Race Performance Professional athletes realize that they can operate at top efficiency for a limited period of time. Coaches are acutely aware of this fact, especially in sports where their employment status is dependent on won-loss records.
Successful runners are also aware of the importance of peaking for top performance.
For the first time in over a decade, the US has some possible medal contenders for the 1996 Games in distance events, including Todd Williams, Lynn Jennings, and Bob Kennedy. While the US always comes away from The Summer Games with it's share of medals, long distance track events has not been the source. Many aficionados have tried to determine the reason that our country has been nearly invisible in world-class endurance events for a decade. They feel that athletes living in spartan conditions in third world countries have a more focused approach, perhaps resulting in the eye of the tiger. However, this theory is at least questionable in view of world class performances by distance runners from countries such as Germany, Italy, Korea, Australia, as well as other non-impoverished countries.