rojo wrote:
That men's 800 finish for Rotich today in Paris might have been one of the greatest final 200s in the history of the 800. I'm serious.
Rotich went from next to last to first all in the final 200. Ran the entire turn in lane 2, ran part of the homestretch out in lane 3 and and I timed him in 25.5 in a 1:43.73 race!! Unreal.
When Rudisha set his WR, he closed in 26.6. Of course at the 2015 Worlds, Rudisha negative split it and ran his final 200 in 24.36, but that was a 1:46 race.
Where does this close rank?
Behind Rotich, Isaiah Harris actually ran a PB but many may not have noticed it as he finished 4th in 1:44.42.
https://twitter.com/letsrundotcom/status/1013144736646000640
I got him at 25.6 for last 200m and his last 100m was 12.6. He ran about 3.25m wide on last bend (in lane 2), so it was worth more like 25.2 if he'd had a clear run on inside of lane 1.
This is good, but there have been a lot of more impressive last 200's in races of 1:44 or faster.
Kipketer ran 24.7 for the last 200m in a 1:42.77 in Monaco 97. I don't think it's on Youtube, but I have it on dvd so can vouch for it being a genuine split. He ran the entire race on inside of lane 1 (so no extra distance on last bend like Rotich), and was drafted from 200 to 600m, but his last 200m was nonetheless awesome.
Rudisha ran a last 200m of 24.9 (on the rails) in a 1:42.84 at the African Champs in 2010.
Cram ran a last 200m in 25.0 in the Commonwealth Games of 86, in a 1:43.22 run.
Coe ran a last 200m in 25.3 in Oslo 84 (1:43.84).
At the LA Olympics Cruz's last 200m was also faster than Rotich's in Paris, both actually (25.17 - 12.5, 12.6 last 100m) and intrinsically; he ran about 2m extra on that last bend, so it was worth more like 24.9!
Coe, in 2nd in 1:43.64, ran 10m+ wide in that final, making his run worth more like a 1:42 low. His last 200m was 25.7, and he ran, like Rotich last night, the entire last bend in lane 2, so about 3.25m extra and worth around 25.3. Coe's last 100m was 13.0, but he did clash elbows with Earl Jones twice at the top of the home-straight, which probably cost him a couple of tenths, but his last bend was 12. 7, but with 3.25m extra, so worth more like 12.3 for a clear run on the inside.
In the 86 Europeans Coe ran 1:44.5, again covering more like 11m extra. Without the extra distance it would have been more like a 1:43.2. He ran the last bend on the line between lanes 1 and 2, so c. 3m extra.
His actual last 200m split was 24.8 (12.4, 12.4), but had he not run wide he would have run 24.4! And the penultimate 100 on the bend must have been worth close to 12.0.
In 2015 Amel Tuka ran 1:42.51 in Monaco, with a last 200m of 25.3, faster than Rotich in Paris. He ran approx 1.5m wide on last bend, so worth more like 25.1
So there have been quite a few last 200s that were faster than Rotich; whose finish looked more impressive due to the context of that race and what was happening around him.