Competitor.com article claims Rupp's Trials Marathon totally changed LetsRunners' opinions of him

Now that we know it was only the springy shoes, no.

Legal or not after reading the list of what Salazar's athletes were taking during the Olympics made me sick. Assuming it was all legit it's still not ethical when coaches are searching for substances that are not yet banned to feed to their athletes. It's shameful!

The baton being snatched from Meb. I don't think so.

Slightly disagree. Slightly agree. On one hand, most people were going to have the same opinion of Rupp no matter how fast he ran. On the other hand, as Rupp logged more and more astonishing races, he earned the respect of more people. I remember when he was in college and the brojos published week-that-was articles about how Rupp may have had a good race here and there but he was no match for true competition. But then a few years later after he won debut marathon they did a nice gesture by putting him on the home page.

I will be honest. I did not like him or any NOP athletes prior to 2016. I thought he was an egghead puppet groomed and manufactured by Nike with no voice of his own. I did indeed eagerly await his trials debut (it's always interesting to see how ANY track runner would fare in a marathon), and found myself cheering for him although I never did like African-born Meb very much. In the end I found rupp's quest for an olympic marathon medal pretty inspiring and was on the edge of my seat pulling for him during the last 6 miles. It would be pretty epic if an American-born American won Boston, or became a sub-2:05 guy. If he never runs another good marathon I would put him back in doper sub-human status.

[quote]LetsRun.com wrote:

Do you agree or disagree?

[quote]Competitor wrote:

But in an instant, Rupp accelerated away, as if he downshifted and floored it, knocking out a 4:47 mile and going on to win by 68 seconds.

quote]

I think they call what Meb did "Poking the Bear"!

I thought trials was expected. What really changed my opinion of him was the Olympic medals. That's next level. On the men's side he was instrumental in changing the mindset that we could compete for and win medals. Webb almost got us there but he couldn't pull it together in world champs. Without Rupp we don't have Centro, Murphy, or Jager.

It's ridiculous the way we hype guys who dominated the EPO era (El G, Komen, Geb, Lance, etc) yet hate on Rupp for pushing the limits but following the letter of the law. I wish he had more personality in interviews to be a better face of track but his talent, work, and accomplishments are undeniable and until proven guilty I'll cheer for him.

On target, my friend

I like Rupp. I wish him the best. I root for him although I have never had that strong personal attachment to him as a fan that we all feel towards certain athletes/teams. Nothing changed except I was glad to see further success from an athlete I have casually supported for a decade or however long.

As far as the bigger issues involving NOP... I am torn.

I think they're missing a basic fact about all message boards. There are lots of people on both sides, but they aren't equally vocal at all times.

When Rupp wins the Trials, the pro-NOP group will be making more posts and seem more visible. When more doping evidence comes out, the anti-NOP group will be posting more.

This might make it look like a lot of people are changing their opinion from one side to the other, but that's probably no what's happening (except for a small number).

Silver in the Olympics was obviously not enough for the predict my 5km crowd on here.

at least some of us said he's done.

The guy ran a 3:50 and a 13:01 all alone in low key indoor meets. He ran a 26:44 10,000. The equivalent marathon would be a 2:04 high.

Salazar realized that he has peaked and moved him to the event where science is most helpful. Marathon is about heat management, hence his ice cube hat, a tactic NOP probably figured out by reading my comments about shaven bald heads.

Which is to say, it's probably thanks to me he's even still around. He should ditch the hat and go clean cue-ball though. It really works.

bit of both wrote:

When Rupp wins the Trials, the pro-NOP group will be making more posts and seem more visible. When more doping evidence comes out, the anti-NOP group will be posting more.

.

Isn't this the same thing. He wins the trials because he dopes.

Bad Wigins wrote:

hence his ice cube hat, a tactic NOP probably figured out by reading my comments about shaven bald heads.

Which is to say, it's probably thanks to me he's even still around. He should ditch the hat and go clean cue-ball though. It really works.

...you just keep repeating that to yourself...

Following track/distance running in the US is akin to following footie in the UK. The media in the UK LOVES to rip down it's own stars, it's own best teams, put far too much pressure on the youth and are quick to show the door to a legend at the first sign of aging. It's absolutely brutal. Here in the US we have the same issue. We've got the NOP who has never once been caught doing anything illegal: If the number 1 is nothing illegal at all, and the number 10 is ILLEGAL, NOP just loves to sit right there at 9.9, yet we wish failure on them. Instead of the media and fans of running propping up the heroics of Rupp at the Olympics, the stories and commentary are trying to rip him down. It's disgusting.

It's crazy how much people hate on him, I'd say it's mostly jealousy tbh, because there's not much grounds for hating on him. If there ever comes out absolute proof he's doping or has doped then I'll have to not support him, but alls these accusations on nothing or saying playing within the rules to be the best you can as an excuse to hate him is dumb.

mkng1 wrote:

It's ridiculous the way we hype guys who dominated the EPO era (El G, Komen, Geb, Lance, etc) yet hate on Rupp for pushing the limits but following the letter of the law. I wish he had more personality in interviews to be a better face of track but his talent, work, and accomplishments are undeniable and until proven guilty I'll cheer for him.

^^ Agree with this 100%.

mkng1 wrote:

I thought trials was expected. What really changed my opinion of him was the Olympic medals. That's next level. On the men's side he was instrumental in changing the mindset that we could compete for and win medals. Webb almost got us there but he couldn't pull it together in world champs. Without Rupp we don't have Centro, Murphy, or Jager.

Agree 100%. Rupp winning the trials was the expected outcome. I think most of us knew deep down he was the favorite. Of course he still had to show up and perform, which he obviously did, but the Olympic marathon is what showed us that he is a legit contender and can threaten a major marathon.

I've always thought letsrun has a bizarre infatuation with the marathon. It's arguably the worst event, yet everyone here seems to love it. I wonder if embracing that distance has/will improve his reputation around here.

Still think he's a shady fella. My dislike for him isn't as strong as it is for the MoBot, but he'll never be a favorite of mine.