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Indeurr

''The great Emil Zátopek de-mystified the marathon with his Olympic victory in 1952. After winning the 10,000m and the 5000m, he ran the first marathon of his career, winning in 2:23:04. Having undertaken no special preparations, Zátopek proved that running talent is the main key to success.''
source: IAAF

Dan · Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 9:59 pm Post subject:

I don't think it's a fair comparison or standard, really, as that was long before the time of true event specialization. Even Gebrselassie in '96 would have been very hard pressed to pull off such a feat. Much greater depth of talent now, too. What someone does within a single event is a much better mark of greatness when comparing across eras, in my opinion.

Dan
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Indeurr · Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2003 9:00 pm Post subject:

___I agree. However, since achieving what Zatopek did at the present time would be much harder, it would be much more valuable, as well.

Dan · Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2003 10:17 pm Post subject:

Or as I was hinting at ... virtually impossible. The implication of the IAAF quote is that feat makes Zatopek superior to others who lay claim to the crown of Greatest Ever, but it's no more valid of a comparison than just going by fastest times regardless of era.

Dan
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Paul · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 5:09 am Post subject:

Didn't Viren run the Marathon in either '72 or '76 and finished just out of the money?? That was a tremendous feat after the 5 and 10.

Dan · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 8:42 am Post subject:

I believe that's correct. And they don't come much better than Viren... If he couldn't accomplish the feat 25+ years ago, it's even more doubtful anyone could do it now.

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 9:04 am Post subject:

Zatopek's triple, taken in the context of its time in history, is one of the greatest feats of running ever. Don't think it could be done now though.

However Very Happy

in the interest of debate and enjoyable speculation...I'm not sure any male other than Geb would have a shot at pulling it off now. Maybe Tergat. On the women's side I would say Radcliffe would come closest to being able to do it and she might be able to before a male runner could.
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Dan · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 9:10 am Post subject:

I was curious if someone would throw women into the mix. Smile

For a wide variety of reasons, women just haven't faced the same degree of event specialization and depth of competition... Radcliffe would be an obvious threat for the hat trick, just as Wang Junxia would have been a few years back. On the men's side, Geb and Tergat are two who could challenge for a win in all 3 events, but only if they were held very far apart (i.e. not in the same meet) and no one really took it to them...

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 9:38 am Post subject:

Scheduling would be one of the biggest obstacles to that triple crown. Not only do you have to win the 5K and 10K but you will have run qualifying heats too. Did Zatopek have that to contend with?

On the men v. women aspect...the women's marathon is traditionally on the first day of the games and the men's is on the last. Who does that benefit more? Would it be better to get the marathon out of the way first or save it for last? Surprised

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Dan · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 9:41 am Post subject:

I'm not sure when rounds were introduced... More importantly, if Zatopek did need to run rounds, he probably did not have to run them very hard.

I would think saving the marathon for last would be best. Tough to guage how much to leave for a 5k and 10k while pounding out 26.2!

Dan
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Micah Ward · Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2003 9:55 am Post subject:

It probably would be best to leave the marathon for last. If your goal is to win all three and the marathon is first then how much energy you can save depends on what your competition is doing. You have to expend enough to win and if it takes too much out of you to do that then you are sunk in the other two races.
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Indeurr · Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2003 10:54 pm Post subject:

___It all depends on what perspective are you comming from. First, I would try to grab the most valueable long distance title -- the marathon. Next, I would like to get some "speedwork" at 5 K. Last, I wpould go for the 10 K. To have a shot at that the marathon would have to be on the very first day, and the 5K, and 10K, within the last three days, only 1 free day apart.
___This way, assuming that anything was certain in life, I would at least leave the championships as a marathon winner.
___Well, yes I woke-up, my name is Robert, not Zatopek or Someone Else..., but it was nice to suspend my own disbelieve for a second Very Happy

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Dan · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2003 12:12 am Post subject:

Are you looking at it from the perspective of the marathon being the first priority, or from the perspective of what order produces the best odds of winning all three?

Dan
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Indeurr · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2003 5:55 am Post subject:

The former, I am looking at it from the perspective that marathon is the priority.
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Dan · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2003 10:02 am Post subject:

How did that enter the equation?

Dan
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