Also, the women's javelin and the men's high jump are the least competitive on either side if you look at the toplists on IAAF. (Women's triple jump would be least competitive if the top-ranked javelin thrower could compete, but she can't, since she's Belarussian).
Two guys just ran under 8 in the same race. Not competitive?
Among the running events in T&F, the weakest will always be the Steeple.
Not because the athletes who run it aren't badass athletes and the event itself is the hardest to do, period, besides the pole vault....No it's Mmoreso because there will always be superior milers, 3k & 5k athletes who COULD outperform them. ....Same as it ever was.
If we're talking actual standard "Track and Field" events and not something like a 100k+ it's 100% going to be some field event, simply due to lack of participation.
Long jump. Big meet winners feet behind distances from 30+ years ago. Decathlete has the longest jump in the world. Don't think a decathlete will run 330 for 1500 or 75+ for the shot put.
Two guys just ran under 8 in the same race. Not competitive?
The talent pool in the steeple is tiny compared to the other running events. It isn't run in HS or indoors, and the vast majority of tracks don't have pits or barriers. Steeple is the landing spot for guys whose talents don't line up well with the 1500, 5k, or 10k and have some height and athletic ability. I say all this as a former college steepler.
Don't know why you are being downvoted. I assume you meant a road 50k. The extra 5 miles really doesn't make that big of a difference as far as training, though it could be a bigger factor if a runner hits the wall.
Trail ultras are a different beast, and are extremely competitive, especially overseas.
Dumb logic. That same quartet replacing Felix for age has WR potential. Or at a minimum, top 3 all time. So unless you’re saying the 400 and 4x400 for women have been perpetually weak, that comment has no merit.
Thats the point genius. We won a gold medal going away without a single person who runs the event or focuses on it. Get it now..? If we can use people from other events and an aging mother to win gold, how competitive is it?
It’s not great logic actually. It’s not surprising that if you have 3 Olympic gold/near WR caliber athletes at 400h/800 + the current 400m bronze medalist you can put together a gold medal 4x4.
On the men’s side, Kirani James (400 bronze), Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin (gold/silver at 400h in two fastest times ever) and Emmanuel Korir (800 gold) would be the equivalent 4x4 relay, and I figure they’d be pretty outstanding.
”Without a single person who runs the event or focuses on it”…bs—this was Felix’s FOURTH 4x4 Olympic gold, she’s been primarily focused on the 400 for years (silver at 2011 WCs, gold at 2015 WCs, silver at 2016 OGs) and is among the greatest sprinters of all time.
Men's 800m is also a stagnant event, with only the occasional superstar like Kipketer and Rudisha improving the event. The WR goes down, but the average performance hasn't.
Thats the point genius. We won a gold medal going away without a single person who runs the event or focuses on it. Get it now..? If we can use people from other events and an aging mother to win gold, how competitive is it?
It’s not great logic actually. It’s not surprising that if you have 3 Olympic gold/near WR caliber athletes at 400h/800 + the current 400m bronze medalist you can put together a gold medal 4x4.
On the men’s side, Kirani James (400 bronze), Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin (gold/silver at 400h in two fastest times ever) and Emmanuel Korir (800 gold) would be the equivalent 4x4 relay, and I figure they’d be pretty outstanding.
”Without a single person who runs the event or focuses on it”…bs—this was Felix’s FOURTH 4x4 Olympic gold, she’s been primarily focused on the 400 for years (silver at 2011 WCs, gold at 2015 WCs, silver at 2016 OGs) and is among the greatest sprinters of all time.
That's why I only said three runners.
But now I hear Syd is running an open 4 coming up. Looking forward to seeing what she can do. The 400 hurdles is so easy for her it looks like she is running an open 4.
I interpret competitive to mean that the winner is hard to predict. The men's 800 is super competitive because there isn't a dominant talent right now. On the other side, the women's triple jump is a complete no-contest because Rojas will win every competition.
There's a good case for saying the men's and women's 1500 is uncompetitive since there is a dominant talent in each, but the fight for the minor medals is kind of interesting among the men.
Women's steeple is also uncompetitive as Jeruto is so much better than everyone else.
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