Best part of that race was Tsegay getting pissed that Kipyegon was sitting on her and then exchanging some elbows every time Kipyegon tried to pass. If I was Tsegay, I would have yo-yoed the pace a bit. Go out hard to separate from the jokers, slow down for a bit until the pack almost comes back, pick it up again, slow down, and then sprint for the finish. Not sure if that would work, but Kipyegon is clearly unbeatable in a time trial. Maybe an unpredictable fartlek would sap her kick.
That was so exciting to watch. True and honest efforts for a race. The sit and kick strategists didn't stand a chance. Three women went honest from the start and slow pacing wasn't in their strategy. This was a very exciting race to view.
I agree with previous posters that watching the world's best 1500 runners run hard made for an exciting race. There was suspense in wondering whether the lead pack could hold the pace or if one or more would fade (Meshesha, in the lead pack for half the race, faded badly and finished 12th - the "hard pace" tactic didn't work for her). Also excitement for the possibility of one or more runners in the chase pack to make a desperate attempt to bridge the gap mid- to late-race. That didn't happen, but it was fun to watch elite runners hit it hard and find success thereby.
If someone in the men's 1500 comes in eight seconds down, they will be roasted here. Most of the field in the women's 1500 did that, and the winning time was simply world-leading now. Not the fastest race imaginable, and most of the field simply did not contend.
Just for the record, I agree with the title of this thread. RUNNING HARD FROM THE GUN is a tactic!!
Agreed, and also, it’s not like this was a straightforward time trial by Tsegay. She ran the first 300 in 43.42 - 1:55.79 800 pace! She was on 3:43.86 1500 pace through 500! She employed a daring tactic of going out almost suicidally fast in hopes that either Kipyegon wouldn’t dare follow, or that it would put Kipyegon in a hole she couldn’t recover from in order to use her sprint finish. It ultimately murdered Meshesha, who split 59.16-64.92-68.72-53.06 and finished 2nd-to-last, but Kipyegon was still able to recover and run 45.26 for her last 300. It was an admirable tactic by Tsegay and she placed as high as she was ever going to yesterday.
I don't know about tactics but the first 3 runners definitely had a strategy. The Ethiopian's strategy was to blow up the field by going fast from the gun. Kipyegon's strategy was to sit on Tsegay until she was ready to make her move. Muir's strategy was to shadow the alpha dog's every move for a long as she could.
The rest of the field was just playing it out running for place.
The second pack was more than 2 seconds slower per lap. This is a world championship final, the best women in the world and only 4 could stay in touch through 2 laps. In the 5000 there was a whole pack still there with a lap to go.
Tactful races are those where athletes make calculated moves as they observe their opponents. They don't go outrageously fast but play mind games with their counterparts .
tactics: "an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end". If the specific end goal was to win the race by burning everyone else out with a 58 sec. lap1, then the tactics worked.
The Africans have learned that if you sit and kick in 1500 meter races, the Americans win. If you don't, they win. (Well, except for Ingebritsen.) The days when Simpson or Centro could steal championship races have come and gone.
Funny to think Centro's OG 1500 win was only 2 seconds faster than Kipyegon ran yesterday.
like others have said, fast races can be tactical....if that's the plan. I always look at Bekele's dominant 5,000m in 2008 as being tactical especially after 2004 where he just ran hoping to beat ElG and failed...having Lagat in the race he had a set plan to drop the hammer at 3,000m mark. of course needed the power to do it but also a great tactic as well.
Just for the record, I agree with the title of this thread. RUNNING HARD FROM THE GUN is a tactic!!
Agreed, and also, it’s not like this was a straightforward time trial by Tsegay. She ran the first 300 in 43.42 - 1:55.79 800 pace! She was on 3:43.86 1500 pace through 500! She employed a daring tactic of going out almost suicidally fast in hopes that either Kipyegon wouldn’t dare follow, or that it would put Kipyegon in a hole she couldn’t recover from in order to use her sprint finish. It ultimately murdered Meshesha, who split 59.16-64.92-68.72-53.06 and finished 2nd-to-last, but Kipyegon was still able to recover and run 45.26 for her last 300. It was an admirable tactic by Tsegay and she placed as high as she was ever going to yesterday.
Yes, spot on. The two medallist leaders who went through 400 so crazy fast (Muir almost the same but was a stride or so back) knew what they were doing, and I assume they realised they aren't in c 3.40/41 1500 shape so their eyeballs out and hang on at whatever pace they could was most definitely a tactic.
Untactical is a sit and kick race where at least 8 of the guys have no realistic chance of kicking for the win but not one of them does anything to increase the pace or otherwise attempt to win. They just jog and then lose on the 400m sprint.
I don't think you know what the word tactical means. Sit and kick is just that, a tactical race.
Sit and kick in the US is tactical for Hocker and Teare, because they actually have the best kicks. The rest of the American know, or should know, that they can’t out kick these two yet they NEVER EVER do anything to counteract this. They simply line up behind the former Ducks and wait for the bell lap where they end up getting blasted over and over again. Bending over and grabbing your ankles is not a tactic. Hoping that your opponent pulls a hammy is not a tactic.
I don't think you know what the word tactical means. Sit and kick is just that, a tactical race.
Sit and kick in the US is tactical for Hocker and Teare, because they actually have the best kicks. The rest of the American know, or should know, that they can’t out kick these two yet they NEVER EVER do anything to counteract this. They simply line up behind the former Ducks and wait for the bell lap where they end up getting blasted over and over again. Bending over and grabbing your ankles is not a tactic. Hoping that your opponent pulls a hammy is not a tactic.
Teare and Hocker are also the fastest runners in a U.S. race and cannot be dropped by the other runners. The best strategy for everyone else is to go for 3rd place and taking the lead and pushing the pace will not get it done.
I had no problem with that race, it was the best strategy for those medalists, but to say it was suspenseful or exciting shows you don’t really follow the sport. The results were decided after 300m. Truly, that’s not hyperbole. All of the energy went out of the stadium after the excitement of the “55” first lap wore off.
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