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Merritt definitely steps it up when it counts most...Trials, Olympics, WAF...
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"Long may you run"- Neil Young -
The message board is in shock! -
In retrospect, Wariner's dumping of Hart worked like a charm :evil:Comment
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Perhaps this would be a good time for Mr. Wariner to go back to Mr. Hart. Perhaps you get what you pay for in a coach.Originally posted by mike renfroComment
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Why?Originally posted by Dave
One "bad" season and it's your coach?
I suspect that Wariner is bumping up against his potential, and perhaps Merritt still has space. At least at this stage of their development.
And it's no mystery that an athlete can be beaten in a race. Both of these athletes are Olympic Champions. There is always going to be a chance one will win over the other.
It doesn't need any deep discussion to find blame.Comment
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He was faster last year and significantly regressed this year in terms of overall performance and championship readiness. So let's see, what changed between his four years of steady progression and this year's slide. Don't know, can't put my finger on it . . .Originally posted by malComment
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I think this may be the first year that Wariner didn't PR since he's been running organized track!Comment
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it just coud be that 43.4 in osaka last year was his career peak & no matter what happened to him this year, that may have been career high ( also had 4 hard years at the top - it couda burned him out )Originally posted by bad hammyComment
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Very well may be true, but in light of his historical record of improvement and the distinct separation from his best time run last year and this year, what is more likelihood to be the catalyst?Originally posted by eldrick
But yes, we all agree that the limit does not go to zero.Comment
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there may not be a catalyst at all
this isn't very scientific, but look at all-time top 4 ( him, mj, butch & quincey ) - the other 3 were magnificent physical specimens & you have to say, jw looks scrawny compared
he may have pushed his scrawny self to it's absolute limit in these past 4y & now it's taking it's toll & he's past his peak
when i first read/saw video of him 4y+ ago before trials, i thought to myself looking at him, "that looks like an eventual 44.25 - 44.5 guy" & was shocked he went onto 44.00 that year - that was already way faster than i thought such a scrawny coud do in a career, let alone a few weeks !
he's been pounding away for 4y since on a physique that didn't look built to take such punishment
may just have caught up with him
( similar scrawny burn out that comes to mind is derek mills, who never looked built for 44.13 & his times faded pretty quick after that, albeit he hung around for a few years
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/athlete=8765/BioPopUp.html )Comment
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It is quite possible that Wariner simple has had his good years already;
however, I do not think that it is related to his build. Four years or more of
peak performances are rare in most events, and looking at the other sub-44
runners this seems to apply to the 400m too. Apart from Wariner/Meritt and the
1968 runners, we have five men:
(I use ``short lived'' to indicate ~ 4 years or less, ``long lived'' to
indicate more than this.)
Johnson was long lived.
Reynolds may appear to be long lived; however, when we compare his times from
1988 with the rest of his career, he arguably only had one year at the top of
his game.
Watts, Everett, and Lewis were short lived.
Of course, we should not forget that Meritt is already the fifth fastest of all
times, and that Wariners SB is historically still very strong.Comment
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I know many of us voiced shock at his split with coach hart and we thought that it was a big mistake. Lately I have to think that there was more to it than just that. Is it possible that Addidas demanded and got from Wariner (and Felix and Gay for that matter) sufficient time and energy to took a toll. His training and performances suffered. Lets face it these companies are all about business. They will do with their athletes whatever it takes to make that investment pay off. Having them constantly in and about promotional activities makes dollars but it costs the athlete incredible mental and emotional and physical capital. And there is only so much left for training and recuperating.... nothing really ever changes my friend, new lines for old, new lines for old.Comment
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I said bumping up against his potential, not parked up against it.
He's had a few hard and competitive years. I suspect his preparation this year wasn't ideal for a number of reasons.
He looked great in the relay in Beijing, far more composed than in the final. I still think that as he currently is built, that he is the guy to drop below 43. He still as some room to mature physically so I suspect the 2 - 3 tenths between his PB and his SB doesn't make this a sheety season.
He got beaten. He'll be back.Comment
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I think Wariner's 'off' year had to do with his desire to be a 200/400m guy.
That had him concentrating more on his speed, and probably less on his strength. And I also believe that that may have been part of the reason for his split from Hart.
In the past he had been very good running rounds. This year his worst performances were in meets with rounds.
I know this 200/400m thing started last season, but I think it caught up to him this season.Comment
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well
he set 20.19pb in '06
in '07 - 20.35 & '08 - 20.37
if he was concentrating on 200 last 2y, he made a pretty damn poor job of it !Comment
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