I have so far stayed out of this dumb speculation on Suzy F-H ... as it is
clear from looking at video and still photos that her form breaks down
noticeably in the last 200m particularly of every tough race she runs.
Notice this in:
1) The photo in TaFNews (November) of her 1:58 (seventh place) this summer
... legs all splaying outwards.
2) Photos of her in the stretch at Pre .... same thing, form breaking down.
3) Photos I have of her from her 3:57 win this summer crossing the line.
It is clear that she has a problem, many have commented that she has
actually fallen down from this ragged form in the closing stages of the
race. What part "mental problems" of any kind play in this nobody can say
conclusively. It DOES SEEM that "high pressure" events are particularly
hard on her (and her "form" falling apart). Nuff said. Most of us can
agree on that ... and that it was a spectacular collapse in perhaps the
biggest race for her in her recent career.
As far as PRE goes ...
* He set the HS 2 mile record (still third all-time, 31 years later) and ran
a 4:06y as a HS'er.
* He won THREE NCAA XC titles. FOUR NCAA 5k titles. He held the AR at
2000m, 3000m, 2 Miles, 3 miles, 5000m, Six-miles, and 10,000m ... All at the
same time.
* He stomped the field at the Oly Trials in 1972. I believe he STILL HOLDS
the Oly Trials record in the 5k (13:23?) 28+ years later.
* He was (by any method of measurement) in the top-five competitors
world-wide in the 5000m over the last few years of a career cut short by
death.
As far as getting "more acclaim than his performances might merit", I don't
see how you could get "more" than you merited, in light of the
aforementioned accomplishments.
Unless you were there in 1969-75 and saw it ... you couldn't really say. I
can't say whether the "acclaim" was inordinate around 1972 ... I was only 5
years old.
P.S. Don't start up the "alcoholic"/"stupid race tactics" stories ... as
the topic is "more acclaim than PERFORMANCES deserve".
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Kaplan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 1:12 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Suzy Hamilton Interview = High Anxiety
Other than Kurt Bray's mention of Pre and the "go for gold" mentality, I'm
surprised no one else has mentioned a similarity that addresses the
collapsing syndrome -- pretty much all the race footage I have seen of Pre
shows him very wobbly legged and near collapsing at the end, and he had a
Suzy-like stumble at the end of the biggest race of his career. Also,
some might say that he, too, got more acclaim than his performances might
merit...
Dan
> I have also seen it in one or two sub 4:00 type miles - usually someone
> who was near the front and faded down the stretch while trying
> desperately to hang on. I have seen it in open and masters runners
> running between 4:15 and 4:30. And I have seen it in high school
> perhaps more than any other time, although I have watched a lot more
> high school miles than any other kind.
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