ramxc wrote:
rupp-certified salaadbar wrote:Nope.
Olympic marathon silver against legit competition (including the WR holder) is much better than Olympic 10,000 silver against a watered-down field. Add in Meb's NYC and Boston WINS and he is the (very obvious) US GOAT.
Come on. I know this is the time-trial era, but let's be honest; the GOAT must have WON at least one race on the big stage. (NCAA or USATF nationals are not the big stage, sorry.)
Sub-13 and sub-27 are interesting only to a select few close followers of the sport, those of us on this site to be specific. If Rupp doesn't get an impressive WIN (and he's still never won a SINGLE major international race) he will retire as obscure outside of running circles. People line up hundreds deep for Meb's autograph. Rupp? Nuh-uh.
Meb is a 9 on the GOAT scale. Literally only an OG Gold could improve his stature. A win of ANY MAJOR RACE at all would be a step up for Rupp. That leaves a lot of room. He's a soft 7 on the GOAT scale, just ahead of Ryan Hall due to consistent domestic wins and time-trial record.
Go ahead, POD me now.
I've got no argument agains the idea that Rupp has not won a major race, but I've read this statement many times about the "watered-down" competition of the London 10km. Weren't the best runners in the world in that race? Wasn't the world record holder in that race? (Yes, you'll tell me he wasn't 100% - but he was, in fact, the WR holder, correct?) A silver in the Olympics - in the "African era" is an exceptional achievment.
When Shorter won the marathon in '72 the Africans had barely come on the scene; I don't consider his victory watered-down in any way as he beat the best that the world had to offer on that day; Galen beat all but one in 2012 - and the level of competition in 2012 is FAR greater than it was in 1972.
Meb's Athens medal is also a phenomenal achievement and his major marathon performances also give him great value in this discussion, but I simply don't believe that Meb's medal trumps Galen's medal - just because YOU say the competition was watered down.