Comments on: Sanya Richards: America’s Most Dominant Athlete

By: James

James — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:37:12 +0000

Sanya Richard is the Best, i know she will break the 400m record soon !!

By: Sanya Richards: America’s Most Dominant Athlete « The Sports Report

Sanya Richards: America’s Most Dominant Athlete « The Sports Report — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:08:47 +0000

[...] Source:http://fansided.com/2009/09/09/sanya-richards-americas-most-dominant-athlete/ [...]

By: Thursday’s Missing Links | Inside the Iggles | A Philadelphia Eagles Blog

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:39:24 +0000

[...] Do you know the name Sanya Richards? Well, you should. (FanSided) [...]

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:45:06 +0000

Thank you Robert for owning that little turd. I mean c’mon, track not a real sport? It is the grandfather of sport and much more pure than I’m sure whatever PPV event Ryan pays to watch.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:50:38 +0000

Racing is the purest form of sport and competition. I think America’s definition of sport is closer to that of game or match (which is not necessarily wrong, just a societal difference).

In response to Ryan,
There are opponents in track, more than one person runs at a time, you know, and you can effectively race against anyone from any time as long as their times were recorded.
Intelligent reaction is also required (although, indeed, not at the same importance as physical prowess), moreso in longer events than the sprints, but knowing when and how to make a push or bide your time and energy requires intimate knowledge of not only your strengths and physical capabilities, but also those of everyone else on the track.
And on your third point, the change and evolution that occurs in track is held in the training and practice that the athletes do.

To the untrained and uninterested eye, every sport looks the same from 50 years ago and now. Also, unless the rules of the game have changed, all that is changing in any sport is at the level that the athletes are executing strategy, whether they do them faster, with more strength, or with more accuracy.

In the end, you (and other people, American or otherwise), are using perceived complexity and entertainment value as part of your definition of “sport”, which are both subjective and shouldn’t be argued as fact.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:09:30 +0000

Here’s the reason why no one appreciates track. It’s not a real sport.
There is no mental adaptation involved. When you are in a real sport where you have opponents, intelligent reaction is as important as physical prowess. In track sports you just have to do the same thing over and over again, there is no growth or evolution.

Compare progressive sports now to what they were 50 years ago, and you can barely recognize them. Compare track, and you’ll see the exact same thing, someone running in circles.