Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

[gh]

I was just peeking at the seasonal progressions in the men's 100 and was stunned to see that the logical answer for who will be the top-rated men's century for the year will be...... nobody!

A lack of dominance rarely seen.

Nobody who has a decent shot at the top 10 won even half his races all year.

The two biggest races were the WC and GPF. The WC winner finished 6th in the GPF; the GPF winner finished 6th in the WC.

Only one guy made the first 5 in both the WC and GPF.

Nobody was the outright winner of more than one Golden League race and two GL races had ties for 1st.

The WC medalists were nonexistent at the GL meets: the gold medalist ran in 1 (finishing 3rd), the bronze and silver medalists appeared in none (and thus didn't make the cut for the GP Final).

The World Rankings panel is going to have fun with this one!

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

in lieu of awarding the title to the best athlete for this year, I recommend awarding it to Frankie Fredricks in recognition of a stellar career (it worked for Pacino in scent of a woman) Hu Ah

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Garry, it looks simple to me. Kim Collins won the adidas Oregon Track Classic, the Pre Classic and the World Champs. What else was there to win?

[tafnut]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

If you rank the season (in the 100) like this
1. WC
2. GPF
3. GL - latest most
4. GP - latest most

amd take into consideration that Gatlin and Capel weren't at the WC, this picture emerges:

1. B Williams - ran in more big finals than anyone (and did well), won GPF (and USATF - which is pretty darn tough)
2. Capel (!) - won Berlin, 2nd in GPF and Zurich
3. Gatlin - won Zurich, 2nd in Brussels, 2nd only to BW in big finals placed.
4. Collins - backs up the WC with very very little
5. Chambers - 4th in WC and GPF

so #1 is the guy who finished 6th in WC!

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION WILL BE SEEN AT THE OLYMPICS. THE TOP RUNNERS (MO, AND TIM) STAY HURT. THE YOUNG GUYS ARE GOING AFTER EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME. WAIT TILL THE OLYMPICS WHEN THEY CROSS THE LINE AND WE CAN THEN SAY WHO # 1 REALLY IS.

[tafnut]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Um . . . no, actually the answer will come in the December (?) issue of T&FN. The 'question' is: who will rank #1 for 2003?

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Mr. Wallace's non-answer comes from the heart of the Great Olympic Ideology: not only does an Olympic final determine the best on a given day, it determines the best for the previous year's season! Wow!

I think T&FN should be brave and not fill the #1 position...and perhaps not even the top two positions. Just give us #3 thru #10. It's been that kind of year...

[AS]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Of interest will also be whether top 10 is named before all banned members are identified - it looks Chambers is in danger already...

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Right. We may end up with #6 thru #10. Yikes.

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

It seems to me that the most important race of the year was the one where the winner got half a million bucks.

[Pego]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

<Mr. Wallace's non-answer comes from the heart of the Great Olympic Ideology>

Kuha1, I am liking A.Wallace already :-)

[BlueCurve]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

Why not the man who ran the fastest time, namely Patrick Johnson ?

Before anyone accuses that run of being a flash-in-the-pan, Patrick ran 4 of the best 50 times this season.

Kim Collins won WC, but managed only 1 of the top 10, 3 of the top 20 and 3 of the top 50. He wasn't as fast as Johnson. Hardly any less a flash-in-the-pan !

The only other runners to appear in the top 10 with a better or equal ranking in the top 50 are Capel (1 in top 10, 2 in top 20, and 4 in top 50), and Deji Aliu - 2 in top 10, 4 in top 20, and 7 in top 50.

Even if you discount Aliu's Nigerian times, he still's got some respectable top times for the year.

In these post-drug days, maybe it's necessary to look a bit more broadly at the stats, and not expect the domination that may have occurred in the past.

So, as an Aussie, I vote for PJ - the fastest man. If I let my head rule my heart, I'd vote for Aliu.

[tafnut]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

If there was ever a year when times were virtually meaningless, this was it. Another criterion, head-to-head meetings, don't help either because there were so many instances of
X beat Y
Y beat Z
Z beat X
which is why I'll stick with my method
(barring the sudden disappearance of some candidates).

[DentyCracker]

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

A.Wallace, this is not your event. It is 300m too short

Re: Who's Going To Rate No. 1 in the m100?

"Kuha1, I am liking A.Wallace already :-)"

Pego: Yes, you are clearly soulmates. I'm happy for you. (See, I really am for peace, love, and understanding.)