A friend of mine wrote this to me:
“In running and hurdle events from 400m on down we win 17 out of 30 medals. Yet in running events from 800m on up (not including the Marathon), we only have 9 finalists, five of these are in the 10Km. Our highest finisher was Hazel Clarke who was 8th in the 800m final only because there were only 8 spaces in the final. It seems to me that the US has just given up from 800m on up. Even if we concede that the African nations are deeper than we are at 5000m on up, why can’t we at least get a couple of people into both 800m finals. I can’t believe this is just a lack of talent in this country.”
Here is my answer:”We have too many people who want instant results, it does not work that way. It takes time and a detailed plan. A willing to stick to the plan is important. I maintain that if you want results put Joe Vigil and Bob Larsen in charge of those events – look what they did with the marathon. Also to reemphasize too much emphasis on times and not enough on racing. The times will come. Also need to get over the mystique of the Africans. We CAN beat them, but we can’t play their game. “