You guys also have to remember that the majority of American's don't start
running until their freshman year of high school. I was 15 in October of my
freshman year... meaning I had run for a year by the time I was 16. When,
lets say a Kenyan runs 13:low at, say 19, he may have been running for 10
years already. That's like one of our guys running 13:low at 25. There are
so many factors that go into this. 75% are probably not really juniors. Of
the 25% that are left, probably 95% have the equivalent running experience
of a 25 year old American. On top of all this, don't forget that running at
such a young age while you are still growing may affect the body in a more
beneficial way than starting at 14 or 15.
M
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: RE: t-and-f: believe it or not
>Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 20:01:53 EDT
>
>Obviously some, if not many, of the African Juniors of the past 15 years
>have not been juniors. Moses Kiptanui was definitely not 19 back in '91.
>There was NO WAY that Addis Abebe was 19 back in '89. Dude had a receding
>hairline (Okay, so did the Mastalir's in high school, but that's
>different).
>
>But I would not hesititate to believe that Ismael Kirui was 18 in '93 when
>he won the World Champs 5K for the first time. That guy really looked like
>a true 18-year-old. Sure, that has him running 28:30 or so at age 16, but
>if Chapa could run that in high school, Kirui could do it at 16.
>sideshow
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