Grijalva 12:52 to smoke the Americans

Grijalva went from 1st position at 3k, to a boxed in 10th place with a lap to go and an out of it 6th place with only 200 meters left. That's a terrible tactical strategy.

Conversely, Kejelcha ran in the back for most of the race, and was battling for 1st throughout the last 400 meters.

And Kincaid, 3rd for most of the race, fell back to last when the serious racing started, and then kicked, lol.

Lagat was 36 and closed in 53 when he ran his pb.

And Ritz, maybe. He's already bettered Ritz's best global track champs finish.

Ritz twice finished third in World Championships.

You clown, in my opinion super shoes don't affect these elite monster athletes. They train their asses off and could run poor races. So many names to put as an example so hopefully you get my point!! Luis has mile speed and has always been a savvy racer, getting fourth in the WC wasn't by mistake.. He's going to get run sub 12:50 and hopefully crack Fishers AR to make him the fastest in the Americas!!

Well, Ritz did finish 3rd in a junior global championship.

Ritz got 3rd in World Junior XC AND 3rd in a World Half-Marathon Championship.

I thought we were talking about track 5000. Ritz's medals were impressive, but on the dirt/turf and road in WXC Jrs and WHM.

Dude just beat Cheptegei, Aregawi, Barega, Ahmed, and Krop. Between them, that group accounts for two Olympic titles, two world titles, 6 world/Olympic podiums, and three Diamond League titles. One of the most stacked 5000m outside of a world final in history.

He also didn't just beat them, but Cheptegei barely came within a second of him in the end. He looked more in control and at home in the race, chilling at the front, either taking the lead or running on the leader's shoulder like a shadow. Meanwhile the rest of those names pushed and shoved and clipped at each running wide in lane 2 the whole race. He was better tactically.

Ritz was a legend, but when did Ritz ever throw down against a field as celebrated and stacked as that?

I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself after one fast race in June. The jury will be out until Budapest this year. If I was a betting man I’d still give odds for Ritz and Smith against Schumacher.

Dude you've been with this loser shlic for years. You got to be middle-aged by now. Just sad.

You sure that is not Joe Klecko?

What about Grant Fisher running 26:33, wayyyyyyyyy faster then Rupp or Solinski?

What about Woody friggin' Kincaid running 12:51 indoors with a 26 last lap?

Lots of examples.

Super Shoes have changed what times mean. Just like the full body swimsuits did for swim times for a year or so [ before being banned]. And just like new bicycle technology has made everyone faster compared to using old technology. Duh.

Great interview. Go Luis!

This is not a good point. Do I think Grijalva is better than Ritz?—at 1500 through 5k ABSOLUTELY. Grijalva ran 4:02y/8:46y in high school so although he wasn’t a Ritz-level HS prodigy he certainly wasn’t a scrub. And it wasn’t until Ritz was 26 that he ran faster than 13:16 for 5k, a time Grijalva ran at age 21.

Lagat is an all-time great whose peak was unbelievable, so of course his name carries more weight than Grijalva’s likely ever will. But look at the times Lagat ran up through the age Grijalva is now (24 years and 2 months): 3:34, 7:45, and 13:42 were his PRs. So what’s this about Grijalva, who ran 7:43 at age 20, coming from being some “decent dude” to too good to be true? (Also, as another poster pointed out, Lagat was capable of faster than 12:53 at age 36, never mind his prime when he closed in 51 to beat Bekele in a 12:59 race).

He didn’t just run 12:52 today, he was competing on equal terms with guys who ran 12:43/12:46 in 2018, pre “super spikes,” and the WORLD RECORD HOLDER, all of whom are wearing the same spikes he is.

Lastly, I predicted Grijalva would run 12:57 over 2 years ago, so although he’s done better than I was bold enough to imagine it’s not as if it wasn’t apparent he was a phenomenal runner while he was still in college:

It’s been so cool watching him to continue improving over the years, I remember when he was a sophomore my graduating year and he wasn’t even the fastest sophomore in our section and he has just kept building and building. He has to be the GOAT distance runner to come out of the sac Joaquin section at this point, maybe even out of all of California. 12:52 is nuts, and beating some of the guys he beat is huge

Woody friggin’ Kincaid and Joe Klecker both beat Krop, Barega, Ahmed, Tefera, Aregawi, Kipkorir and finished within a few seconds of winning one of the most stacked Diamond League 5ks ever today, against guys wearing the same shoes. Fisher already has two top-5 finishes in World and Olympic finals, which save for one silver is just as good as Rupp ever fared on the track. So super shoes may be aiding times to a degree, but the #1 factor far and away is that Americans are performing way better than they ever did in the 90s, 00s or 10s. You can’t discredit Klecker and Kincaid just because they look more like your neighbor than does Dominic Lobalu.