LetswannaBe runners think?

Why let logic explain stuff when you can create a good conspiracy theory.

Let's see here.

Solinsky's tore his hamstring off his bone years ago. His last good race - and that was only 1323 was in 2013. Not related.

Tegenkamp - He's 34. 5 years ago, he realized he was past his peak and moved up to the 10k. HE could still. run and be a 2:14 guy but when you ahve a job at Nike and used to be #4 in the world in the 5k, that's not appealing. Not realted to Diack.

Webb - Hasn't broken 3:37 since 2012. Retired after running 4:06 two years ago. Clearly not related to Diack.

Hall - had low t his entire career. Hasn't run a fast one since 2012. Also in his 30s. Declien started WAY before Diack retired. Not related.

Your body isn't meant to train that hard. Look at Salazar, Hall, Webb. It's all the same. They had glorius highs but became totally shot much sooner than you'd expect.

Ridiculous post to tie it to Diack. The one thing no one talks about the IAAF scandal is that in the end, no one got off. Despite paying hundreds of thousands in bribes, Shobukhova was ultimately banned. The Diacks felt so bad about it they gave her some of her money back!!!

In an Olympic year?

What?

jjjjjj wrote:

He really did help lead the U.S. back into contention. He was just a hair's breadth from taking bronze at World's in 2007, and while he did eventually break 13, he rarely raced on the circuit, preferring training for championship races, so he could easily have run faster times. Also very notable is that he took fifth at World Junior XC in a loaded field with Bekele first and Ritz third. Clearly his heart hadn't been in it for a few years because he wasn't too old to do it, but a terrific career.

Not so.

I know you were trying to give him a compliment, but he ran a fair amount compared to Internationalists of the last 10 years. Mo Farah just ran 5 races last year and he ranked Number 1 in the 5k and 10k. Rupp did the same. Americans have had the pattern to run fast at Stanford or Mt SAC (in order to qualify for Nationals), then run Nationals to qualify for the Worlds or Olympics. Then after the global meet they run in consistently at 1-3 later summer meets like Zurich, Brussels, Rieti.

They do this to avoid being tested. They have to because the rest of the world is doing it even worse. That is why you have guys running 12:56 one meet and 13:25 another.

That being said, I think Matt Tegenkamp ran more in Europe, more years, and more consistently than any of his American peers the last 11 years. Mostly '05 -'12. He is apparently the 5th fastest 2-miler of all time. Since this is the most important event in American HS distance running, I would say that is pretty great. Imagine being the 5th best all-time in anything?

233 12:58.56 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 7 Bruxelles 04.09.2009

695 13:04.90 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 8 Stockholm 25.07.2006

935 13:07.41 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 11 Bruxelles 14.09.2007

1001 13:07.97 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2rA Heusden-Zolder 18.07.2009

1922 13:14.75 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 12 Monaco 22.07.2011

1951 13:15.00 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2 Indianapolis 23.06.2006

1951 13:15.00 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 3r1 Palo Alto 29.04.2012

2187 13:16.27 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 4 Melbourne 03.03.2011

2948 13:19.87 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2h1 Berlin 20.08.2009

3041 13:20.23 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 8 Berlin 23.08.2009

3126 13:20.57 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Eugene 26.06.2009

3695 13:22.60 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2r1 Palo Alto 02.05.2009

4432 13:24.74 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 12 Eugene 02.06.2012

4555 13:25.09 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 13 Eugene 03.07.2010

4655 13:25.36 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6 Carson 24.06.2005

4819 13:25.71 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 13 Bruxelles 05.09.2008

5345 13:27.06 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6 Lausanne 10.07.2007

5966 13:28.52 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 10 Hengelo 24.05.2008

6528 13:29.68 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2 Eugene 30.06.2008

519 27:28.22 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6rA Palo Alto 01.05.2011

714 27:33.94 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2 Eugene 22.06.2012

4742 28:18.26 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 19 London 04.08.2012

307 7:34.98 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 5 Monaco 20.08.2006

368 7:35.68 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 4 Stockholm 07.08.2007

530 7:37.31 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6 Monaco 25.07.2007

531 7:37.32 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 4 Eugene 07.06.2009

1008 7:40.75 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 4 Stockholm 22.07.2008

1029 7:40.90 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Zagreb 09.09.2008

1507 7:43.33 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 8 Stockholm 26.07.2005

2551 7:47.17 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6 Gateshead 31.08.2008

216 7:40.25i Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 2 Fayetteville 09.02.2007

555 7:46.08i Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Boston 24.02.2007

1670 3:34.25 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 8 Athínai 02.07.2007

3584 3:35.96 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 7 Berlin 03.09.2006

3740 3:36.07 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Eugene 08.08.2006

3832 3:36.12 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 8 New York City 12.06.2010

4460 3:36.48 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6rA Heusden-Zolder 28.07.2007

7515 3:37.94 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Madison 14.07.2008

1848 3:56.38 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 1 Madison 06.05.2006

9 8:07.07 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 3 Eugene 10.06.2007

56 8:15.88 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 5 Eugene 04.06.2011

65 8:16.50 Matt Tegenkamp USA 19.01.82 6 Eugene 28.05.2006

jcneverexisted wrote:

tegancamp was extremely overweight to be a distance runner. never had near as much talent as alan webb in any distance.

Neither did I, and neither did you, it didn't stop us.

Teg was a better 3k and 5k runner than Webb. Not might have been ... WAS.

Teg may've lost lots of star power, when Lagat became a U.S. citizen in both their primes. Lagat prevented Teg from a few national titles & prob endorsement $$$.

ttc wrote:

Teg may've lost lots of star power, when Lagat became a U.S. citizen in both their primes. Lagat prevented Teg from a few national titles & prob endorsement $$$.

We have a nice story out using some of the info from this thread where we highlight the 6 best moments of Teg's career.

1) Tegenkamp Gets 4th At 1997 Worlds

2) Tegenkamp Breaks 13:00 - Runs 12:58.56 in Brussels in 2009

3) Matt Tegenkamp Sets US 2-Mile Record of 8:07.07 at 2007 Pre Classic

4) Matt Tegenkamp Wins USA Title at 2009 USA, Leads Jerry Schumacher 1-2-3 Sweep

5) Matt Tegenkamp Takes Down Dathan Ritzenhein at 2001 US Junior XC Meet, Goes On To Finish 5th At World Juniors

6) Matt Tegenkamp Does The 10k (and Marathon)

Lagat definitely cost Tegenkamp a lot of glory. Without Lagat, Teg would have won USAs 2006-2009 as he was the runner-up in 2007, 08 and 09. Teg would have been America's best hope for a men's distance medal - maybe only hope - during all of those years if Lagat hadn't changed his allegiance from Kenya to the US.