Between Bob Kennedy and Dathan Ritzenhein, the US was abysmal in distance running. We celebrated when our top athletes were able to obtain A standards in European meets, when cracking 13:20 or 28:00 was a big deal. There were years we didn't send a full squad to the olympics or the world championships. In 2003 Jorge Torres was the only US runner in the 5k, and he got in on a B standard.
Then Dathan runs 12:56 and the flood gates open. I've lost track of how many guys have broken 13:10 since. Before Dathan I can only recall four US runners who ever broker 13:10 (BK, Lagat, Maree, and Teg...correct me if I'm wrong.)
We've got medals in the 800, 1500, 5000, and 10000. We've got multiple 1:42 guys, multiple sub 13 guys, multiple sub 27 guys, and a steepler who looks like he may break 8:00 sooner or later.
How did the US make this fantastic leap in such a short time?
I've enjoyed watching it (mostly because it was hard to route for the US [aside from BK] for so long) but what happened? In light of Mo Trafeh's announcement, and questioning of who else might be dirty, I wonder if we can really believe that so many US runners have made such a huge leap in such a short period of time.