I assume he will lose. The fact he was injured, and still hasn't raced makes me think it significantly disrupted his preparation for this season. He's probably not sharp at all and behind where he normally would be. He needs to get some tough races in to be prepared for this summer, so he needs this race experience this weekend. On the flip side Kerr had a great indoor season, so did Nuguse. And others are coming into form nicely. It wouldn't be shocking to me if Jakob finished 3rd or 4th at Pre. But that doesn't mean I'd write him off for Paris.
I know Pre is mandatory and Jakob would never skip Oslo, but he seems to be really loading up his schedule heading into Paris. Could be trying to race himself into shape, and the fact he didn’t request a pace for the mile might indicate his fitness isn’t where it normally would be. With that in mind, a 3rd/4th place finish (or even worse) wouldn’t surprise me at all. At the same time, he could show up and dominate like usual and that wouldn’t be a shock either.
If he doesn’t win this weekend he’ll definitely be written off here, but as long as he shows some life I’m confident he will still be a threat in Paris. Kerr opened his season last year with 9th in Oslo and was declared “finished” by board experts, and we saw how that went. The main concern with Jakob is seeing how much damage the injury did. If he can come back like Wightman and Hoare, I think he’ll be ok.
How do you know he didn’t request a pace? is there a press release out there or post from JI on this subject? quote in a legit article?
Yes because the race is stacked. If he trains through and someone gets a world record, his legacy might be to just be a great miler, not the greatest. He has to care - he's not nearly undefeatable like El G.
He is nearly undefeatable (at least before the injury) in the same way El G was. Jakob went undefeated last season and ran some of the fastest times ever but his only loss was the single most important race. Same thing with El G losing the Olympics at the height of his powers.
This mile race is a huge opportunity for Jakob to try a different race strategy compared to his typical leading it from the gun and running the field dry. He’s coming back from injury, so it would be the “most likely” in the past several years where it wouldn’t be a shocker if he were to lose. It’s a perfect chance for him to try something new. I’d be interested to see what he could do in the last 600-400 in a slower pace and see how well he can quickly change gears in a more championship-style race. If he could win this mile like this, that would give him massive confidence going into these last few months until Paris.
If he wins, it means that he did care about the race and that this race is the most important race in the world.
If he loses, it means that he was letting the other guys win so they didn't cry, he was sick, he was injured, he was blindfolded, he was trash talking, he was jet lagged, he was fighting with his father, fighting with his mother, fighting with his wife, etc.
This mile race is a huge opportunity for Jakob to try a different race strategy compared to his typical leading it from the gun and running the field dry. He’s coming back from injury, so it would be the “most likely” in the past several years where it wouldn’t be a shocker if he were to lose. It’s a perfect chance for him to try something new. I’d be interested to see what he could do in the last 600-400 in a slower pace and see how well he can quickly change gears in a more championship-style race. If he could win this mile like this, that would give him massive confidence going into these last few months until Paris.
He runs from the front as he doesn’t have the finishing speed/ kick many of these guys have. I don’t think that will have improved after having time off with an injury. If anything the top end speed is what he will have had to avoid? I think his only chance is his usual tactics and hope he runs the energy out of the others.
It could go either way. I’m not ruling him out as I don’t think he’d run this if he wasn’t back in good shape and expecting to win.
He is nearly undefeatable (at least before the injury) in the same way El G was. Jakob went undefeated last season and ran some of the fastest times ever but his only loss was the single most important race. Same thing with El G losing the Olympics at the height of his powers.
El G: 7-3 record in 1500m global championship races
Jakob: 1-4 record in 1500m global championship races
For most athletes it would be reasonable to assume they wouldn't win a stacked race like this on their first race back, but Jakob has defied expectations again and again.
How surprising. A Norwegian poster already making excuses for Jakob.
It's all one person. Nordic r = justanothercuriousdude = snowflakes = objectiveobserver. All will be revealed.
I agree that I am more positive on Jakob than most on these pages but I am not NORWEGIAN. I origin from Scandinavia but have lived for many years in Southwestern Europe.
By the way: I don´t know the rumours about Jakob´s great shape BUT.........
I have already predicted on other threads that he might surprise the negativists badly IF HE HAVE HAD SOME GOOD TRAINING the last months. He ran an indoor WR in 2022 coming directly from base training and a 2miles WB last year in his second race of the season.
It doesn´t matter that he did alternative training in the end of last and beginning of this year if he now has been back to "business as usual" the last months.
I, however, would like to see him NOT taking the first spot after the pacemakers so we could see how he will finish against the supposed SUPERIOR finishers (Kerr, Wightman, Nuguse and more) in a race run on more equal terms.
"Nordic r" and "curious dude" are obviously two different NORWEGIAN posters. I don´t know if snowflakes is Norwegian.
By the way: It is interesting how the negativists always are writing about Jakob LOSING races as if was a boxing or tennis match with one winner and one loser. Would they write the same if Nuguse, Hocker or Kessler got a silver or bronze in Paris? Are the negativists involuntarily showing that they hold Jakob in very high esteem since they consider everything else than gold as a loss.
He is nearly undefeatable (at least before the injury) in the same way El G was. Jakob went undefeated last season and ran some of the fastest times ever but his only loss was the single most important race. Same thing with El G losing the Olympics at the height of his powers.
El G: 7-3 record in 1500m global championship races
Jakob: 1-4 record in 1500m global championship races
You can see someone like CoEvett quite quiet about this subject these latest days ... wait for the talk and the insults and firing in all directions later.
Is he simply viewing it as a ”warm up” race before Oslo?
Its possible that Jakob don't like the idea of being used like a cobaye for experiments to improve the performances of other runners (none of them has a good histry as junior).
And maybe planing doing it his way in Oslo, Bislett ... etc.
I know Pre is mandatory and Jakob would never skip Oslo, but he seems to be really loading up his schedule heading into Paris. Could be trying to race himself into shape, and the fact he didn’t request a pace for the mile might indicate his fitness isn’t where it normally would be. With that in mind, a 3rd/4th place finish (or even worse) wouldn’t surprise me at all. At the same time, he could show up and dominate like usual and that wouldn’t be a shock either.
If he doesn’t win this weekend he’ll definitely be written off here, but as long as he shows some life I’m confident he will still be a threat in Paris. Kerr opened his season last year with 9th in Oslo and was declared “finished” by board experts, and we saw how that went. The main concern with Jakob is seeing how much damage the injury did. If he can come back like Wightman and Hoare, I think he’ll be ok.
How do you know he didn’t request a pace? is there a press release out there or post from JI on this subject? quote in a legit article?
Hobbs mentioned on Coffee Club, he asked Jakob if he's going to be the one requesting pace. And Jakob apparently said, definitely he's not the one requesting a particular pace.
This post was edited 21 seconds after it was posted.
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