Elite Runner Who Just Walked Away Before Their Potential Was Realized - ?

Kitum and Amos, so much potential...

Who 2.5 years after starting to run middle distance ran 1:50 and 2:24 in the K. His previous outdoor track season, he ran 1:52 in the 800 and 4:03 in the 1500. He was a 46 point guy in a split. His last race he ran, he ran 14:40ish at a road 5k in March.

He started dating a lady and just walked away. Obviously not elite, but I think he could have run 1:47 and broken 4 one day. He walked onto the track program after his sophomore year after being a skiier.

Katie Waits (formerly Erdman)... sub 2:00 800 gal from Michigan who ran toe-to-toe with Alysia Montano (formerly Johnson). I think she got married shortly after graduating and began a family, Not many women break that barrier while still in NCAA...

I call b.s. wrote:

Stephen PRE wrote:

PRE

In 1976 Olympics, Prefontaine would not have finished in higher than fifth in either 5000 or 10000.

Pre had only improved after Munich. Was hungry. And would have demolished Lasse Viren had he showed up to the meet in Eugene that he was suppose to and chickened out of. But when your blood dopping regime and training aren'tin sync, you are scared of the 4th place finisher that is looking to take you down. Viren chickened out like the 8itch he is.

preisg8erthanu wrote:

I call b.s. wrote:

In 1976 Olympics, Prefontaine would not have finished in higher than fifth in either 5000 or 10000.

Pre had only improved after Munich. Was hungry. And would have demolished Lasse Viren had he showed up to the meet in Eugene that he was suppose to and chickened out of. But when your blood dopping regime and training aren'tin sync, you are scared of the 4th place finisher that is looking to take you down. Viren chickened out like the 8itch he is.

Wow! What you stated sounds like a famous 800/1500 runner. What 800/1500 runner was sh&t during non-Olympic years?

SJWHippie wrote:

Dr. Robert Kempanien. Prof at Univ. Of Minn. Med skl.

Two Olys, national cross champ and 2:08 at Boston...and threw it all away.

Bob did not exactly "throw it all away." Bob was 30 years old and had been battling injury problems. Bob made the right choice.

Aragon. Never went up in distance. Got snubbed in his prime by a criminal South African. Would have destroyed at 5,000m.

this is it wrote:

Jargen Frankfurter wrote:

Um...Ever hear of Herb Elliott??

+1

Imagine Herb Elliott vs Peter Snell in the 1500m final at the 64 final?

It could've turned into a Seb Coe vs Steve Ovett type of duel. Too bad they never raced each other. One of the biggest tragedies in running.

Would have been another Elliot win, little doubt that.

Pistorius.

jiaaf wrote:

SJWHippie wrote:

Dr. Robert Kempanien. Prof at Univ. Of Minn. Med skl.

Two Olys, national cross champ and 2:08 at Boston...and threw it all away.

Bob did not exactly "throw it all away." Bob was 30 years old and had been battling injury problems. Bob made the right choice.

Jeezus, do you not understand sarcasm.

Another guy "threw it all away," Ralph Doubell of Oz, gold medal 1968 Oly in a record time that stood for 50 years, got injured so no run in 72, so went to Harvard Business School, then was head of Deutsche B ank down under, the lazy bum.

SJWHippie wrote:

jiaaf wrote:

Bob did not exactly "throw it all away." Bob was 30 years old and had been battling injury problems. Bob made the right choice.

Jeezus, do you not understand sarcasm.

Another guy "threw it all away," Ralph Doubell of Oz, gold medal 1968 Oly in a record time that stood for 50 years, got injured so no run in 72, so went to Harvard Business School, then was head of Deutsche B ank down under, the lazy bum.

Idiot. Your examples do not belong in this thread. Your sarcasm is pathetic.

Another guy who threw it all away was Dick Beardsley. Get the sarcasm? Idiot.

*stipe wrote:

Matt Withrow

can't tell if troll, but that kid did 100 miles/week in hs, he had to have been burned out

Ed Moran, 2:11 debut at New York in 2011.

Double post, but 2 foot locker guys, abdirizak mohamud and yong-sung leal, both strike me that they'd have become world beaters had they continued with the sport. the legends around both of them are insane-- abdi once ran a 3:43 1500 off about a week of training his freshman year of college, and YSL ran a 28:06 hilly 6 mile after almost a decade of no running on around 35 miles/week.

Hassan Farah certainly never realized his potential. I think he is even the older stronger twin.

John Zishka, elite high school runner.

Joe Falcon fits this category better than anyone I've seen. He ran a 3:49 mile to win Bislett and was also a 13:20 5000m runner. He won both NCAA 1500m and xc. Superb talent. Achilles ended his career--knowing about achilles now, I suspect he could have returned to a very high level after recovery from surgery.

Herb Elliott is obviously a great one for this category, although two Olympic golds, undefeated in international competition, and world records mean a good deal of his potential was realized, albeit on very low mileage.

zxcvzxcv wrote:

Joe Falcon fits this category better than anyone I've seen. He ran a 3:49 mile to win Bislett and was also a 13:20 5000m runner. He won both NCAA 1500m and xc. Superb talent. Achilles ended his career--knowing about achilles now, I suspect he could have returned to a very high level after recovery from surgery.

No. As you alluded to, Joe did not just walk away. He really had no choice.