Lee McConnell : As good a chance as anyone of 400 flat gold

[eldrick]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/7160285.stm

"Can I win the Olympic title? I think I have as good a chance as anyone. It comes down to one race on one day."

i don't think so...

there are 3 americans, 3 ruskies, 2 brits, 1 jamaican, 1 mexican & possibly 1 recovering bahamanian who have a "better than her chance of gold"

[eldrick]

for the record, she's 29y & her pb is 50.82

[FrankS]

Michael Johnson has always thought that she has great potential, and she has run some pretty fast relay legs.

[eldrick]

he said that about 3 or 4y ago - an eternity in athletics' terms

she reached semis in osaka, but even her pb wouda got her no better than 8th in the final

i find it makes an athlete look stoopid to come out with such nonsense

i remember back in '96 ladejo coming out with some crap about :

" i have this recurring feeling i'm going to be the 400 champ in atlanta "

to which roger black diplomatically replied : "no"

but off-the record indicated something along the lines of :

"what a twonk !

mj has never lost a major 400 race in living memory & at worst will go mid-43, whereas dwayne has hardly scraped thru mid-44 - if mj turns up fit/well, we are running for silver"

[nevetsllim]

Lee does have a good champs record and I was quite surprised by her performance in Osaka - 51.07 in her semi (the exact same time, when she made the final in '03 and faster than her performances in '04 and '05), when she had been focusing on the hurdles for the past two seasons.

[high knees]

he said that about 3 or 4y ago - an eternity in athletics' terms

she reached semis in osaka, but even her pb wouda got her no better than 8th in the final

i find it makes an athlete look stoopid to come out with such nonsense

i remember back in '96 ladejo coming out with some crap about :

" i have this recurring feeling i'm going to be the 400 champ in atlanta "

to which roger black diplomatically replied : "no"

but off-the record indicated something along the lines of :

"what a twonk !

mj has never lost a major 400 race in living memory & at worst will go mid-43, whereas dwayne has hardly scraped thru mid-44 - if mj turns up fit/well, we are running for silver"

What is an athlete supposed to say? Why do the difficult training and all if you didn't feel you had the chance to win. Anyone who would do all of the work and sacrificing required to be a world class athlete and didn't feel that they had a chance to win every time they toed the line, that person would be "stoopid" as you state................

[eldrick]

because

a) it's disrespectful to your peers whose achievements/capabilities are far superior to anything you have demonstrated

b) it's delusional on the athlete's part to believe such when any experienced observer knows it's nonsense - delusion doesn't get you very far in life

[EPelle]

Delusion got Steve Lewis an Olympic gold medal his first year at UCLA. He told his coach a HUGE goal he had, and Smith had to shut him up for what someone above is considering to be A) and B); When he revealed to Smith that he wanted to take his PB from 45,76 to 44,50 his first year at UCLA, Smith scoffed and dismissed that as youthful boasting! Didn:t stop him.

[eldrick]

smith - a very smart guy

he understands a) & b)

[high knees]

because

a) it's disrespectful to your peers whose achievements/capabilities are far superior to anything you have demonstrated

b) it's delusional on the athlete's part to believe such when any experienced observer knows it's nonsense - delusion doesn't get you very far in life

a) first off, if you competed at that level, you would know that it's not disrespectful, it's expected.............

b) you make my point in your statement when you use the term "observer". Who gives a damn about the observer! They don't suit up, train or compete, they, or you in this case, just observe.

That's why races are run, to see what the results will be. Otherwise we could just throw down the season or lifetime best lists and just forget the meets. In that case, there would never be an upset nor would there be any other types of suprises in sport. An athlete cannot win unless they believe they can and prepare to do so. Any real athlete knows that and silly "observers" just comment on things they know little about except from their "observations" instead of their "participation".

[eldrick]

a) puerile conjecture - it's an argument loser immediately, whenever invoked

b) "experienced observer" means many on this forum - most having watched the sport since before the athlete's was even born

that experience gives the "experienced observer" a very good idea of what the athlete is likely to run, based on what they "observe", embellished later with clockings/lists

& believe me, there are very few surprises in sport when you watch it long enough

i'll take the "experienced observer's" opinion on the outcome of a race 99 times out of a 100 over an athlete with nothing more than a few years of experience of the event

[mump boy]

lee will not win an olympic medal but there is no harm in bneing confident. the most important thing is she is back training for the 400m. she is capable of low 50's and we can have 3 uk girls in the final

[EPelle]

As important as that fact is that your 4x400m team just got an enhancement.

[Smoke]

Eldrick hush that is the weakest position I remember you ever taking. A former finalist and 50 pointer says she has a chance at gold and you call her stoopid? That is dumb.
What else is dumb, Lee ever running the hurdles when it was 4 years ago she ran that 50.82. Now to analyze it all she started last year in the hurdles, could not break 56 and switched going in to Osaka, where she produced 51.07.

Did you think Chrissy O for being stoopid or Nicola going into last year. They damn sure thought they had a shot at the podium, so tell us why Lee is so far off base when her times are very comparable to theirs before Osaka?

The evidence of time and competition stand against you eldrick. She is right, more right than she will ever realize. She wasted a key period of her career thinking the hurdles were an easy transition. I wish her the best in her true event, and I think she will surprise you. All I can say is B'ham in July will be as entertaining as Eugene in June.

[eldrick]

Eldrick hush that is the weakest position I remember you ever taking. A former finalist and 50 pointer says she has a chance at gold and you call her stoopid? That is dumb

no

that is similar to a 10.15 - 10.20 ex-finalist claiming they have as good a chance of gold as anyone in bejing

that is nonsense

What else is dumb, Lee ever running the hurdles when it was 4 years ago she ran that 50.82. Now to analyze it all she started last year in the hurdles, could not break 56 and switched going in to Osaka, where she produced 51.07.

still 0.25s outside her best, & not good enough to get out of the semis

so what ?

Did you think Chrissy O for being stoopid or Nicola going into last year. They damn sure thought they had a shot at the podium, so tell us why Lee is so far off base when her times are very comparable to theirs before Osaka?

no comparison whatsover

ohu ran 50.3 to win in melbourne

with her youth & winning mentality, it was a vey good bet she'd crack 50, just i didn't think it woud be as soon as osaka, more like '08 ( i reckoned 50-flat in osaka for 4th based on her 50.5 tt in osaka warm-up meet )

nicola ran 50-flat i : that is low/mid 49 ability outdoors - injury after ec win slowed her progress, but she recovered to a high-49 : slower than expected if she hadn't been injured - the gold was easily hers if uninterrupted season

they are a level above lee in talent/potential

The evidence of time and competition stand against you eldrick. She is right, more right than she will ever realize

yeah

whatever...