twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Since when was the 200m a deal? is it just the cult of Bolt and this double double thing?
800m is a much more formidable race and what happened tonight was almost unbelievable.
Athletics - Running and Jumping and Throwing and stuff!
- Thread starter QueenOfGoths
- Start date
Since when was the 200m a deal? is it just the cult of Bolt and this double double thing?
800m is a much more formidable race and what happened tonight was almost unbelievable.
Yeah, Inverdale - what a dick!! Why is he doing that job? There's plenty better - just fuck him off and let the others do it, would be much better. He's a fucking annoying cock.
Corax
Luke 5:16
I don't really get why the 100/200 are the highest profile races. I find the 400, 800, 5 & 10k all more immersing tbh.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Me too. Always have though maybe that was growing up in the Ovett/Coe era.
I think it's the tactical element.
In 100/200 all you have to have is a turbocharger and then launch it.
In 800+ disciplines you need to use your brain as well as have some speed.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Cos they're quicker. 1500 is a bit boring cos there's not much to watch til the last stretch
DJ Squelch
King Of Insides
Fastest man alive, innit. Plus I guess everyone does those distances in school athletics so they can relate to it.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Yeah that's the 200m covered, and actually a good point about the school dash.
Corax
Luke 5:16
There's plenty to watch. The tactics, the positioning etc. Thinking the last stretch is the only interesting bit is like fast forwarding through the 1812 to just listen to the cannons.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Hmmm. When I was growing up, with Coe, Ovett, Cram and Elliot, coverage was all about the 800 and 1500, with the 1500 as the 'blue riband' event.
Nothing boring about them, imo.
ska invita
back on the other side
...worth considering that the US has 100 times a bigger population than JA (300million to 3million)...
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Yeah, i remember the 1984 Olympics. Tis the only other Olympiad I've paid attention to. But still now, watching people just running as fast as they can, as opposed to pacing it out and using tactics....sorry, it's sprinting that's gonna attract the viewers
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
on the other hand, i would expect there's another few million outside jamaica who are eligible to compete under her flag.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Not if you're unused to sport. The winning bit is the interesting bit. This is why football is dull to so many. Not enough goals.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
That's a bit like the cumshot analogy.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Yeah, spot on though!
Hollis
bloody furious
Women's 10k the other night was a great race, I've always found 800m upwards more interesting. Sprinting has more of the superhero comic book appeal.
ska invita
back on the other side
did a google - from what i can see the figure is a little under 2million for jamaican expats, in the region of 5 million for the US
(((1500m)))
Ted Striker
Foot's on the other hand
I didn't see it, but I'm sure I've read that a v high (all maybe) 100m winners of the last century could trace their ancestry back to a very small area, perhaps in Jamaica. And/or the longer runners to Kenya. Probably in one of those Freakanomics/Tipping Point esque book.
Harold Abrahams?
Look, loads of top sprinters come from Jamaica and therefore share a Jamaican ancestry. Lots more come from Jamaican emigrants. This proves nothing other than Jamaicans are as obsessed with sprinting as Brits are with football or the Chinese are with table tennis. We don't attempt to identify a "badminton gene".
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Don't forget that the emphasis in the bizarre BBC mini-doc and Inverdale's line of questioning was about the difference between black and white athletes, rather than between Jamaicans or East Africans with American or French runners. Why that emphasis on race, not nationality? It was truly bizarre.
I'm not sure they meant 'see, this is what we told you all along!', but it looked like it.
I'm not sure they meant 'see, this is what we told you all along!', but it looked like it.
I thought Harold Abraham was in Ghostbusters?
smmudge
i know the smudge is true
Dunno, seems there's a real risk of devaluing the shorter races just because we don't get to see the vast majority of the work put in (because superheroes generally just get 'gifted' their powers).
It also helps that there's a lot of very very good short distance athletes right now - seen in the finishing times of those finalists who didn't get a medal. So yeah, why shouldn't it be popular?
If it's all about "West African twitch muscles" then where are all the Ivory Coast sprinters?
If slavery is the key then where are all the Liberian sprinters?
As with all sports, success in sprinting is about coaching and tradition. The tradition gets you take-up of the sport and coaching gets you success. Suggesting that actually it's all just genetic is insulting to that success.
If slavery is the key then where are all the Liberian sprinters?
As with all sports, success in sprinting is about coaching and tradition. The tradition gets you take-up of the sport and coaching gets you success. Suggesting that actually it's all just genetic is insulting to that success.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
I agree that it's insulting. And I think Michael Johnson's reaction said it all: No. Not at all. This isn't true, and here's why. He did well to stay calm, I think. And why didn't they consult him or someone else who knows about the subject before making that stupid feature?
It seems to me that there is a horrible undercurrent to this - the idea that you can call the French sprinter the 'fastest white man' or somesuch as if this were any more meaningful than saying that you're the fastest Taurus or the fastest Sagittarius.
It seems to me that there is a horrible undercurrent to this - the idea that you can call the French sprinter the 'fastest white man' or somesuch as if this were any more meaningful than saying that you're the fastest Taurus or the fastest Sagittarius.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
On reflection, John Inverdale was a total disgrace in that piece on sprinting and race. But the feature reflected badly not just on him but on the wider BBC too. 
Shame as their coverage has generally been really good.
Shame as their coverage has generally been really good.Similar threads
