Exactly. "Rebuilding Rupp" had one episode.
Exactly. "Rebuilding Rupp" had one episode.
He is one of the reasons our sport suffers.
He doesn’t give a sheet about the slow runners that PAY his salary.
Not a fan.
The reason Dean Karnazes and Walmsley were/are popular is because they have some level of personality and can tell a story that keeps people interested in them, that's more important than their PBs in terms of having an actual fanbase. In the past runners would rely on race results to gain sponsorship, I think more and more companies are realising their money would be better spent on a YouTube star who has 10x the fanbase of an introvert like Rupp, if Rupp can't run fast one day he has no personality to fall back on to keep people interested in him. Walmsley didn't come close to winning but he still has 5x Rupps fanbase...
because Rupp lost to Mo so many times. When someone is no.2 he isn't as popular as winners are.
Because he has a personality seemingly created by a corporate PR department.
GoldenMile wrote:
MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:
Seriously?
1. He's an introvert and basically shuns publicity
2. The accusations of PEDs
3. The relationship with Salazar and Nike
4. The "golden boy"persona since his high school days
What else is there really to say other than this? #2 and #3 are really the huge ones.
^This. He'd be well advised to distance himself from the abusive Cheat Sal, but of course can't, like Hasay.
I can’t say I’m a super fan or not, but the most underrated thing about him is that he SHOWS UP on race day. We are incredibly surprised if he ever drops out of a race or performs poorly (last year). That’s the most machine thing about him. At the trials, we knew which pros had the greatest likelihood of dropping out, but you would never put that thought of Rupp in your mind on the stage of the Olympic berth. The man is a killer
sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:
Because he has a personality seemingly created by a corporate PR department.
Do you Rupp haters watch major sports? Popularity is 100% based on performance. In his heyday, Tiger Woods was very standoffish and almost surly, but he was one of the most popular athletes in the world. Joe Montana was worshiped and still is is, but he was quiet and really had nothing to say. Same with Larry Bird.
Rupp, among other accomplishments, won a Silver Medal against the greatest distance runners in the world in front a crowd of 80,000 and which was televised worldwide. Walmsley greatest trail running wins are recorded with a cellphone as he stops at an aid station. You're actually comparing these guy? Walmsley showed up at the trials to run for glory and lost by six minutes. I didn't hear his name even once during the trials compared to Rupp being the focus.
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Geriatric griping
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Who are you?
agip wrote:
agip wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASVUj89hyg0just to finish the point.
Rupp runs without passion. He is a machine. He never front runs, he doesn't seem to take any chances. He is a supreme power-metering tool.
Which is why he is so good. But it's hard to cheer for him because of it.
Fans like athletes who play from the heart. Pre is the obvious model - he never won a medal but is remembered and loved because he ran with his heart and took chances.
The whole 'rupp certified' thing is exactly the problem. How do you go all in for a guy who isn't all-in himself?
Put another way, if he weren't massively gifted I don't think he'd be a runner. He'd play soccer or something. Elites who run only because they are good are hard to bond with.
Rupp is like Chris Froome in his approach to training and racing-metronomic, but lacking panache. Froome has had similar difficulties connecting with fans. I wonder if both men will win over more supporters after coming back from injuries. People love a comeback story. Hopefully one that doesn’t end the same way as another (in)famous cyclist.
Ruppp wrote:
He is one of the reasons our sport suffers.
He doesn’t give a sheet about the slow runners that PAY his salary.
Not a fan.
He does more for the sport than the entire Schumacher group combined. Probably races as much as the whole group combined too.
I would not say he’s an introvert. When he was younger he did a lot more interviews. My opinion of him was formed then as a precocious phenom groomed by a former legend and how he stayed with U of O for 4 years. But my opinion gradually changed as he became a robot and the siege mentality of Salazar took over. Rupp is somewhat boring and the lines pushed and advantages NOP had and the bullying of Salazar all affect how people think of him. I cheered against him and Mo and Centro. Now, meh. But media is important and I think it is helping BTC for their women to have such a strong Instagram presence and now having Talbot Cox creating content through Gwen.
i have been a rupp admirer for a long long time. i remember the days of rogers (i ran boston 15 times or so starting early 70s when a 2:50 was needed just to get in) . in the US we all followed rodgers like a god , it was great. rupp has long been the only american distance runner with a chance in hell of beating the east africans. i don't consider myself racist but i want to root for an american . the fact that he has never failed a drug test is a plus but one that all the haters on this board continue to ignore. i guess they know something that i don't. the fact that he is not telegenic is a big no-op. if you care about that watch hollywood movies, not races.
i am excited that rupp has a great chance for a 3rd olympic medal and i can even imagine him taking the gold. yes it is fun to dream rather than hate. it will not be easy but he is 3 years younger than kipchoge, 4 younger than bekele, will be running only his 4th marathon, has a similar work ethic to kipchoge, is a great hot weather runner, and has as good a track pedigree of any runner on the planet except bekele, he knows how to race and the olympic marathon is a race. if he can handle a very fast pace through 30k he has a great chance (that kind of pace is i think kipchoge's advantage over bekele so the race will be different than many olympic marathons). i would feel better if his 1/2 time was in the 58's, not 59's.
as to many of you who have been spreading hate, slander and ignorance on every letsrun BB for a long time, try another sport or take your vast drug knowledge to the medical community and get rich. i just wish this site could be more about racing and less about ignorant bullshit. one more thing, Walmsley is a great ultra runner and i love to see videos of his races although i have never run an ultra in my life.
Ghost of Jason Rexing's Trainers wrote:
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Geriatric griping
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Who are you?
Odd response. Please explain why you think an ultra runner that has never appeared on television has a bigger fan base than a world class runner that that has won Olympic medals. If it wasn't for Letsrun, I would have never have heard of Walmsley and if I didn't live in the Sacramento area, the WS 100.
older runner wrote:
i remember the days of rogers (i ran boston 15 times or so starting early 70s when a 2:50 was needed just to get in) .
Such a big fan of "rogers", but you can't even spell his name correctly.
I'm mostly surprised at the fact that so many Rupp fans can't understand how we don't like him. There are a ton of good reasons (as listed above). But really, it should be as simple as the fact that not everyone likes everyone else. Even the top athletes who are always winning. Off the top of my head here are a bunch of winners I just don't like:
Chris Froome (great comparison to Rupp as someone else brought up)
Tom Brady and the Patriots
Lance Armstrong (also never failed a drug test, you know)
Alberto Salazar (even in his prime the dude was just an @ss)
Tiger Woods
Christiano Ronaldo
A Rod and The Yankees
I don't care if an athlete is shy or has a social media presence or any of that (in fact, I tend to like the quieter ones more). It just comes down to how well I like them as a person and an athlete. It's a bonus if they're beating the world in their sport, but that is not a must. And simply winning medals is nowhere near enough for me to be a fan of someone.
macdaddy wrote:
Ruppp wrote:
He is one of the reasons our sport suffers.
He doesn’t give a sheet about the slow runners that PAY his salary.
Not a fan.
He does more for the sport than the entire Schumacher group combined. Probably races as much as the whole group combined too.
Patently false.
older runner wrote:
i have been a rupp admirer for a long long time. i remember the days of rogers (i ran boston 15 times or so starting early 70s when a 2:50 was needed just to get in) . in the US we all followed rodgers like a god , it was great. rupp has long been the only american distance runner with a chance in hell of beating the east africans. i don't consider myself racist but i want to root for an american . the fact that he has never failed a drug test is a plus but one that all the haters on this board continue to ignore. i guess they know something that i don't. the fact that he is not telegenic is a big no-op. if you care about that watch hollywood movies, not races.
i am excited that rupp has a great chance for a 3rd olympic medal and i can even imagine him taking the gold. yes it is fun to dream rather than hate. it will not be easy but he is 3 years younger than kipchoge, 4 younger than bekele, will be running only his 4th marathon, has a similar work ethic to kipchoge, is a great hot weather runner, and has as good a track pedigree of any runner on the planet except bekele, he knows how to race and the olympic marathon is a race. if he can handle a very fast pace through 30k he has a great chance (that kind of pace is i think kipchoge's advantage over bekele so the race will be different than many olympic marathons). i would feel better if his 1/2 time was in the 58's, not 59's.
as to many of you who have been spreading hate, slander and ignorance on every letsrun BB for a long time, try another sport or take your vast drug knowledge to the medical community and get rich. i just wish this site could be more about racing and less about ignorant bullshit. one more thing, Walmsley is a great ultra runner and i love to see videos of his races although i have never run an ultra in my life.
Pretty sure it will be his 10th marathon start. So yeah, we know a few things you don’t.
please show them
You said it'd be his 4th marathon. That's so far off I can't even believe you follow the sport. Even pulling out the DNFs, the Olympics would be his 8th marathon. Seriously, pack it up and go home.
2016 Olympic Trials
2016 Olympics
2017 Boston
2017 Chicago
2018 Boston (DNF)
2018 Prague
2018 Chicago
2019 Chicago (DNF)
2020 Olympic Trials
2020 Olympics