The downfall of Western European T&F

[croflash]

Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Germany have won a total of 4 medals in T&F at these Olympics, two of them in the race walk. Even if you had low expectations for those nations, this is a borderline embarrassing summary.

[EPelle]

Agree, and thank you for the sober reminder - it is needed when keeping everything in perspective; we (Sverige) had a banner Games in Athens, and will have to find the magic again as the future unfolds.

Speaking of Europeans, however, I am thoroughly excited that we went 1-2-3 in both the men:s and women:s high jump; the men:s affair was nearly a EC all by itself. We also did quite well in the m-400m semis and m-4x400m, not to mention the Russian gold in w-4x100m and long-sprint silver.

[eldrick]

Re: The downfall of Western European T&F

Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Germany have won a total of 4 medals in T&F at these Olympics, two of them in the race walk.

& if the africans ever take walking seriously, you might not have had those...

[paulthefan]

Speaking of Europeans, however, I am thoroughly excited that we went 1-2-3 in both the men:s and women:s high jump; the men:s affair was nearly a EC all by itself. We also did quite well in the m-400m semis and m-4x400m, not to mention the Russian gold in w-4x100m and long-sprint silver.

Some would say that the m4x4 performance was long overdue and that Alexeyev' s final leg should be the norm not the exception.

[lapsus]

Then again, Norway, Poland, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Portugal have a total of 14 medals so far. So the medals are perhaps more spread out among the European countries this time.

[eldrick]

Some would say that the m4x4 performance was long overdue and that Alexeyev' s final leg should be the norm not the exception.

very true

a country which produced a 44.6 markin 28y ago shoud be able to dig up 4 guys of 45 who shoud be good for 2'58

[Mellow Johnny]

And the French guy who was won silver in the steeple is from Algeria (not trying to open a can of worms on that issue again, just stating a fact here )

[jhc68]

Is this year the paradigm shift? Just as distance events became the domain of east and north African runners a generation ago, have the Caribbean countries taken over the speed events?

[eldrick]

Then again, Norway, Poland, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Portugal have a total of 14 medals so far. So the medals are perhaps more spread out among the European countries this time.

well, something's happening

apart from poland who used to produce odd medallists, the rest of those used to produce nothing more than spear-chuckers & some multi-eventers

[rasb]

Then again, Norway, Poland, Belgium, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Portugal have a total of 14 medals so far. So the medals are perhaps more spread out among the European countries this time.

well, something's happening

apart from poland who used to produce odd medallists, the rest of those used to produce nothing more than spear-chuckers & some multi-eventers

Eldy,
I seem to recall some pretty big names in distance running coming from Countries such as Norway, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.

[croflash]

Re: The downfall of Western European T&F

Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Germany have won a total of 4 medals in T&F at these Olympics, two of them in the race walk.

& if the africans ever take walking seriously, you might not have had those...

That is why I specifically mentioned race walking, it's part of the sport, but it has absolutely no prestige. It's been a complete disaster for some of the bigger nations, drastic changes need to be made or it is only going to get even worse. Even if you are just a semi-professional, you need to have professional structures, something that is not the case in Germany e.g.

[eldrick]

Eldy,
I seem to recall some pretty big names in distance running coming from Countries such as Norway, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.

well rasb,

norway - rodahl from 12y ago & he woudn't have won if kip was there

finland - it's 24y ago since likes of vainio, maininka

portugal - ribero 12y ago & was lucky to beat an inexplicably poor wang & as soon as the thopys came thru in numbers, she got crushed

belgium - are we going all the way back to puttemans 32y ago ?

these countries eras were so long ago it's hardly woth remembering

[rasb]

Eldy,
I seem to recall some pretty big names in distance running coming from Countries such as Norway, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.

well rasb,

norway - rodahl from 12y ago & he woudn't have won if kip was there

finland - it's 24y ago since likes of vainio, maininka

portugal - ribero 12y ago & was lucky to beat an inexplicably poor wang & as soon as the thopys came thru in numbers, she got crushed

belgium - are we going all the way back to puttemans 32y ago ?

these countries eras were so long ago it's hardly woth remembering

Yes, admittedly many of the names I was alluding to were from another era, but they did indicate the ability to produce World level athletes in the distance events.
Finland - you could add Viren and Vasala and go all the back to Nurmi.
Portugal - Lopes, Mamede, Mota, Ribeiro (sp?).
Belgium - yes, Puttemans, Van Damme, Roelants.
Norway - Waitz, Christensen.
There were many others of course, but certainly several of these athletes were at the top of the World.

[eldrick]

different era with no floods of africans to deal with

imo, few of those woud have been elite champs if curent calibre of africans were competing back then

[paulthefan]

different era with no floods of africans to deal with

imo, few of those woud have been elite champs if curent calibre of africans were competing back then

Van Damme gets it done in any era and in Beijing he would have crushed the competition.