<<< I'm skating without data here, but
I think the following folks were under 25 when they set their WRs: Viren,
Rono, Aouita, ElG, Morcelli, Cram, Coe, Geb, Komen (he was 21 I believe!),
Kimombwa. >>>
Fair enough Rich. But for those who think that naming names of WR holders
who did so under 25, constitutes evidence that distance ability can reach
WR-level by 18-19 (that WAS the discussion ... a 7:58 steeple) you must
consider your own examples:
Coe (set WR in 800 when young, ran 3:29.77 when he was much older)
Aouita (may have run 13:00 WR when 25, but 4:50/8:13y/12:58 when 27 or so,
7:29 when he was 29)
Rono (4 WRs in '78 when he was older than 25, but 13:06 WR/27:29 in
'81/'82 when much older)
ElG (Better at 22 or 28? Hard to say. He was certainly great at both
ages. Fastest at 2k/3k when older than 25)
Cram (Best year was 1985, he was 25 or older then)
Morceli (Greatest success in 1500m when under 25, but 2k WR and 7:23 3k WR
when 26 and 25)
Viren (WR at 22 I think, but even better in 1976: Gold, Gold, 5th in
'thon)
Consider other post-1960 examples:
Ovett (WRs when young, but 1500m PR when far beyond 25)
Walker (3:49.4 when young, 3:49.08 seven years later)
Mamede (How old when he went 13:12/27:13 WR in same season? way past 30)
Lopes (13:16/27:17 at 37. 'nuff said)
Moses Kiptanui (WR in Steeple and 5k in 1995, older than 25? 7:56 in 1997)
Ron Clarke (Fastest at what age?)
Moorcroft (3:49/7:32/13:00.42 PRs when 28 years old)
Salah Hissou (How old when he went sub-27?)
Yobes ondieki (How old when he went sub-27?)
Arturo Barrios (How old when he ran 13:07/27:08?)
Tergat
Moh. Mourhit
Steve Scott
Dieter Baumann (12:54 at over-30)
Spivey (7:37 in '93, 13:15 in '94 ... 3:31/3:49y/4:52 when older than 25)
Won't even start with the women, or the marathon and XC specialists.
When you get right down to it, there are lots of examples of "distance" WR
holders who set their first mark at least, when younger than 25. Most of
the examples are milers. There are certainly some exceptions.
Did anyone post-1960 run their best-ever times while still 19? Yes, Jim
Ryun did in the 1500 and mile. However, there is a lot of evidence that a
DISTANCE runner USUALLY reaches his full potential physically when older
than 25 and having trained for 10-12+ years. That is all I believed, I
didn't want to start a sprinter vs. D-runner debate.
If you think the 7:58 WJR is a legitimate record, by an actual 18-year-old,
god bless you, you are going to enjoy following track much more for it.
/Brian McEwen
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard McCann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 7:46 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: t-and-f: believe it or not
The sport has changed with professionalization. In large part is reflects
the different reasons why sprinters and distance runners
compete. Sprinters are in largely for the competition only, and at least
in the past, only trained as necessary for that competition. When training
became a burden in life, as with the end of college, they
retired. Distance runners on the other hand (yes, I'm biased-I'm one)
participate for not only competition but also health benefits, outdoor
enjoyment, physical effort, and social aspects. Because of the work
necessary (read "investment") to reach an elite level versus sprinters,
they are more likely to have structured their life around their training,
and leaving school for work was a much smaller adjustment vis-a-vis
training and competition.
With sprinters now able to make a living, the transition to work is in fact
just a continuation of their sport. On the other hand, the number of
masters sprinters is tiny in comparison to masters distance runners, where
the old model still rules.
I guess we've been fooled up to now about whether speed peaks before
endurance by biased, tainted data.
As for the Kenyans, I would not be surprised if they are not suffering
early burnout from intense training. Our discussion about the York HS
program has some applicabiltiy here.
And as an added note, Webb is competitive with the African Juniors, no
matter what their age. I believe his time would have been among the top 3
Jrs 1500s in the world in 2000.
BTW, if you look at the average of past distance world record holders, I
think you'll find that at least after 1960 (the true modern era), they have
been much younger than you might think. I'm skating without data here, but
I think the following folks were under 25 when they set their WRs: Viren,
Rono, Aouita, ElG, Morcelli, Cram, Coe, Geb, Komen (he was 21 I believe!),
Kimombwa.
Richard McCann
>Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 12:06:02 -0600 (MDT)
>From: "P.F.Talbot" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Re: t-and-f: believe it or not
>
>Also, Shorter was 24 when he won Olympic Gold in the marathon correct (and
>was 5th in the Olympic 10,000m)? He arguably improved little if any after
>that time (though he did dominate the sport for years at his peak).
>
>On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, Ed & Dana Parrot wrote:
>
> > > Hmm, let's see. 30-year-old Carl Lewis set his first record in the
100,
> > was succceeded by 27-year-old Leroy Burrell who was suceeded by
28-year-old
> > Donovan Bailey. MJ set the 200 record at 28, the 400 record (finally)
> at 30.
> > >
> > > Meanwhile, Geb holds the 5K and 10K marks set when he was 25.
> >
> > And Komen before him was not exactly geriatric, either. Even if you
don't
> > believe the stated ages, the Africans are clearly having world class
> success
> > at the distance events well before age 25. I suspect if you look at
> the top
> > ten in any given year, there won't be that much age difference between
> > sprinters and distance runners any more.
> >
> > The comparison IS made more difficult (actually impossible) by the fact
> that
> > we can't judge many of the Africans' ages accurately. But the last 15
> years
> > of sprinting has seen 25-30 become the peak age.
