Real question: Did Kirui's jacket cost him the win?

Yeah. What's the deal with wearing a sail while running into a strong head wind?

100% yes. And the Nike designer should be out of a job.

How many decades has Nike had to fine tune the best quality running gear? Unbelievable they not only designed something as bad as this, but pushed it onto their very best athletes.

The jacket didn't help. But Kirui was dead on his feet, all the aerodynamics in the world wouldn't have saved his legs.

https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/985914555766394881

On top of that, it looked like he was trying to take it off. Twice I saw him go up to the zipper and fiddle with it. The announcers proclaimed he was "thinking about taking it off" but I don't think you'd waste the energy if you weren't actually planning on unzipping it.

His hands were probably frozen too

No.

crosscounts wrote:

The jacket didn't help. But Kirui was dead on his feet, all the aerodynamics in the world wouldn't have saved his legs.

https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/985914555766394881

Maybe, just maybe, Kirui was dead on his feet in the last 5K BECAUSE HE WAS WEARING A FRIGGING SAIL INTO A STRONG HEAD WIND FOR THE FIRST 35K!

It's theory Nike might want to consider.

crosscounts wrote:

The jacket didn't help. But Kirui was dead on his feet, all the aerodynamics in the world wouldn't have saved his legs.

https://twitter.com/Scienceofsport/status/985914555766394881

The wheels came right off.

Kirui’s arm swing/carriage isn’t doing him any favors anyway. Toss a sail on him and this issue becomes compounded.

Absolutely. the spared energy would have brought him over the line before bonking

I hate defending Nike. Kirui's jacket may have played a role in his loss but that is not Nike's fault. Kirui choose to wear that jacket. Most people like a larger jacket in training for the extra mobility. He probably wore the jacket thinking it would be a plus. He could of easily worn a jacket that would of fit him tighter during the race.

he lost because when he made his break he went to hard and it cost him later

dznuts wrote:

On top of that, it looked like he was trying to take it off. Twice I saw him go up to the zipper and fiddle with it. The announcers proclaimed he was "thinking about taking it off" but I don't think you'd waste the energy if you weren't actually planning on unzipping it.

His hands were probably frozen too

Good observation. Zippergate

The commentators said he was "running proud". This was the result of his elbows-out form, which combined with the Nike "Parasail" jacket, created a perfectly wrong combination. He probably wanted to take it off, but either his hands were numb and/or he was afraid of the resulting hypothermia his 120-lb body would undergo if he did.

You can't blame the jacket because it's an inanimate object. Rather, the blame is on the athlete and his advisers for their stupidity and lack of preparation for the conditions.

Really Bro wrote:

dznuts wrote:

On top of that, it looked like he was trying to take it off. Twice I saw him go up to the zipper and fiddle with it. The announcers proclaimed he was "thinking about taking it off" but I don't think you'd waste the energy if you weren't actually planning on unzipping it.

His hands were probably frozen too

Good observation. Zippergate

Yes I didn't see this until I watched the replay of the race last night. I think he couldn't decide whether or not to take it off, and also had a hard time with the zipper.

The wind-sail effect, and the day in general, slowed him down. Not the jacket alone.

dznuts wrote:

On top of that, it looked like he was trying to take it off. Twice I saw him go up to the zipper and fiddle with it. The announcers proclaimed he was "thinking about taking it off" but I don't think you'd waste the energy if you weren't actually planning on unzipping it.

His hands were probably frozen too

I wore a jacket to a cold race last year that warmed up a bit near the end and probably made similar motions. I wanted to take it off but in the end it was a pullover and I wasn't willing to waste the time or slow down. If he was already struggling to keep his place then he may have thought the same. Stopping for even a few seconds seems paralyzing in a race.

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

he lost because when he made his break he went to hard and it cost him later

Kirui came to this race with a focus on only one athlete - Galen Rupp. He watched last year's Chicago race and also his friend Abel Kirui shared his experience with Rupp there. He knew the only way to have a chance was to go early and hard and hopefully neutralize Rupp's finishing speed. Unfortunately in his plan he did not factor in the weather and the jacket sail. So, yes the jacket played a major role in slowing him down but also played a role to enable him finish the race by keeping him relatively warm. Under fair weather, Galen Rupp had no chance against Kirui.

Kirui should've changed tack.

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

he lost because when he made his break he went to hard and it cost him later

The jacket may have cost him a few seconds a mile. His burning all his matches to break away and inexperience are what caused him to blow up completely and start running 6:00+/mi pace. The guy is an incredible talent but he isn’t a machine.

This.... wrote:

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

he lost because when he made his break he went to hard and it cost him later

The jacket may have cost him a few seconds a mile. His burning all his matches to break away and inexperience are what caused him to blow up completely and start running 6:00+/mi pace. The guy is an incredible talent but he isn’t a machine.

Also once he’d gapped the field he should have settled in but he kept pushing, he’d have been better off having 1-2 guys come back to him but had a lot left to respond instead of being an absolute wreck