The joke is on us wrote:
I think that alot of the other countries dont take it as seriously as the Americans. Watching the Marathon and how undisciplined the African runners were on the tangents and pacing and the hydration made think they really weren't paying attention to the little things that cumilatively add up.
In this race Jenny and Shannon seemed to know what was going on and how the race was setting up while the Africans were making it up as it went along.
There are so many statements in this thread that I take issue with.
Do the East Africans sometimes make tactical decisions that make me shake my head? Yes. Do the East Africans, on the whole, destroy the Americans both in fitness and in tactics? ALSO YES.
I've seen plenty of bonehead tactics from all types of runners. The infamous Webb WC final comes to mind. However, he did that in the trials and it worked beautifully. He was RACING. You see, that's what the East Africans do... They RACE. The Americans can't really race most of the time because they are barely hanging on for dear life. I noticed Shalane taking a turn more efficiently than the others once. Didn't watch much of the marathon. But having watched tons of track races for years, I can assure you that the Africans have plenty of race savvy. Again, what you consider "just feeling it out as they go along" is actually something called RACING...
Dibaba knew EXACTLY what she was doing. Masback or whoever it was had just said that her coach told her to go for it in the last 800. And what do you know - that's what she did. But she went too hard too early and possibly went too hard in the semifinal. She bonked. Oh well, it happens.
Another issue I have: why do you assume we think Jenny Simpson is clean? I'm not saying she's dirty, but your saying that just reeks of American exceptionalism.
I'm far from PC, and I think tons of the Africans are on drugs, but I have no more faith that Simpson is clean than I do most of the other athletes in an Olympic final, which is not that much.
Oh, and running for bronze? Eh, I get what you're saying, but I've always found the idea that bronze >>>>>>>> fourth place a little odd. My belief is that what really matters is winning, and if I had an athlete who had even a 1/100 chance of winning an Olympic final, I would tell him or her to effing go for it even if it meant the medal chances took a hit.