Impressive depth: US is almost on par with Kenya in top 100 ranked athletes for mid-distance/distance track events!!!

Interesting thread, thanks for posting.

Someone earlier raised the most legit counterargument though- most Kenyans and Ethiopians are now simply on the road. The marathon top 100 in 2013 (all under 2.10.00):

Kenya- 48

Ethiopia- 37

US- 0

No doubt that a lot of these guys could run a good 10k or 5k if that's where their focus (paycheck) was.

yyy wrote:

eliminating the doppers on the list, it would look even better.

Why would eliminating members of a conservative Afrikaner Church make the list better?

Only Half Troll wrote:

that list means nothing without the marathon.

Also means nothing without the 400, 200, 100...

OK, There are a lot of Kenyans and Ethiopians on the road.

I showed objective evidence of American improvement.

Those runners on the road have nothing to do with the fact that more Americans are putting up fast times on the track.

American men with a top 10 time this year:

1500: 0

mile: 1 (Lopez, born in east Africa, at #10)

5k: 0

10k: 0

I agree that looking out to #100 is biased. I would guess there are a fair number of 13:10-13:20 type guys in Africa that just aren't good enough to get a lane in an international race. Also, if you are one of those guys you might as well try your hand at road racing and skip the track entirely.

Roads = avoiding testing

might be wejo wrote:

American men with a top 10 time this year:

1500: 0

mile: 1 (Lopez, born in east Africa, at #10)

5k: 0

10k: 0

I agree that looking out to #100 is biased. I would guess there are a fair number of 13:10-13:20 type guys in Africa that just aren't good enough to get a lane in an international race. Also, if you are one of those guys you might as well try your hand at road racing and skip the track entirely.

I'm not biased becaused i didn't say "US is better than Kenya". I said that, in the track (I repeat, in track)mid distance and distance events, US is ALMOST (I repeat, ALMOST)on par with Kenya.

My point was to demonstrate that East Africans now are focusing in longer distances. AND, the fact that US, at the same time, it's improving on the track.

That said, I agree that probably a 13:20/13:30 Kenyan never gets a lane in the big track meetings. But I read months ago something that Canova said that was very insightful. They're flying to Southeastern Asian Marathons now. Subpar Marathons/Half Marathons. They run 1:03/2:12 or similar, and still they´re receiving the paycheck.

So, it's silly for them to avoid the roads until their 30's .

But more interesting fact is...WHAT'S HAPPENING IN KENYA WITH DOMESTIC 5K/10K TRACK RACES? I know...it's altitude, and they don´t have many Mondo tracks, but still...

Too early to run stats this year, but your point holds.

In those events there were zero Americans in the top ten for 2012.

But in the Olympics, two Silvers and two 4th place finishes.

Thank goodness for limits on entrants by nation.

The US has improved its depth but still has room to improve on the top end.

might be wejo wrote:

American men with a top 10 time this year:

1500: 0

mile: 1 (Lopez, born in east Africa, at #10)

5k: 0

10k: 0

800: 3

American men with a top 6 time this year:

800: 3

1500: 0

Mile: 0

5k: 0

10k: 0

Not disputing your overall point, just your selectivity. There's a lot more Kenyan and Ethiopian depth in the 5K/10K than the lists show (and, for Kenya, the steeplechase too). The lists also don't show that we have two of the best tactical 1500 runners in the world. Just looking at the times on the list clearly doesn't tell the whole story.