Rudisha loses...Eaton AOY?? [or Merritt?!]

[dbirds]

Loss may swing AOY race back to Eaton!

[Conor Dary]

Loss may swing AOY race back to Eaton!

You are late to the party.

[croflash]

I would still give it to Rudisha, Bolt second, Eaton third.

Really though, Merritt would be deserving as well. Harting has won 32 meets in a row. I don't think there is a definitive argument that Athlete X MUST win.

[marknhj]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

[jazzcyclist]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

[Conor Dary]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

Eaton's WR was nice, but I wouldn't put it on par with DR's. As noted an unworldly performance.

[marknhj]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

I think that the nature of the events makes it an apples and oranges comparison. However, an individual WR is significantly superior in merit to a multi-event WR, in my opinion. By definition, no human has ever done that one thing better.

[jeremyp]

Don't forget that the AOY rankings are not held to the rigid set of rules as are the event rankings. Over the years we have seen weird rankings. American rankers are bound to favor Eaton now that Rudisha lost in a fast race. I give the nod to Eaton myself, as he did it all. 2 WR's an Olympic gold, and total supremacy over rivals.

[Half Miler]

FWIW, using the IAAF tables, Eaton's WR is worth 1270 points, Rudisha's WR 1296.

[Conor Dary]

FWIW, using the IAAF tables, Eaton's WR is worth 1270 points, Rudisha's WR 1296.

Well that may be true. But it misses the point of what marknhj is making.

[Half Miler]

Wasn't responding directly to marknhj, or taking sides, just adding data to the discussion.

[marknhj]

Wasn't responding directly to marknhj, or taking sides, just adding data to the discussion.

Does anyone (beyond the obsessive compulsive T&F excel addicts) actually take those comparative point tables seriously? I think they're a joke. (btw - not a shot at you, 804.672m-er)

[aaronk]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

Eaton's WR was nice, but I wouldn't put it on par with DR's. As noted an unworldly performance.

Eaton and Ennis for AOY's!!!
Multi's RULE!!

Eaton broke a WR that had stood for 11 years.
Rudisha broke a WR that had stood for less than TWO years!!
And THAT record had broken a WR that had been set just one WEEK earlier!!

Sorry, but it seems to me that the Dec WR was a much more difficult target.

Eaton wins the battle of the WR's!!
(Now, if Rudisha had run 1:39.99 tonight.......!!!)

[marknhj]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

Eaton's WR was nice, but I wouldn't put it on par with DR's. As noted an unworldly performance.

Eaton and Ennis for AOY's!!!
Multi's RULE!!

Reasonable level club athletes would beat them at most events though! However, I agree Eaton's 8.21m and Ennis' 12.54 were damn good performances

[dbirds]

I agree...Sebrle's WR was amazing and had not been challenged since he set it in 2001. Not only was Eaton's 2 performances very impressive, some of his individual marks (in and out of the deca) were phenomenal as well.

Ennis has a strong case as well although you have to look at Adams, Felix, etc.

Reasonable level club athletes would beat them at most events though! However, I agree Eaton's 8.21m and Ennis' 12.54 were damn good performances

I guarantee you...no one individual or club athlete would beat Eaton in more than 2 decathlon events!

[Half Miler]

I agree Eaton's 8.21m and Ennis' 12.54 were damn good performances

Eaton jumped 8.23 (from your OCD friend).

[Half Miler]

Wasn't responding directly to marknhj, or taking sides, just adding data to the discussion.

Does anyone (beyond the obsessive compulsive T&F excel addicts) actually take those comparative point tables seriously? I think they're a joke. (btw - not a shot at you, 804.672m-er)

Coupla things:
1. I cop to being an OCD T&F addict. But, I actually have problems with the scoring tables as well. However, I was merely adding this as food for thought.

2. I was, in fact, an 800m runner. AFAIK, my high-school tracks were not 880yd, so my handle is a bit of a misnomer. Thanks for pointing this out, mark-who-could-not-possibly-be-obsessive-compulsive.

[Conor Dary]

Of course it all comes down to gh and his crew when they do their Siskel-Ebert imitation. Thumbs up or thumbs down on DR.

[odelltrclan]

Reasonable level club athletes would beat them at most events though! However, I agree Eaton's 8.21m and Ennis' 12.54 were damn good performances

Are "reasonable" club athletes routinely jumping over 27' 0"? I think not. 14th on the yearly list for LJ. Besides the LJ, his name appears on the IAAF 100, 110H & 400 lists as well. Try doing that while training for throwing events. Probably could have made it onto the PV list as well if he was serious about making the list.

He is worthy of AOY status!

[j-a-m]

There are several athletes who''ve done enough to deserve AOY, also including Bolt and Merritt; right now I'd go with Eaton.

[Half Miler]

This should be a really good AOY race. A case can be made for each of the following athletes:

Rudisha
Eaton
Bolt
Merritt
Harting
Farah

Expect plenty of bitching and moaning after (the athlete you DID NOT choose) is selected!

[marknhj]

I agree Eaton's 8.21m and Ennis' 12.54 were damn good performances

Eaton jumped 8.23 (from your OCD friend).

Don't you hate it when excel randomly changes the data in a cell?

[Half Miler]

Nice try! (but for the record, I HATE excel)

[bekayne]

Eaton broke a WR that had stood for 11 years.
Rudisha broke a WR that had stood for less than TWO years!!
And THAT record had broken a WR that had been set just one WEEK earlier!!

Rudisha was breaking the records he had set! Hes has the 6 fastest times since 1997

[ZELLGADISS]

If Bolt gets 9.6 in Brusells i would tell Bolt.
But well, we will see....

[az2004]

rudisha gets it

homerism if eaton does

[dbirds]

homerism if eaton does

More like Anti-Multi Event bias if he doesn't

[Dave]

homerism if eaton does

More like Anti-Multi Event bias if he doesn't

I probably favor Rudisha over Eaton, but not by much and would be pleased with either result.

However, if Farah or Bolt beat either one of them then we need to talk. Gold + WR trumps double gold.

[gh]

....
homerism if eaton does

Ah, there's that old canard again. I mention this virtually every year at AOY season, and it has been true for the 40-odd years that I've been involved in the balloting.

GENERALLY SPEAKING, U.S. ATHLETES GET HIGHER RATINGS FROM OVERSEAS VOTERS THAN THEY DO FROM DOMESTIC ONES. End of story.

[jazzcyclist]

To me, a multi-eventer, no matter how good, should never supersede an athlete who has produced an otherworldly individual event performance and season.

You don't put Eaton's WR on par with Rudisha's WR?

I think that the nature of the events makes it an apples and oranges comparison. However, an individual WR is significantly superior in merit to a multi-event WR, in my opinion. By definition, no human has ever done that one thing better.

I understand your point but I respectfully disagree with it. The only thing that I believe should favor the 800 is the fact that people attempt the 800 many more times during the course of a year than they attempt the Decathlon.

[Half Miler]

In the event that either Rudisha or Bolt squeak this one out, they would join Lewis and El Guerrouj as the only 3-time winners. Rudisha would also equal Lewis with three in a row.

[Mighty Favog]

We're I to vote for AOY, where I can make up my own criteria, I would highly value someone who was consistently excellent and fearless in his competition schedule. The pro circuit desperately needs to figure out how to reward these things more than a single huge mark or an undefeated season.

So that means I'd have to put Merritt at #1 and Rudisha's light racing schedule would make him vulnerable to Eaton--I have no idea if he intends to do Talence but if he does then his is pretty extensive schedule for a multis guy. The unwillingness of Bolt and Blake to run against each other except when forced to doesn't sit well with me either when it comes to AOY status.

[toyracer]

Genuine question: has Eaton been beaten on a decathlon this year?

[Dave]

Genuine question: has Eaton been beaten on a decathlon this year?

Not this year. I think he lost at the WC last year(silver) and has won a bunch of heptathlons over the past few years.

[26mi235]

His dominant Hept WR will possibly influence some voters.