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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [jaretj] [ In reply to ]
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Well, we don’t actually know that ITU wasn’t their kind of racing. Back in those days, they raced pretty much everything, so I don’t think they ever reached their true potential at the shorter distance raced. If they specialized in Olympic and sprint distance they would have been faster there. I do agree that fields are much deeper now, but I’m not convinced that the pointy end is much pointier, after you factor in the changes to the sport since then.

Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [IntenseOne] [ In reply to ]
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IntenseOne wrote:
Nobody yet has mentioned the impact of money, and growth of the sport, plus the impact of becoming an Olympic sport. The big 4 all took up Triathlon at a later age, and not of them were “elite” in their non Tri sport of choice. Good, but not elite. With the announcement of Tri becoming an Olympic sport, many countries started recruiting kids starting at a young age to find contenders for Olympic medals. This is what fueled the development of athletes for ITU. It is unlikely that any of the big 4 would have even been recruited :-)
This does not mean they are not pointy end athletes, but IMHO they are not at the pointy end of the athletic genetic lottery as their history in pre Triathlon sports demonstrates. Anyone in the top 20 today in ITU racing is very much genetically a very top tier athlete, and capable of excelling in multiple sports.
FYI- I spoke directly with the Director of Olympic Development for USA Triathlon in Colorado Springs in 2000, and at that point in time, she said that just being a under 30 min 10k runner was not enough to be considered (she had a list of well over 100), but you also had to be a D1 level swimmer. Mark Allen, or any of the big 4, was not even close to being a D1 swimmer in their day (Mark swam at D3 UC San Diego)

This
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I was replying to how they would do today since that is related to the thread's title.

They just aren't good enough swimmers to make the second pack.
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [Schnellinger] [ In reply to ]
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Schnellinger wrote:
Wrong. Their genetics have not improved, but the knowledge, and in particular the accessibility to knowledge, has improved significantly since then. In addition we have metrics to monitor pretty much everything, which makes it possible for athletes to train better than what they could back in the days. This is the reason why Allen would have been spat out the back.

And just to clarify one more time: this is the time machine scenario.

PS: Proof of Greg Welch running a 28min 10k or it didn't happen :)

Welch ran a 28:57 for a 10km track race at zatopek classic.
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [Schnellinger] [ In reply to ]
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Schnellinger wrote:
And just to clarify one more time: this is the time machine scenario.

In this time machine scenario, do the old-timers get to wear the Nike Vaporfly 4%?

Matt
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [Pun_Times] [ In reply to ]
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Why not? We take them here from their prime. We don't require them to bring their equipment.

Immensely impressive by Welch. Link to results?
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Re: Would the Big 4 have a chance in today's ITU? [ripple] [ In reply to ]
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I don't agree or disagree with you, but what would the guys from the 80's have done with today's methods? Usually when you compare eras you compare their performances in their era. You can't compare Mark Spitz to Michael Phelps on the stop watch. You compare them in performance against their peers. Equipment, technique and training are so improved, who's to say they wouldn't still be in the upper echelon if not the top?

Of course its hard to compare but competition is much harder theese days than 70-80´s in most sports. Michael Phelps is better than Spitz if you take that in consideration. Also took more golds..

on the other hand they may also benefit from other material and training so its hard to know but much more competitors now.

Harder to become a "legend" theese days..
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