Meet 800 phenom Patryk Dobek - He's undefeated at 800 and just won Europeans after picking up the event less than a month ago

and more recently Brandon Johnson.

From mid 48.62 400h as a junior in 2004, to running sub 1.44 for 800m 9 yrs later

https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/brandon-johnson-14242034

These are some people Dobek "scalped" this season, some of them even several times:

Webb (1:44.54 SB), Kszczot (1:45.22 SB), Borkowski (1:45.79 SB), Tuka (1:45.95 SB), Bosse (1:45.95 SB) and Rozmys (1:47.62 SB).

Also, how strong are polish in 800m???

rojo wrote:

All I can say is wow. Serious question, has anyone in the history of the world ever run 1:46 in the third 800 competition of their life?

I think Nico Motchebon.

You may not know that Patryk Dobek changed a coach 6 months ago. He is now being coached by Zbigniew Krol - the former trainer of Wojciech Kaldowski (1:45), Pawel Czapiewski (1:43, WC bronze in 2001) and... Adam Kszczot (who is working the last 2 years with Tomasz Lewandowski, brother and coach of Marcin Lewandowski).

Krol (exactly: Król) means King in polish and 70 years old Zbigniew Krol (former 8:38 steeplechase runner) is a king od polish middle distance coaching and national team trainer. He coached also, among others, Wioletta Frankiewicz (4:03 1500m) and Lidia Chojecka (3:59 1500m).

It's not exactly like Patryk Dobek did run 800 m as a sprinter. He trained for the 2 laps as a winter preparation and may be trying it also during the outdoor season.

I am Sam wrote:

Another rojo thread of great substance.

Loved him commentating and watching the second place instead of first and thinking that was the winner and record. LoL

Seriously...did he really go to an Ivy league uni, or did wojo double up as him?

if you care to look, or are a great follower of T&F as an owner/editor of a running forum should be, then you shouldn't be asking the question.

Marthinus btw, ran 1:46 in his first competitive 800. He was already 29 though

It's pretty obvious both BroJos are functioning autistic.

All I think about when I hear this name is Step Brothers.

Isn't the only unique part that he is actually running the 800m? I mean doesn't everyone expect a 48.5h guy to be running around 1:47 unless they are a really speed based(low 45) runner?

Lmao! This guy is not winning an Olympic medal! In a race with the world's best nobody is gonna let him squeeze thru the inside like that..for starters!Let's see him run a 1:44 or better first.

ddidididid wrote:

Isn't the only unique part that he is actually running the 800m? I mean doesn't everyone expect a 48.5h guy to be running around 1:47 unless they are a really speed based(low 45) runner?

No.

Marco Arop went 2:06 to 1:53 in his first year of running. The next year he went 1:47.07. Not quite, 1:46 in your 3rd ever 800m, but a pretty rapid progression none-the-less for a high schooler.

distancerunningwizard wrote:

Lmao! This guy is not winning an Olympic medal! In a race with the world's best nobody is gonna let him squeeze thru the inside like that..for starters!Let's see him run a 1:44 or better first.

Based on this being indoors and the type of race, I certainly can see him sub 1:44 this year in a fast paced DL. Gonna say 1:43.6-1:43.8

called gary wrote:

distancerunningwizard wrote:

Lmao! This guy is not winning an Olympic medal! In a race with the world's best nobody is gonna let him squeeze thru the inside like that..for starters!Let's see him run a 1:44 or better first.

Based on this being indoors and the type of race, I certainly can see him sub 1:44 this year in a fast paced DL. Gonna say 1:43.6-1:43.8

This seems unlikely but who knows?

That's how I approach the tv industry, I know I'll be successful while learning on the go and jumping into it. I don't need a background in acting or producing.

This kid must have a solid coach. The 800 is an easy event to over train for and sometimes I think some of our best talent gets ground down before reaching their full potential.

He didn’t come out of nowhere but Alan Webb ran 1:43.xx and rarely ran the 800. That could have been a nice event for him to focus on.

pablo x2 wrote:

Interesting. Anyone ever gone from a world class 400 hurdler to a world class 800 runner?

Harold Schmidt GER and Dave Patrick Tennessee.?

Rojo, sometimes you go way out there. This is not brilliant tactics, in fact its textbook what not to do.

This race is a perfect example of the old adage "even a broken clock gets it right twice a day." Dobeks broken clock strategy got it right twice in a lap.

Its not likely that he will get away with that again.

Agree that it will be difficult to get away with it again; however, in that moment, in that race, it was an effective tactic. Thus far, Dobek gets results. Not a fan, Malmo?

malmo wrote:

Rojo, sometimes you go way out there. This is not brilliant tactics, in fact its textbook what not to do.

This race is a perfect example of the old adage "even a broken clock gets it right twice a day." Dobeks broken clock strategy got it right twice in a lap.

Its not likely that he will get away with that again.

Kind of an interesting story, but I think the hyperbole is a bit much.

Brian Berryhill has the 100th fastest time in the 800 for Americans at 1:46.03 which is still faster than this Dobek guy.

The 200th fastest American of all time is Scott POEHLING who ran 1:46.77...STILL faster than this Dobek guy.

And that's just from one country.

Again, interesting story, but not worth the "wows".

I’m pretty confident that if you look back over the years, you’ll find the most of the established 400/400H athletes that move up to the 800, run their life time PR within the first 12 months of doing the event and then plateau from there on.

I believe they start getting too far away from their main weapon (speed) and start adding in more endurance sessions (even if that’s just adding more on the off day runs). A year or two later, they no longer have that 45 sec speed that they came in to the event with.

Side note, if you had of watched Dobek pace that race last month to 600m, it was pretty clear he was ready to run a solid 800. He was moving away from the field from 400-600 with ease (not great for the field he was rabbiting)