What Elite Runner Has Gotten the Least out of The Talent They Have?

Robby Andrews, Alan Webb, I think Galen Rupp could've set a 5000m AR if he had gone for it (he IS a 2:06 guy after all), and That Kyle Merber guy was garbage considering all the hype he got in college.

In terms of PRs: Mo Farah. In terms of championship success: Jim Ryun.

Andrew wheating.

3hr-marathoner wrote:

In terms of PRs: Mo Farah

uh ...

1500 3:28 - national and european record

3000 7:32 - national record

2m 8:07 - national and european record

2m i 8:03 - national, european, and WORLD record

5000 12:53 - national record

10000 26:46 national and european record

observer_of_things wrote:

3hr-marathoner wrote:

In terms of PRs: Mo Farah

uh ...

1500 3:28 - national and european record

3000 7:32 - national record

2m 8:07 - national and european record

2m i 8:03 - national, european, and WORLD record

5000 12:53 - national record

10000 26:46 national and european record

1. ok, fair

2. SOFT

3. SOFT!!!

4. SOFT!!!!!!

5. SO SOFT!!!!!!

6. Less soft but still soft.

if Farah's best event was the 1500m, his PRs are awesome but for a 5/10 guy as good as him, they are lacklustre.

German.

I'm no Farah hater. In fact by the standards on this board I'm practically a fan-boy but I don't think he did himself any favors by never racing for time at his best distances. IMO at his peak his best distance was probably the 5000m which probably has the strongest WR of any distance event, however, I would have liked to have seen him take a few shots at seeing how close he could get.

lfgdfjksdfhjsdf wrote:

observer_of_things wrote:

uh ...

1500 3:28 - national and european record

3000 7:32 - national record

2m 8:07 - national and european record

2m i 8:03 - national, european, and WORLD record

5000 12:53 - national record

10000 26:46 national and european record

1. ok, fair

2. SOFT

3. SOFT!!!

4. SOFT!!!!!!

5. SO SOFT!!!!!!

6. Less soft but still soft.

Agreed. The 1500 tips the hand.

3hr-marathoner wrote:

if Farah's best event was the 1500m, his PRs are awesome but for a 5/10 guy as good as him, they are lacklustre.

I've always said that his sweet spot is at 3k/2m. And it pains me to say that b/c Vento thinks the same thing. I think it is hard to compare 90s 3k/5k/10k times to those from Mo's era. The state of doping was simply different. I don't see Komen running his times if he was born 10 to 20 years later, for example.

But to my original point ... a guy with numerous national and European records along with a WR can't be said to have not gotten much out of the talent he has.

observer_of_things wrote:

3hr-marathoner wrote:

if Farah's best event was the 1500m, his PRs are awesome but for a 5/10 guy as good as him, they are lacklustre.

I've always said that his sweet spot is at 3k/2m. And it pains me to say that b/c Vento thinks the same thing. I think it is hard to compare 90s 3k/5k/10k times to those from Mo's era. The state of doping was simply different. I don't see Komen running his times if he was born 10 to 20 years later, for example.

Agreed, I don't blame him for not being able to break those records but I do blame him for not trying.

Bob Kempainen.

I think the point is that he had so much talent to win all these big meets, but when it comes down to it, he never really tested how fast he could really go over anything besides 1500. We all know he was more than just a kicker/tactician, and it would have been great to see him at least attempt a WR in the 3000 or 5000 or 10000... you know... the REAL hard marks. Not that soft-because-rarely-run indoor 2 mile BS. But he never got any of that.

1) Pre

2) Jim Ryun

3) Suzy Favor Hamilton (though her Vegas gig was quite successful)

4) Morgan Uceny

I wonder the real reason for why Mo Farah didn’t shoot for faster times, because he certainly could have chased them at various points in each of his best seasons. Avoid injury? Not risk the embarrassment of being beat? Avoid even more suspicion about nefarious training “strategies”?

Personally, I think it comes down to

A) 5k/10k WRs are very strong.

B) Training to kick off a fast pace and training for a 5k/10k WR attempt don't mesh. Part of Farah's longevity at the top was due to the focus on finishing speed.

Doping or not, I doubt anyone holds back from WR attempts just to avoid suspicion. If he beat Bekele's records by 0.01, do you really think it would tarnish his image? No, it would only make it stronger. I honestly do not believe Farah ever had a sub-12:40 or sub-26:20 in him.

moist wrote:

Personally, I think it comes down to

A) 5k/10k WRs are very strong.

B) Training to kick off a fast pace and training for a 5k/10k WR attempt don't mesh. Part of Farah's longevity at the top was due to the focus on finishing speed.

Doping or not, I doubt anyone holds back from WR attempts just to avoid suspicion. If he beat Bekele's records by 0.01, do you really think it would tarnish his image? No, it would only make it stronger. I honestly do not believe Farah ever had a sub-12:40 or sub-26:20 in him.

I think Semenya holds back from WR attempts to avoid extra attention. But that’s a different situation.

You think so? She got beat so badly over 1500m it made me wonder.