Run-Down Forums

[Dan]

Good article on Caster Semenya, winner of the women's 800m in Berlin:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/sports/20runner.html?_r=3&ref=global

Dan
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[Dan]

Here's another interesting particle, particularly this piece:

[Angelo Z]

This reminds me, why does Russia and Romania hold the top records in running for women? The mile record is held by Svetlana, the Beijing Women's Marathon was won by a Romanian woman...I am Romanian and Romanians are eastern Europeans, they're white. What happened to Ethiopia and Kenya then? Could this mean that Africans dominating distance running is just a fluke?

Oh and not to mention China holding the 10K world record for women. China being good at running is unheard of.
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¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

If you disregard the highly suspicious Chinese record setting binge, most of the top distance marks are held by East Africans. As to why it isn't complete dominance like with the men, the commonly accepted reason is that African women came to distance running much later than their male counterparts, thus they're 20+ years behind in the development curve. It's a cultural thing.

Dan
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[Angelo Z]

Development curve...Ok so they came in much later, but what about the training itself? They're still Africans, and they still apply the same training principles as the male runners do.

However, African males came in later too because most of the training already started in England. Roger Bannister broke 4 minutes ages ago, and then England dominated all middle distance running up to Steve Cram. So how did African males catch up, just as African women should? It gets even more odd, because Hicham and Morceli aren't black. He started training at an early age too, and we also have an 8th grader in the U.S. that runs a 4:30 something mile which is way faster than what Hicham was able to run in 8th grade.
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

The men didn't get to where they are now all at once.

I put very little stock into age group performances. That tells you how early someone peaks, but next to nothing about how good they might eventually be.

Dan
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[Angelo Z]

The younger, the more experience the runner can get. I don't believe in an actual physical limit, I do believe in an exponential decrease in improvement as one gets closer to that limit. If Haile ran that marathon WR at age 25, wouldn't he be able to become even better at the age he is at now?
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

Depends if he could have handled that many years of marathoning without breaking down and whether he could have developed the necessary speed without all those years of track work.

Dan
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[Angelo Z]

Interesting, breaking down over the years? I thought breaking down was just when you've been training very hard for a couple days straight and you end up being exhausted on Friday for example. How can that happen? Is that what happened to Webb? He hasn't been doing so well since he set the American record, could that be an example?
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My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥

[Dan]

Nothing official yet, but the updates are starting to get ugly, as expected:

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=statesmanjournal&sParam=31571649.story

Dan
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[Dan]

It was extremely obvious that the South African federation was full of **** based on their knee jerk "racism" response amidst the World Championships, but it appears they're now getting caught in their transparent lie...

http://www.runblogrun.com/2009/09/asa_knew_about_semenya_debacle.html

People like that do not deserve to be in power, let alone employed.

Dan
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[Dan]

People are losing their jobs over it and now the South African Sports Ministry says, the day of the expected announcement, that results of the gender test will be kept confidential. Might as well just come out and admit the results are not what they hoped for... If the gender test said Semenya is indeed a woman, they'd be more than happy to announce she is innocent! Keeping it confidential will do nothing to salvage Semenya's reputation.

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=statesmanjournal&sParam=32090481.story

Dan
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[Dan]

Great, now it heads to the legal arena...

http://insidethegames.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8567:semenya-to-sue-iaaf-and-asa-in-multi-million-dollar-lawsuits

Dan
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[Dan]

Finally, some closure, although it sounds like some pretty murky deal making was done behind the scenes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/7875157/IAAF-confirms-Caster-Semenyas-return.html

Dan
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