Slate has a humorous, but nonetheless interesting essay on the falling popularity of the decathlon.
Remember When Decathletes Were Cool?
Among the reasons given by Slate's Robert Weintraub:
- The Dan and Dave debacle of 1992
- Too many chances for the favorites to screw up
- The final event is slow and painful, and the winner is usually back in the pack just trying to hold on.
In any case, cool or not, these guys deserve our attention and support. At the end of the day, I'm not sure Bryan Clay isn't a better athlete than Michael Phelps.
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2 comments:
I love the decathlon! I hope Clay can pull through.
I am distressed about the 4 x 1. How depressing that the best sprinters in the world can't pass batons as well as the Newton North Boys team?
Old Blue Eyes for coach of the 2012 US track team!
It's all about practice reps. I'm sure most high school teams spend more time practicing handoffs than our Oly teams do.
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