Taking that fall in the homestretch of the Olympic 1500 in 2004 was as disgraceful as it gets.
This post was removed.
Taking that fall in the homestretch of the Olympic 1500 in 2004 was as disgraceful as it gets.
This post was removed.
Not a distance runner, but Marion Jones deserves mention.
literally the most famous female athlete in American in 2000. darling of the games.
doping busts, busted for check fraud, financial troubles, and later was sent to prison for criminal activity.
nothing beats this
OJ Simpson beats that. Please stop. She is NOT a distance runner.!
Julia Stamps. Done in by a skateboard.
Exactly
Kvothe wrote:
Webb. Top of the world to suddenly barely able to break 4. Even in that era, that wasn't enough to continue as a pro. Webb attempted to come back to track for several years without real success.
He then tried the triathlon for a couple years but couldn't make it to the upper echelons of that sport.
His comeback attempt was like 6 years long.
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Steve Magness - 401 high school miler. Never pr'd again after that in the mile or if he did he didn't even take another second off. He ran in college and post collegiately for a couple years. His pr's were few and far between after hs. He brought his 800 about in line with the mile and dropped a little time in the 5000. I don't think there has ever been a runner so good who didn't get a big pr in college.
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Bekele - the best distance runner in the world by far for years. He could not duplicate that success in the marathon. He has had some good marathons here and there and after years of sub par results clawed himself back for one more attempt at the olympics. The deprioritization of world xc really hurt him. When world xc was big, he was the most dominant xc runner in the world.
You are crazy with Bekele on this list...
I would argue Bekele had the greatest fall from grace only to rise back up. Went from wrs in 10000m and 5000m in the early 2000s, to a few DNFs and DNSs in the marathon in late 2010s, to now in the early 2020s we are talking about him as one of the top marathon contenders. His career has been legendary.
Jake Wightman. From world champion to nothing.
Erick Wainaina, from 2-time Olympic marathon medalist to arrested this year for molesting a high school girl on the train in Tokyo and punching railway staff who tried to stop him.
Fall from grace implies a very high level of public knowledge and support. I've followed T & F for 30+ years, and I'm not sure any distance runner from the US was socilally relevant enough for this to occur. I know Webb was on Letterman, but it's a flash in the pan. Something akin to the person that can juggle the most balls at once.
-Para
Gotta be Rekrunner. Once a proud sub-2 runner, now a sad troll on letsrun begging to be fed by Armstronglivs.
nick Jones wrote:
Cain
Lane
Ping
Tuohy
Lol Tuohy just made the 5k final at the US champs and she's what? 20? What fall are you talking about? lol
Have we said Lukas Verzbicas yet?
What in God's name happened on page 3?
The Blade Runner had a crazy fall from grace, but I guess doesn't fit the distance runner criteria.
Lolo Jones had one of the biggest literal falls.
Seat filler wrote:
Lolo Jones had one of the biggest literal falls.
Not a graceful one though.
What's the running equivalent of Tadej Pogacar riding ~7 W/kg for 40 min?
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion
Actual snipers (including a Congressman) think it was an inside job
JACOB and YARED, why won't either try to emulate Hicham's 1500m tactics?
What distance runner in history has had the biggest fall from grace?
Brazilian 2:04 marathoner Daniel do Nascimento catches doping ban
If there are lions and leopards in Kenya, why don't athletes ever get eaten on their runs?