Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

[Guest]

Since bionic Michael JOHNSON has retired, none
has ever run a sub-44"2 400m...
I think a 44"2 400m = more or less a 10"10 100m.
Which is terribly pathetic.
So, my question is:
Did Michael JOHNSON kill that marvellous event?

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

I doubt that Johnson has killed off the 400 any more than Lee Evans did by holding the World Record for 20 years, followed by Butch Reynolds did in holding it for the next 10. MJ hasn't even held it 5 years yet.

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

Isn't the record 43.18 or something?

[Brutal]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

What happened to Arizona State?

There was a time they could almost hang with UCLA as far as great 400 men went.

I'm talking....

the Spence bros
Henry Carr...(relay)
Ulis Williams
Maurice Peoples
Howard Henley
Tony Darden
Ron Freeman
Herm Frazier

[vaulter83]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

Wasn't aware anything had happened to Arizona State...they're leading NCAA in the 4x4 even if it is only by .01

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

it is ridiculous to suggest that a 44.2 is like a 10.1, how so ? michael johnson was an athlete that comes along every 50 years ! running 44 flat is a major achievement in my estimation. maybe the entire event is in a downswing. from the active runners i think only jerome young, tyree washington and maybe alvin harrison can run sub 44, but they have not been consistent in their carrers. from thr young guys darold williamson can do it too, i saw him run a low 44 leg on a relay for baylor (mj's school).

[runrinaldirun]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

The real question here should be, when will someone not from US break 44sec. The US has had a strangle hold on this event for far too long.

Quincy Watts in 1992 was better than MJ in 1997

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

1- All the name that you gave are ridiculously
far potentially from all these legendary
athletes from the nineties like M.JOHNSON,
D.EVERETT, S.LEWIS, HB.REYNOLDS, Q.WATTS
who wrote certainly the most extraordinary
pages of this event.
2- Sorry, but historicaly and statisticaly, a
44"2 400m isn't better than a 10"10 100m.
3- New names like WARINER are rising up. And
I am very curious to follow them.

[Conway]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

The 400 is simply going through a cycle ... That being that periodically true sprinters shy away from the event ... The 400 was hot from the late 60's into the 70's then sprinters stopped running it ... The event got "slow" again ... Wasn't til Cliff Wiley jumped in it in the early 80's that the event sped up again ... Yeah Juantorena screamed a 44.2 but he was an anomoly ... ONce Wiley got in then guys like Nix and Babers moved up and had some success which lead to the rash of guys running 43 ... When the 43's hit the sprinters started heading back to the sprints .. Easier to fight the 9.9s than the 43's ... NOw the hot guys are all gone ... If WAshington and the Harrisons go 43 more sprinters will jump back in ... If they don't it'll be a while before tey get back in again ... Might take 4or 5 years - around the time the current crop of high schoolers begin to really mature .. But it will come back again .... The better question is truly when will someone other than an American go 43 ??

[Russ7291]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

I've said this on another board--I think there is more young talent in the 400 meters now than I can ever remember. I think there will be at least 2 more sub-44s by the end of 2004.

[400guy1]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

>I've said this on another board--I think there is
>more young talent in the 400 meters now than I
>can ever remember. I think there will be at least
>2 more sub-44s by the end of 2004.

Which 400 meter runner, US or worldwide, has the best shot at breaking 44 someday? Tyree? Or maybe Potter or Wariner? I also heard there was a 16 year old from Jamaica or the Bahamas that is a stud. Any takers?

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

What about the Rock in the 400M. He's just getting up to speed.

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

Rock stinks...What has Wariner done? Mitch, Otis, Adam and Darald will own Wariner for awhile.

[Armyrunner]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

Wariner ran a 43.8 relay split before he got hurt for all the big end-of-season glamour meets, so we'll see...Tyree and Calvin can go sub-44 in the open 400 this year...for Wariner, Darold, Mitch, Adam, Otis, and the Rock, they'll need another 2/3 years of seasoning and good coaching, then they'll be capable too. The 44.5's for Adam, Otis, and Mitch were, let's face it, them running way over their heads, not to be duplicated by them again this year.

[Guest]

Re: Is it the end of men 400m golden era ?...

Only seven men in the history of the sport have clocked under 44 seconds for 400m. The first one (43.86) was done in altitude. It took 20 years to break 44 again.

This is prime evidence that the 400m is arguably the most difficult race to run. An MJ comes, as someone said, "once every 50 years". We've been so busy watching Mike, we forgot the state of the rest of the event, and how diffucult sub 44s are. The last non-MJ to break 44 was Quincy Watts (1992).

The same with the 28 foot area in the long jump. Carl Lewis (like him or not) comes once every 50 years.