Has LetsRun nation lost its mind? Jenny Simpson is currently beating Joan Benoit in the voting for Greatest American Ever.

rojo wrote:

Currently Simpson leads 54 % to 46%.

Really?

Does anyone else find this shocking?

Or am I just biased because I was 11 when Jonanie won and sort of remember it as being a very big deal.

LRC Note: Voting ends Sunday night at 12 midnight ET.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/american-distance-goat-vote-in-the-womens-semifinals/

Democracy, baby. Get out of here with your big government regulations

People on this message board hate boomers.

Wouldn’t this be like election tampering?

dont care what yall think wrote:

Wouldn’t this be like election tampering?

Exactly. Rojo is putting his thumb on the scale

Galen 'cheaterfly' Rupp beat Meb, '2:08 Solo at Boston for the Win' K... so I'm not surprised at all. I think there are certain biases in the typical letsrun reader and one of them is 'times' which benefits younger more recent runners.

It's at least close. Jenny earned several medals on the world stage.

I was not alive and do not know the significance of the women's marathon events in Joanie's time. Her times look amazing. Jordan Hasay ran faster... not enough to convince me her greatness surpasses Jenny. Probably on par.

Shorter wins, anyway.

I don't find it shocking at all. Jenny has one of the greatest American medal hauls and has competed in a vastly, nearly incomparably, superior era.

The problem I've run into is what the word "greatest" should mean. Does it take into account how the public looked at and idolized (or didn't) the athletes? That's why these are great debates -- different people value different things, i.e. times vs. medals vs. popular influence vs. contemporary success.

I'm more surprised Shorter and Ryun are winning by as much as they are. I thought Centrowitz should have beaten Ryun and just assumed Lagat would win this round.

Shorter and Rupp I think is a great matchup -- voted for Shorter, but not because I don't like Rupp/NOP. I figure he should actually be a double gold medalist. That's tough to beat, even with better times and similar results in a better era.

I looked at the title of the thread, then went back and looked at the matchup....and ended up voting for Simpson.

Joanie was a pioneer and I remember well the day she won the inaugural Olympic Women's Marathon, but Simpson just has a way better resume, 8 Global finals at multiple distances including multiple medals, one of them being WC gold.

Granted, there were no WCs back in Joanie's day, but Simpson has had a great, long career where she has been at the top of the sport for a long time.

What is really ridiculous is that Mary Slaney was not included in the contest. Yeah, she tested positive in 1996, about 10-15 years after the peak of her career. There's no evidence I'm aware of that she was doping in the early 80s when she was defeating some of the most doped women of all time, setting world records, etc.

I think you should have left it up to the voters to decide whether someone with a later career doping positive should advance through the rounds. Most of the women in your contest don't measure up to the greatness of Slaney. She was the only female track athlete to ever be named Sports Illustrated Athlete of the Year.

BTW I'm not a big fan of Slaney, I thought she was whiny and something of a nutcase.

It really is a travesty. last season i'm pretty sure Siffan hassan closed a 10k wigth a 1500 like one or two seconds off of jenny's PR..... she is a decent tactician but that's it. even a broken clock is right twice a day. in any honest paced 1500 she loses, and her resume doesn't hold an olympic gold which it really should to even make this comparison.

Its a popularity contest. Few are sitting around analyzing performances.

im biased because i have a crush on jenny simpson

The bigger shock for me was that Benoit was a number one seed over Simpson - 10 straight global championships, 4 medals...it’s not even close for me. Throw in all the NCAA records and 15 years of excellence. Simpson FTW. Shorter vs Dimpdon final.

Didn't Lagat beat Rodgers and you are still surprised? Dude, this became a popularity contest from the get go.

get your thumb off the scale! No fair stumping for one athlete or another.

All marathoners are inferior to mid-d track runners.

Idiot

What about Ryun ~ 1'39"/3'24"/3'41"[\b] don't you understand?

Simpson's resume looks stronger that Joan, and I am from Joan's generation (pretty much I am telling you I voted for Simpson). Notice Simpson also had am impressive NCAA career while Joan didn't. Inside and outside the NCAA Simpson had a strong running presence.That sealed the deal for me.

1) Joan Benoit Samuelson

Notable PBs: 2:21:21 marathon (#4 US)

Global medals: 1 (1984 Olympic marathon gold)

Major marathon wins: 4 (1979 and 1983 Boston Marathons, 1984 Olympics, 1985 Chicago)

USA track titles: 1 (10,000)

Global outdoor finals: 1 (1st 1984 Olympic marathon)

NCAA titles: 0

2) Jenny Simpson

Notable PBs: 3:57.22 1500 (#4 US), 4:17.30 mile (#3 US), 8:29.58 3,000 (#5 US), 14:56.26 5,000; 9:12.50 steeple (#4 US)

Global medals: 4 (1st 2011 World 1500, 2nd 2013 World 1500, 3rd 2016 Olympic 1500, 2nd 2017 World 1500)

USA outdoor track titles: 7 (4 in 1500, 2 in steeple, 1 in 5,000)

USA indoor track titles: 4 (2 in 3,000, 1 in 1500, 1 in mile)

Global outdoor finals: 8 (8th 2008 Olympic steeple, 4th 2009 World steeple, 1st 2011 World 1500, 2nd 2013 World 1500, 11th 2015 World 1500, 3rd 2016 Olympic 1500, 2nd 2017 World 1500, 8th 2019 World 1500)

NCAA titles: 4

Do you think Elvis would beat Right Said Freds illegitimate son Pitbull if you had a poll for greatest singer ever?

Too many youngsters here.

CoachB wrote:

Granted, there were no WCs back in Joanie's day, .

Huh? She had to beat the WC to win the Olympics.. She was also young enough to participated in at least three or more.