In the 100 Meters Silver is a Curse

[athlegirl59]

I really loved that article, so I thought I would post it for those who haven't read it... yet!

http://theviewfromthefinishline.blogspo ... curse.html:

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But while the gold medalists of this most prestigious event have gone on to fame and fortune, the silver medalists have not been nearly as fortunate. Instead of being the launching pad to the top of the podium, 2nd place in the 100 has mostly lead to a reversal of fortune in subsequent years.

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[BisonHurdler]

It's fortunate for Fredericks and Surin that the curse was weak enough that they were able to "become cursed" a second time.

What a silly article. While it may be rooted in some truth, several of the examples are poor ones, and the descriptions cherry-pick "failures" for most athletes.

[7-sided]

Agreed, it is a stupid article with exceptionally silly 'examples'. The blogger is obssessed with trying to prove weak correlations.

[3]

*Going back to Berlin and the Olympics of 1936, the name of 100 meter champion Jesse Owens is still strongly etched in the minds of track fans as we head to Berlin in 2009.*

Are any of you track fans? If so, is this statement hold more or less truth to you as you await the start of the IAAF world meet in Berlin? About 1000 posts on Mr. Bolt and virtually the same of Mr. Gay would suggest that the blogger may have missed this particular population of track fans here.

[TrainerPhil]

The article mentioned both Donovan Bailey and Linford Christie and both have gold medals. Not as unfortunate as it sounds.

[dakota]

Ray Stewart was so unlucky he went on to reach the next five major finals.

[dukehjsteve]

One unmentioned Silver medalist also had the curse.... in 1960 Dave Sime got a valiant 2nd in his Last Hurrah, but then a few days later he lost a Gold in the relay( after hitting the tape as the "winner") when Norton had botched up a baton pass and the US was red-flagged.

[imaginative]

Re: In the 100 Meters Silver is a Curse

But while the gold medalists of this most prestigious event have gone on to fame and fortune, the silver medalists have not been nearly as fortunate. Instead of being the launching pad to the top of the podium, 2nd place in the 100 has mostly lead to a reversal of fortune in subsequent years.

While it is true that fame and fortune tended to go the way of
the winners and not the second placers (great shocker there...),
the second half of the statement is odd: It gives the impression
that coming in second somehow destroys the later athletic
career.

Apart from some counter-examples already mentioned above,
it is noteworthy that the careers of many of the winners also
peeked with their win---why then should the second placers
be different. Borzov is a prime example. I still count only
one double OG winner in the 100m...

(A comparison is made harder by the many OG winners of
old who quit the sport subsequently.)