george oscar bluth
Sanjay Gupta wrote:
george oscar bluth wrote:
A couple things to point out.
You’re trying to compare her to hurdlers of the past. The point is she isn’t like any hurdlers of the past. Gail Devers and Lolo Jones were pretty popular and Sydney will be moreso.
You’re also implying that she won’t ever run the open sprint events, which is a very premature assumption.
What makes her different? Her personality? Her age? Her times? Her achievements? Someone’s response to her personality and age comes down to preference, her times are good but we’ve had unheralded phenoms before (Ajee), and her achievements are minimal when you look at championships (only WYC & NCAAs). Do you honestly believe non-track fans will care so prematurely?
Van Niekerk couldn’t pull off the 200-400 double. He had incredible endurance and the greatest range of any male sprinter in history. The 400h is tougher than the 400 and Van Niekerk was better than McLaughlin. I could see her on a 4x4 or the mixed but trying to do another open event complete with heats might be a bad idea. Especially considering the only realistic choice would be a 400-400h double. And I could see her having sprinting success on the circuit but she won’t be setting any records.
What makes her different? A mix of all of the above things you listed, as well as her marketability. Further, Ajee is not a hurdler and is not as good at her event as Sydney is currently (no one within half a second this year). Many "non-track fans" cared about Devers and Jones, and they will care about McLaughlin. I don't understand your "prematurely" comment - I'm not claiming her to be an icon of the sport currently.
I'm not saying she will run open and hurdle events simultaneously at championships, but your original statement made it sound as though she will never accomplish anything in flat events ("Felix sprints and Richards sprinted but McLaughlin hurdles"). I don't agree with that sentiment. Allyson Felix's 400m PR is 49.26 - are you of the belief that Sydney doesn't have to chance to run that fast?