Is Emma Coburn's steeple career coming to an end?

Hate to interrupt the stupid sexist commentary on this thread, but it is worth noting that she fell in both of her last two diamond league races. At 32, she probably only has one last Olympic cycle left. But here’s to hoping she can snag a spot on that team. She’s the best American steeplechaser ever.

Age. Past their prime. Biden also fell.

Going to try to keep this thread on topic.

Emma isn't getting younger and her peak is probably going to be 9:02. Since she competes with integrity, she's not going to get any faster in the steeple. iF she wants to prolong her career she needs to test her luck in longer event. It doesn't feel like she really wants to do this however.

Emma has had a rough few years emotionally with her mother's cancer diagnosis and death. There's no way this didn't take an emotional toll on her running. I think it's what contributed to her 2021 struggles the most.

But yes, we're going to see a significant changing of the guard in the steeple. I do think Wayment is the best American steepler in the game right now.

True, but Courtney is doing worse. No racing.

At 32 I expect she may be at a plateau with regard to her performance, but she shouldn't have declined as much as she has. I can't help but wonder if something hasn't gone wrong with with her training (i.e., overtraining). Hope she can get it together for the trials next month.

Hilarious.

Okay, SJW. Let’s pretend they aren’t running in panties.

Yea, 9:18 isn’t horrible considering she fell. Unclear if she’ll ever break 9:02 but she seems strong enough to go under 9:10 again. “If” she can stay healthy I don’t see why a pr in 2024 or 2025 for a last few championship runs before possibly retiring can’t theoretically happen.

show some respect dickhead

Coburn and Frerichs stuck with the lead pack throughout that lead pack at the world championships in 2017. Granted, they caught a massive break when Chepkoech missed the first water turn. That always made the final placings one spot above where they should have been. But I assumed it would jumpstart season after season of front running relevancy. Instead Coburn settled back and Frerichs decided to barely compete at all.

They were peak age. Such a waste, although Frerichs did rescue matters with an incredibly brave Tokyo run with the extreme conditions playing in her favor.

The steeplechase has been an underachieving event due to lack of elite participation. It was only a matter of time before that evolved into a wave of African front running dominance. Wayment is very good but yesterday was prime example of the horrors of the American system and thought process. Wayment went immediately toward the back.

Everyone loves her! But the flame in her racing is fading. And she is on social media more it seems . Another sign.?

She is definitely in the twilight of her career; only Jamaican women get better in their 30s. I am surprised by the major drop-off from 9:07 just a year ago and the fact she is not racing with any authority. I am not ready to right her off yet, but nothing lasts forever. Emma is one of only few American women who has won a medal in an event over 400m and in fact
one of only few non-African women in the last 4 decades. With that said, I hope Emma turns things around, if not, I hope she goes out on her own terms.

It looks like she missed stride on that barrier. The causes could be mundane like needing new contacts (if she wears contacts) or vertigo.

The field is much more competitive now both in US and the world. She can probably squeeze 2 more years out of NB sponsorship though. She had a great career and put US on the map.

Pretty much this.

Also, I think Krissy Gear is one to watch, although it's probably in her best interest to have us forget about her and have her do her thing, surprising us all.

While the results this year so far have been underwhelming and something seems “off” I think Emma can still hit the “on” switch and pull off a world class performance before the end of the season

She was taught that perfect hurdle technique too well for an event that doesn't need hurdle technique.

The whole point of hurdle technique is to get over a barrier without jumping, but that's only needed for sprints where your legs need to get down fast to keep your tempo. Steeple needs no tempo, nothing wrong with jumping.

Don't say it ain't so just cause I'm always right. All the Kenyans jump naturally, lightly, tucking their legs up. They do great, it probably saves them energy, and they rarely trip. The Kenyans agree with me.