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Conway · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 6:08 am Post subject:

Mutola was undefeated this year ... So I guess that gives her a bit of an edge ... But what about high jumper Cloete ??? She had an outstanding season if I remember ... Or Guevara ?? Guevara was also undefeated ... And her set of marks was tremendous ... Best 400 running since the eastern bloc !!!
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Conway
Speed Thrills

Dan · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:13 am Post subject:

I'd give Guevara strong consideration if she had run anything resembling a full season, but she didn't. We've held that against the Greeks in the past, so I'm holding Guevara to the same standard...

Mutola was undefeated and the first ever solo winner of the Golden League jackpot. Her overall marks were nothing special (a few very solid ones, though), but the history setting precedent probably counts for something.

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:53 am Post subject:

I disagree on Guevara ... Her season was nothing like the Greeks ... She was busy early ... Took some time off the circuit in the middle but ran at a couple of major area competitions ... Then came back to Europe and did her thing ... Her season was comparable to most during a champiionship year ... And her marks were outstanding ... The Greeks DON'T run at all until championships ... Guevara deserves major conisderation ...

Yes Mutola was undefeated ... But her marks were generally fair to mediocre ...
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Conway
Speed Thrills

Dan · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 8:57 am Post subject:

I don't have Guevara's season in front of me, but I can only think of 5 meets she ran this year:

Mexico City and Pre very early (MC probably doesn't count, being a 300m)
PanAm's
Zurich
World Championships

Aside from PanAm's, which was a win of course, very high quality, but a huge gap in the middle of her season. No question she's the athlete of the year within her event, but someone who didn't skip those 2 months or so has to be given an edge.

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 12:24 pm Post subject:

Ana's season:

May 3 - Mexico City 35.30 WR (300)
May 24 - Eugene 49.34

June 1 Carson 49.62
June 7 Gudalajara 50.09
June 13 Xalapa 50.89

Aug 7 Santo Domingo 52.22
Aug 8 Santo Domingo 50.36
Aug 15 Zurich 49.11
Aug 24 St Denis 51.14
Aug 25 St Denis 50.68
Aug 27 St Denis 48.89

And she is running tomorrow in the Grand Prix final ... Yes she took off July ... but by the same token Mutola only ran once in June ... Most athletes took some time off this year in preparation for the big one ... And for the record Mutola's season only consisted of 2 more competitions than did Guevara's 10 meets to 8 meets ... Majority of her races were in the 2:00 to 1:58.50 range ... Personally I find Guevara's season much more impressive ...
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Conway
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Dan · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 2:33 pm Post subject:

I hadn't seen any of those June results. Neutral

I'll have to chew on that a bit, as it does change things...

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 3:34 pm Post subject:

I th ought it would ... Wink

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Conway
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Dan · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2003 9:18 am Post subject:

Another 49.34 for Guevara at Monaco today. I'm leaning toward giving her the edge over Mutola...

Dan
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Dan · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 8:12 am Post subject:

And the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year award goes to ... Hestrie Cloete. I think they base it on year end ranking by their points scale, which seems rather silly. Makes it a rather redundant award. Neutral

Dan
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Conway · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 9:30 pm Post subject:

I'm not too impressed with their system anyway ... Sad

... Cloete did have a nice season ... But come on it was nothing comapred to Guevara's ... Much easier for IAAF to let the computer handle it for them !!!
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Conway
Speed Thrills

Dan · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 9:42 pm Post subject:

You don't have to answer as many questions if you just point to the cold, hard data for backing... I just don't see the point of an AOY award that is merely based on the rankings, though. Isn't being top ranked an award in and of itself?

Dan
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Ducks Fan · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 11:03 pm Post subject:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I kind of found this track season to be uneventful. The sprints were mediocre at best (only a handful or so broke 10 and no one broke 20) and although the 400 was really competitive, no marks really stand out. The 8 and 15 were kind of slow with only one race sub 3:30. The most excitement from the mid-distance runners came from Lagat's drug test, which isn't the kind of press you want. The steeple was the only really fast and competitive mid-distance race this year. Bek and Geb's 10k performance at the WC was great, but it would have been better if they weren't jogging the first 5k. There were great marks in the hurdles but sadly, I find those to be the least exciting races in T&F. The only two outstanding field event performances were by Toth and Olsson. And Toth didn't do too great at the WCs either.

The women did really well though. Guevara, White, Mutola, Ayhan, Adere, Pechonkina, Cloete, the Russian PVs, and Kluft made the year pretty remarkable for the women. Add Radcliffe too, even though she isn't T&F and you have one hell of year!
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November 9th...

Dan · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 11:11 pm Post subject:

I sort of agree, but I think the perception is largely due to the higher profile events being the ones with a lower level of average performances this year. Something like the women's 400m is the perfect example. Hardly contested at all, but Guevara still turns in one of the best overall seasons in history (there you go, Conway! Smile

). The short sprints looked to be a changing of the guard, as were the men's distances. Some pretty darn good marks were turned in in the men's 800m, especially at the WC, but hardly anyone noticed...

Dan
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Ducks Fan · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 6:05 am Post subject:

It probably didn't help my preception of things when the US does so bad. No medals in the men's 100 is really sad. I was expecting more out of Krumm, but what do you expect from a 15 runner thinking he's an 8 runner? The only long distance runners that impressed me this year (US) were Robison and Torres (and didn't he get lapped in the WC 5k?). Oh well, let's still hold out hope for Webb! Neutral

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November 9th...

Dan · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 7:04 am Post subject:

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