[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Netters
>
> Brian wrote:
> > Wouldn't the EGR men have had the same excellent coaches and physios? He
> > wasn't asking why the German women were so good .... but why there were not
> > similar astounding, long-lasting WR's run by East German men.
>
> A side note here. There were some incredible coaches on the men's side as well just
> not in the sprints. The throws and the walks in particular. From 1980-88 the DDR
> walkers were the best in the world - drugs and training. I think when you look at
>the
> program the DDR had you will see they selected athletes with potential at many
> events and they viewed them all as equal. The system was through and it may well be
> that while they came across good sprinters in their search they didn't come across
> any world class guys. If there was one I doubt they would have missed it with that
> system. Remember too they didn't have a ton of great distance runners on the
> women's side but they did have good throwers and the male distance runners were
> better then there sprint counter parts. It may be that the German women tended to be
> better at the sprints then the men.
The East Germans did have some good male sprinters. Siegfried Shienke (sp?) was a
finalist
in at least one Olympics in the 200 and was top ten ranked for several years. Eugen
Ray
was ranked near the top in both the 100 and 200 one year but had a career shortened by
injury. Thomas Schoenlebe was world champion in the 400 in 1987, beating Butch
Reynolds
among others.
As to the East German coaching. I was at the Munich Olympics and female sprinters
such as
Reneta Strecker (sp?) seemed to be far better coached than any female American
sprinters up
to that time. Also, Borzov, while not an East German, seemed better coached than any
American male sprinter. I think now the level of sprint coaching in this country has
improved to where it is the best in the world.
--
Wayne T. Armbrust, Ph.D.
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