Can the US medal above 400 in Berlin?

[sprint logic]

Lots of crying after Beijing because the medal count wasn't as high as many would have liked. And a lot of finger pointing was aimed at the sprints and relays.

But truth is the sprints and hurdles have been carrying the medal count throughout this decade. The real problem has been the drop we've had above 400. We've missed the scoring power we once had with athletes like Johnny Gray, Mark Everett, Regina Jacobs, Suzy Hamilton to name a few.

We've had several young ladies emerge recently - Anna Willard, Cristin Wurth Thomas, Jenny Barringer, Shannon Rowbury, and Maggie Vessey. On the men's side we have Bernard Lagat (imported and beginning to age) and Nick Symmonds who just PR'd at 1:43.80. Can we realistically get in the medal hunt this time around?

[zoser]

We will medal above 400 and continue to build on what was started in 07. The crying was not over the medal count since it was the second highest EVER for the US track team. They just wanted certain people out and certain monies reconstituted.

I am stunned by the versatility of Barringer and Williard. Rowbury and Wurth-Thomas are mainstays. But these 2 young ladies are running everything from the 5000 to the 800 in world class times. The men need to be a little tougher out there. The gutty routine makes great human interest but does not do a thing at the finish line

[sprint logic]

I think the women have figured it out - speed and competitive heart .. Speed helps you not only kick but be able to adapt to changing paces .. Barringer and Willard are beasts .. Rowbury is a steady runner, but I like the heart I see in Wurth Thomas .. She is willing to dig down and go for it ..

[zoser]

I think the other mistake that has been made in the US is holding our distance stars back. Webb was pushed too hard and as a result the rest have been harnessed. German Fernandez is a monster, but following indoors he has been kept on a short leash. I think it is because he is carrying an injury, but there are a few more out there that we have yet to hear about.

Manzano looks promising but his consistency is missing. Luomong seems to have plateaued and has not decided on an event. From what I have observed he needs to train and race up in distance rather than down to the 800. He is not running 1:43 but he looks like sub 13 waiting to happen to me. Which in turn I believe will drop his 1500 also.

[sprint logic]

I think most of our distance guys need to move up one "notch" to find their best event .. Speed always is a precioius commodity, and when you move up, you add speed to the next distance up .. When you can do that, AND master the requisite endurance necessary to compete, then you can become accomplished at a particular distance ..

[zoser]

MAYBE. I am sure there are those that are running a distance down, but there is something missing when we cannot produce ONE 3:32 and compete for medals. The AR is so old I do not recall what year, all I know is it is Sydnee Maree, who we did not produce, he was an expatriate. Alan Webb is a talent, how come he is not consistent? Steve Holman could never produce when the lights were on. Steve Scott is legend but what did he ever do on the big stage. My point is all of these guys have not been in the wrong event, something is missing in our distance training.
The crazy thing is some of the foreign stars come here and train! Now that definitely tells me our athletes and coaches are missing the point. I am tempted to say it is the athletes more than the coaches.

[sprint logic]

I half agree with you .. Certainly those athletes that you named reached the desired level and then failed to produce .. No doubt about that .. What I am talking about however, is that we should have a lot MORE reach that same level .. The guys you mentioned were not in the wrong event, but I think the reason we haven't had more reach that level is due to so many that have been in the wrong event ..

Take Maree out of the equation, and there was nothing special about any of the others .. Scott, Webb, Holman .. Other than hard work and they found the right distance .. Holman started out running shorter distances .. Webb was 1:47 in high school and 1:43 as a pro .. Scott never looked like a miler but just kept churning it out ..

Holman and Webb moved up and found some level of success .. Now the mental aspect of racing that's a different thing .. Has nothing to do with finding the right event and everything to do with coaching in my opinion .. Because all of them suffered from poor race tactics when it mattered .. That is something a coach "should" be able to correct ... Though at the end of the day you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink ..