Lagat 3rd in Ostrava

It's still a PR for him, though.

Do you actually know how good 7:33 is?

Age is catching up to him? It's early in the track season and he just ran an outdoor PR. He's doing fine and age is not an issue.

to the OP you are dumb. to everyone else reading, If/ when theres a video post it up please

age is an issue and lagat is getting old, no sense denying that he doesn't have that much time left

that said running 7:33 for 3rd here is absolutely fine and hes set up to have a great season at 5000, possible under the AR

Did Powell just run 9.63?

I'm not denying that he does not have many years left at this level, but age is not the issue for his race today as the OP seemed to imply.

why not eh wrote:

to the OP you are dumb. to everyone else reading, If/ when theres a video post it up please

Dumb!? Why? Because I pointed out that he didn't have anything at the end?

I know 7:33 is a great run and I even said it was early season, but we're talking about a guy whose run 3:26 and is an ex 5000m World champion. It's all relative.

7:33 is great, but the signs are there that age is catching up with him, which is what one would expect of a 35 year old. That's stating the bleedin obvious, not dumb.

Looks like Powell went 9.88

http://www.zlatatretra.cz/results.asp?season=2010&typ=r&eventid=0010002

Boy Wonder wrote:

I'm not denying that he does not have many years left at this level, but age is not the issue for his race today as the OP seemed to imply.

Thanks for predicting what I was implying! I wasn't implying very much actually.

Of course it's early season and one wouldn't expect Lagat to be at his best, but the manner of the defeat, i.e. his lack of turn of pace which he is renowned for, is a signal that he is getting old. You cannot expect a 35 year old to have the same speed as when he was 25.

When an athlete gets to this age they can't run fast times and win week in week out like they did in their prime. It takes longer to get to a peak and they don't have that last explosive kick. Ovett lost it, Aouita, Coe, Morceli, etc. It's inevitable.

Four years ago Lagat would have won from his position with 200m to go.

You're not getting it - Lagat got to 2800m faster than he has ever done before - THAT alone could explain why he didn't have a great kick (if he didn't). If Bekele ran 7:30 for the first 3k of a 5k and then slowed down in the last 2k... it wouldn't mean he was over the hill.

Bernard actually ran 7:32.49 today

7:32.43 is BL's pr from indoor 2007

also... wrote:

It's still a PR for him, though.

bernie 4y ago ran 12'59, which is superior to a 7'32, & he won that with a 51, crushing kennster !!!

if all he coud muster was a meagre 58/59 today, then the speed certainly wasn't there today - whether it's gone for good or not, only more races will tell

on his indoor win earlier, i'd have expected no slower than a 55 today at the end, so 58/59 is poor

ventolin^3 wrote:

bernie 4y ago ran 12'59, which is superior to a 7'32, & he won that with a 51, crushing kennster !!!

if all he coud muster was a meagre 58/59 today, then the speed certainly wasn't there today - whether it's gone for good or not, only more races will tell

on his indoor win earlier, i'd have expected no slower than a 55 today at the end, so 58/59 is poor

1. It is the first big meet of the season

2. The last lap was pretty tactical. No one really dropped the hammer until the last 100 m. Lagat was right in the mix until the last 20m.

3. Lagat has said he is going to transition away from the 1500 to more 5000 racing. The 3000 favors 1500 closing sprint speed more than 5000 endurance.

4. Lagat would probably concede that he is not the runner he was 4 years ago. But he still has some good stuff left in him if he remains healthy.

ventolin^3 wrote:

i'd have expected no slower than a 55 today at the end, so 58/59 is poor

Well, if you didn't get what you expected then that is good enough for me. It must have been poor.

Maybe Lagat is yet to peak i noticed that Boaz lalang who trains with lagat was not in top shape either in the 800M.So clearly they are still lagging behind fitnesswise but then it is a long season.

seems consistent with his tune-up 2k 4:57.11

Who cares, he's a drug cheat.