Did You See Him Run?

[Double R Bar]

Hard to believe, but today (Tuesday) is the 50th birthday of Renaldo Nehemiah. Did you ever get to see him run in person? I believe he was just about the best high hurdler ever. What do you think? Happy birthday Renaldo.

[bad hammy]

Punk kid (ie. younger than me), saw him a few times, definitely the best ever.

[jhc68]

Saw him run 6 or 8 times. Always gave the impression he could have run even faster. Could have been the GOAT if he hadn't opted for football $. Maybe he was the GOAT anyway!

[Marlow]

I fourth these opinions! If he were hurdling in his prime now, he'd be 12.85 or better - fo sho!

[eldrick]

leaving aside slower tracks back then & rough physics estimate that the more solid hurdles back then cost you maybe 0.01s when hitting one back then compared to today , i think you'd have to put him at least at 12.80

[eldrick]

stick this at the end of an url you might fancy


/watch?v=m_-ohW-dz6Y


he is pretty damn flawless !

got to admit, ole man foster ain't bad either !

he shouda probably also gone well under 13 in subsequent years

[dukehjsteve]

I saw him at the NCAA over at Univ. of Illinois, in 1979. 12.91w as he manhandled the field and Greg Foster.

[tandfman]

I saw that race, too. In fact, I saw him run many times. Yes, he was the greatest. Liu and Robles, at their best, have been more impressive than anyone else since Nehemiah. But I think Skeets's superior speed would have prevailed in a theoretical race.

[eldrick]

you might want to consider adding AJ to that list

i saw him on tv back in '90s run in brussels in not great weather, clattered a few hurdles, seemed to be running routinely ( for him ) on the flat with no great urgency & finished what seemed a 9 to 5 win in about 13.1/13.2 & the scoreboard flashed up

12.92 !!!

i thought there had been a scoreboard malfunction !

i've never seen such a fast, "poor" run

[Marlow]

stick this at the end of an url you might fancy
/watch?v=m_-ohW-dz6Y

I hadn't seen Lee Evans' OG WR since 1968, but the thing that struck me was how EMPTY the stadium was - why is that??!!

[jeremyp]

One of my biggest "Oh no's" came when I heard he'd gone pro. Unbelievable talent. Robles reminds me of him in his fluidity and raw athleticism.

[wineturtle]

I was one of the officials who sign-off on his schoolboy 12.9 NR.

I stood in his lane and watched him run away from me-smooth - it was like his head stayed in the same spot just got smaller as he covered each hurdle.
I had a quick chat with him at Reebok @Icahn last year about that race.
Still looks like he can go 13.2 or so.

[Marlow]

I stood in his lane and watched him run away from me-smooth - it was like his head stayed in the same spot just got smaller as he covered each hurdle.

He and AJ are my coaching models. They represent the paragon of the current technical model. it will take 2-steppers to get significantly better than what they were doing.

[dukehjsteve]

[quote="Marlow
He and AJ are my coaching models. They represent the paragon of the current technical model. it will take 2-steppers to get significantly better than what they were doing.[/quote]

Has ANYONE ever tried it, even for 1 or 2 flights of hurdles ?!

[Marlow]

Has ANYONE ever tried it, even for 1 or 2 flights of hurdles ?!

I seem to remember Florian Schwarthoff toyed with it. He had the height, but not the footspeed. It'll take someone with at least a 36" inseam and 10.10 speed (Trammell springs to mind). I think we're still 25 years away, but when we get there, the 110H record will be at 12.50 VERY quickly, with a progression not unlike what happened to the PV after fiberglass got common.