Run-Down Forums

[Conway]

I've always ocntended that running more than one event is beneficial to sprinters ... When you look at the women's all time sprint lists they are dominated by women who ran/run more than one event ... And while the men's all time lists are not as dominant in this respect, the top of the lists are as are the winners circles of major championships ...

While the current IAAF system and subsequent Euro circuit seems to discourage sprint doubling it is clearly obvious that those individuals that still do so fair better ... Case in point: Frank Fredericks continues to double and has come back much better than anyone might have imagined from his foot/achillies surgery ... Mo Greene and Ato Boldon has lessened their forays into the 200 and it showed last lyear in their 100 results ... Dwain Chambers increased his 200 running and improved his PR and his 100 times reflected it greatly !!!

The top stars in high school and college in the sprints are almost always guys who double, yet when they "turn pro" they try to become "specialists" and most seem to go backwards in their development ... Personally I htink doubling is critical to sprint success ... Any thoughts ???
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Conway
Speed Thrills

[Dan]

My first thought is that it could also just be that the superior talents shine through when doubling events, but your examples seem pretty sound... Working on both power and speed endurance has obvious benefits to each event, so it makes sense that someone equally strong in both would have an advantage over someone not as well rounded.

Dan