ATLANTA olympics 800 final

3 or 4 races sure wasn't hard for him in the WC indoors in 97 when he got the WR twice!!!! once in the heat, and then in the final.

Hi Bjornar:

Great information. Marius mentioned that Rodal had a poor anerobic threshold. Would you happen to know anything more about this? Also, I read somewhere about Kipketer having a very low VO2 max. Again, any more information on this.

Thanks again for great posts on Rodal!

(poor Johnny!!! you can see how he's hurting and unbable to respond as Rodal overtakes him.)

Good Evning Peter

Well I do not know the threshold pace of Rodal. But I remember he did som road race over 8k after he retierd but still training (not top shape), the pace was around 3.20-3.30km. Many avergage runners beat him.

His O2 max was 78 (I think)not very high. His 3.37 was in 1.44 shape that show his aerobic capacity was not very strong. He really tried to break that Old Norwegian record, not just a bad race.

His body type should be Ok for 1500m but i think he lacked the more aeorbic base.

I said earlier that he was a strength/speedster runner, but I not think that is 100% correct.

I like to call him a tru specialist, not so good in 400 and 1500m but with an amazing capacity to run at specific speed over 800m. This is manly from longs reps at racepace and faster (up to 600m). He has "vacinated" his body on this speed and can tolerate it over a long time. This is the hardest training I know, sometimes you will vomit and taste the blood.

If he will run very good in 1500m I think he could but then he would need long time running 1000s and 1200s in 55 pace. ( personal thoguts) This is how he can step up in distance I think but he need to prepare a lot for it.

Others.

Yes yes yes I kno Wilson beat Vebjorn in 96, but Rodal was extremly fit in OG final.

So a 60-40 chance for Kipketer win, but Wilson is sometimes loosing power after many races in a row, there is a big difference in Olympic Games and world indoor.

I agree Wilson was awsome in 96 maybe he deserved OG gold but he choose not to run so what can I say..........

Watch this yerars Bislett games maybe Vebjorn will do some rabitting.

Great stuff, Bjornar. Thanks very much.

MarathonMind wrote:

Gray took the field out WAY fast: 51 flat or so.

Since when is 51 "WAY fast" for a 1:42?

Great thread. Rodal is still at it? :)

Great stuff,

thanks!!

Regarding Kipketer, I do not think he could have beaten Rodal in the olympics. He was not a championship runner, because he had problems handling many races in a few days. Kipketers best time up to then, was 1.42,5- the same time as Rodal ran in the very warm weather and with fast times in the heats. Kipketer barely beat Rodal in Oslo because Rodal started his sprint too late.

Rodal is also a peaker like Bjornar wrote.

About Rodals training and abilities:

I agree he was a 800- runner and not a 1500- runner, but still, running his one 1500m, he was not in his best shape.

I beieve he was very fit aerobically. His best strength was his speed, strenght and the ability to stand a lot of extremely hard training.

My point is: he could not have been able to tolerate this regime if didn`t have some years beforehand with easier, aerobic training. Some norwegian have tried training like this but can`t take it, because they lack the aerobic ability.

Regarding what he could have done over a 5000, 15 min is not far off I guess. But remember, he was quite heavy (77- 78 kg).

twolapper wrote:

MarathonMind wrote:

Gray took the field out WAY fast: 51 flat or so.

Since when is 51 "WAY fast" for a 1:42?

Responding to another poster who wanted to know what Kipketer typically split. From a few races I remember from 1997 when he was trying to break thw WR every time out, he was always right behind the rabbits (usually David Kiptoo or Sammy Langat). The rabbits went through 48.55 in Monaco in 97, and I believe he was 49.00 at 400m in his WR. All this to say in most of the races I remember watching in 1997, he always split low to mid 49's. I think I saw one that was 50.3 but my memory isn't that good.

Kipketer is not a championship runner?

He won the OUTDOOR wold championships in '95, '97, and '99 in dominating fashion each time. (there are three rounds in outdoor words) In his prime, he was simply invincible, championship race or rabbitted grand prix race.

not to mention shaving more than 2 seconds off the world indoor record in 1997 in his only indoor appearance that year. The guy ran 1:42.67 INDOORS!

Not to mention 6-0 against Rodal in '96.

'96 and '97 Kipketer was unbeatable. If you saw him race those years, he looked invincible. It was about as beautiful running as anyone has ever achieved.

Kipketer wasn't able to run in those olympics because he changed his nationality to Denmark (From Kenya). Since he wasn't able to run in the Oly's, he went mad and starting training like crazy up in some moutains. This is how he ran 1:41.1

He wanted to prove that he would have won the olympics. This is from an interview he did after he broke the WR

Marathon Mind, 51 flat is in no way shape or form a quick or "way fast" split for the first quarter of an 800. Please reserve the discussion for educated minds.

was lucky enough to watch this race live. one of the best races i've even seen...

Has any distance on the world stage fallen farther in the last 10 years than the 800M? It is almost sad what wins most races (no sub 1:44 in the world until late last year) compared with the past. Even in the US it is sad how uncompetitive our guys are at world championship races considering how much we dominate the 400M. Any guy who can consistently run 1:43 will be the world's best now. Hopefully a young US guy can make the sub 1:44 jump soon and become a presence on the world stage like Johnny Gray was.

Kipketer was unbeatable in 97 (almost unbeatable in 95), not 96! He ran one race in 1.41,8, his other were 1.42,5 and upwards. As mentioned, Rodal was a peaker and he ran the race of his life. When he faced Kipketer in the following weeks, he was not in the same shape.

Kipketer was in a league of his own in most Grand Prix races, but met stronger opposition in championship races. Kipketer is of course one of the all time greats of the distance, Rodal is not. Even so, Kipketer had to set a personal best to win the gold in Atlanta in his third race in a few days. I don`t think he could have done it!

Thanks. Some others think you have to be "educated" to dare post here. I had no idea the 800 was so lopsided.