Kendra Harrison = choker. Sally Pearson = cluth AF

I've said this before on these boards.

Sally Pearson is Australia's greatest athlete.

Repentant MZUNGU SUPREMACIST wrote:

I've said this before on these boards.

Sally Pearson is Australia's greatest athlete.

Certainly right now she is.

I don't like to call athletes chokers as what they do is very hard. But Keni Harrison has struggled in big races, that's for sure.

Last year, she won all six of her races going into the Olympic Trials, including an American record of 12.24 at Pre. But she was only 2nd in her semi and 6th in the final. Her next meet out, she broke the world record in London.

In 2017, there's this:

https://twitter.com/jgault13/status/896538460819009536

Those times include a 12.59 into a 2.3 headwind in Doha on May 5, a 12.58 into a 2.4 headwind in the semis at USAs and a 12.60 into a 1.7 headwind in the final at USAs.

The winning time in London tonight was only 12.59. Yet Harrison was only 4th in 12.74 and was actually .001 ahead of 5th.

Easy now. or we delve into medal count...

When she tapped her temple before the race, I thought "headcase".

And Keni won't even get another shot for two years.

She has Asafa Powell Syndrome.

She was very nervous. You could see the look in her eyes. Man, that is the missing component, being able to conquer her nerves.

She hit three straight hurdles, after that it was over.

The hurdles, as well as the steeplechase, are events where objects are more of a threat than your opponent.

I just hope she can keep her head clear, and just continue to pursue. I'm sure she will breakthrough.

scorpion_runner wrote:

She was very nervous. You could see the look in her eyes. Man, that is the missing component, being able to conquer her nerves.

She hit three straight hurdles, after that it was over.

It was more than three. She had moderate contact on the first hurdle and then thumped the next three. Then two slight nudges on the remaining six.

Pearson alongside her didn't even brush anything.

Harrison has remarkable margin for error in this event. She overcame a significant mistake in the semifinal to advance and then barely missed the podium despite all the errors in the final. Take away one or two of those hits on the first four hurdles and she probably wins. Mostly clean and it's not competitive.

Granted, ifs and buts. I still think she was shook up after the semifinal race. That accounted for her facial expression prior to the final.

She acted like her semi f-up was no big deal. Not sure if she was being delusional or putting on a false front. Either way she is a coaching challenge, to say the least.

Repentant MZUNGU SUPREMACIST wrote:

I've said this before on these boards.

Sally Pearson is Australia's greatest athlete.

Modern sprinter but Butty Cuthbert cleans her clock and is in the discussion for greatest all around sprinter ever.

Brushes and contacts are fine. It's the ones that are hit hard( hurdles falling over) that are not fine, because it pulls your trail leg and body back, which is what happened. She lost forward acceleration and had to catch up.

She is a clean hurdler, and hitting three straight hurdles is just straight nerves. Nerves are connected to muscles, and when your mind is not in order, those signals go straight to the nerves, which affects muscle function. It's like a nervous entertainer holding the mic. He is so nervous that he drops the mic and freezes up.

Same thing here.

It is pure mental with her. She is the WR holder, and the best hurdler in the world when it comes to speed and technique....But she is not the best when it comes to mental strength.

Might have to give that to Dawn Nelson Harper, another silver..That chick just know how to focus at the age of what 32, 34?

Jonathan Gault wrote:

I don't like to call athletes chokers as what they do is very hard. But Keni Harrison has struggled in big races, that's for sure.

Last year, she won all six of her races going into the Olympic Trials, including an American record of 12.24 at Pre. But she was only 2nd in her semi and 6th in the final. Her next meet out, she broke the world record in London.

In 2017, there's this:

https://twitter.com/jgault13/status/896538460819009536

Those times include a 12.59 into a 2.3 headwind in Doha on May 5, a 12.58 into a 2.4 headwind in the semis at USAs and a 12.60 into a 1.7 headwind in the final at USAs.

The winning time in London tonight was only 12.59. Yet Harrison was only 4th in 12.74 and was actually .001 ahead of 5th.

Jonathan, I must confess I don't know that much about Kendra, nor did I expect Sally to win. I'm not really a hurdles person, I actually think that the 100m/110m events should be scrapped. But after watching over many years, these events are a real lottery. Anyhow, did you read Ross Tuckers analysis of testosterone? There was something in the research that hinted that field events athletes particularly their testosterone levels for the World Championships (2011 & 2013) reduced them to avoid a positive. It is likely that Asafa Powell was also a great example of this. However, she could just be a nervous mess. Hanlon's Razor indicates that the nervous mess in the likely explanation.

No sorry..... wrote:

Repentant MZUNGU SUPREMACIST wrote:

I've said this before on these boards.

Sally Pearson is Australia's greatest athlete.

Modern sprinter but Butty Cuthbert cleans her clock and is in the discussion for greatest all around sprinter ever.

Cuthbert's a legend, but much tougher competition now.

Since 1970, Pearson and Freeman.

Dawn is tough, but not sure how you could pick her over the girl who beat her for mental strength. Sally is barely a year younger, and has been injured on and off for 5 years yet has a better championship record than Dawn (both 1 gold, 1 silver at OG but Sally has 2 world golds). If you're still not convinced, go watch how cool Sally was under pressure in Daegu 2011

Bolt Bolted himself wrote:

Easy now. or we delve into medal count...

Medal count between Harrison and Pearson? Yeah, bring it up

both dopers and both igf-1 heads .

pretty sure that mildronate alpha endurance peptide invovled in kendras

fast times but gone for champs.

just like the chemical based on was meldonium and see what that did for

one genzebbe dibaba , needed to be used with speed pepetide but

see then what could do ,assume dibaba was loaded up in other ways too

but when they took away that meldonium fast time gone .............................

ESL fail.

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Jonathan, I must confess I don't know that much about Kendra, nor did I expect Sally to win. I'm not really a hurdles person, I actually think that the 100m/110m events should be scrapped. But after watching over many years, these events are a real lottery. Anyhow, did you read Ross Tuckers analysis of testosterone? There was something in the research that hinted that field events athletes particularly their testosterone levels for the World Championships (2011 & 2013) reduced them to avoid a positive. It is likely that Asafa Powell was also a great example of this. However, she could just be a nervous mess. Hanlon's Razor indicates that the nervous mess in the likely explanation.

Times were slow all around in this WC though

Sally Pearson had a remarkable comeback to get to this point and she has a champion's mentality. Unfortunately, Keni Harrison has not yet overcome her big meet nerves. She is by far the most talented hurdler of this generation. (Pearson did run 12.28 years ago and others have run fast as well). To get that doper's wr at so young an age was very impressive. We can see in multiple events this year that among the elites, mindset and self-belief are very important. Simpson was saying over and over how her coach was drumming into her the idea that she was good enough to win and should trust her instincts--but even so in her mind she was just wanting to pick up one of the leaders if they flagged, at which point Kipyegon gave a little eye roll, because she goes for the win; Coburn was talking about how Joe was building up her confidence; same thing with Frerichs. If you don't have the champion's mindset, you will have to get extremely lucky to get on the podium. The positive thing is that it can be changed. Harrison's too young to diagnose Asafa Powell syndrome. Having McLaughlin train with her for the next year or two should help.