I mean the guys you mentioned fell to the wayside because they obviously had personal issues. If someone can’t fit within society, there is nobody obligated to mold it for them. If they don’t like moving away from home, then they’ll just have to deal with not having a coach. You’re acting as-if athletes are all treated badly. I just don’t see it. For every athlete who isn’t given an opportunity there are at least two others (probably much more) who have all of the talent and opportunity in the world and throw it away (Combest).
BTW If you read the article, Trevor Graham did train Combest. Guy has had about as many opportunities as you can give a person.
Yes, thats true.
This is true as well but Combest had to leave because as soon as he started training with Graham the whole camp got busted for PED and other things.
From a reliable source, Combest did train with Trevor for several months but he pulled his hamstring even before Trevor’s problems came home to roost.
Apparently, Trevor felt he was ready to run well before the injury, but by the time Casey recovered, Trevor couldn’t coach anyone any more.
Speaking of talent unfulfilled, how about the great William Reed?
“There ain’t been no white world class sprinters in 60 yearz”
you tell 'em son
I can think of some folks named Kenderis, Thanou, Mennea, Borzov, Collio, Block, Gohr…who might find that comment a little humorous. 30 years after Mennea set his WR, all of 7 black sprinters have ever matched that time, and Carl, Ben, Mo, and Ato are not among them.
Collio…r u serious?
Casey Combest - Faster Than Usain Bolt - Fastest Man Alive (re-upload) ::: adarq.org.
Wouldn’t look out of place in the 10,000m. Light as a feather.
Well, I guess it shows two things. 1) Sprinters come in all shapes and sizes. He was tiny but generally power sprinters excel in 60m. He disproves that. That jump was ridiculous. 2) Without proper guidance and discipline, great talent is often wasted. It is sad that he had so much, but decided to do the less productive things in life. Too bad we never got to see that talent fully play itself out.
Apart from genetics/talent, what other qualities do you see in Casey accomplishing that 6.59?.
Low bodyweight?.
Great elasticity/spring?.
Doesn’t look to have great “strength” levels in the purest form of max strength.
I would think his low bodyweight certainly helped a lot. He looked like he must have a massively efficient CNS as well. Add to that a lot of elasticity as evidenced by the ease of that jump and I guess you have a perfect storm of talents.
can you post the link?
edit: nevermind
Rapid!!! I thought he was some 10k runner doing a bit of ‘speed work’!!
That video has changed the game for me a little bit.
in what way?
That I need to be lighter for one. Growing up around some pretty fast guys, in general I realised the guys with the best starts/acceleration were on the whole, the lighter.
Having seen the video I now realise the importance of developing the need for even GREATER spring than I already have. Like speedcoach said “that jump was ridiculous”. There certainly was a whole load of spring in that 6.59.
So my goals. Lighter, springier (Achilles/ankle/calve strengthening), specifically aim to increase the “stiffness” in my muscles/tendons & let all the leg speed come from the core, arms & shoulders, so major emphasis there.
Seeing Casey, I realise some of the stuff I’m doing right now is useless (even though its quite the norm), genetics/talent aside.
The Jamaican’s seem to consider lifting weights (and bulking up to some degree) primarily as a means of injury prevention. Note that Casey’s comeback in 2008 ended fairly quickly due to a series of muscle strains.
What exercises do you plan on doing to achieve this?