I was in the stadium the night Tergat and Geb raced and it was amazing. This mornings 10k was a great one because so many had a chance with 400m to go.
This. This was a great race among the whole field.
Anyone have a stat for the number of lead changes and how many runners had the lead at some point?
These are duels... it's predictable. This race was pure edge your seat..who will win or get a medal. Letsrun criticizes tactical racing strategies vs a good full out run. We saw the full out today. Everyone here should love this.
This. This was a great race among the whole field.
Anyone have a stat for the number of lead changes and how many runners had the lead at some point?
These are duels... it's predictable. This race was pure edge your seat..who will win or get a medal. Letsrun criticizes tactical racing strategies vs a good full out run. We saw the full out today. Everyone here should love this.
I believe we all loved it. Mills' win with his last straightaway was as dramatic as it gets. Today and the 64 final are up there.
Geb-Tergat Atlanta was awesome as well. I was standing next to a bunch of Ethiopians, who celebrated like mad for 25 laps. Tergat straining like mad to get away from Geb - and failing to do so - was just incredible. The entire stadium knew Geb was just waiting to pounce. When he finally did with 200 to go, it was electric. Best I ever saw in person.
Yes, I was there in Atlanta as well. What a race. Kenyans tried as a team after 5K to break Geb and set up Tergat. Tergat took it with 5 to go. The last 5 laps were run in 4:59! First 5K - 13:59, last 5K - 13:08. Same night Michael Johnson broke the 200 meter world record and Carl Lewis won on his last jump. I told my wife I can now die a happy man because I've seen the greatest night in track and field and all of it in person.
It wasn't Michael's 200 that night... it was the 400. I only went one night (after watching 1500 prelims that am), and it was the 10, the LJ, and 400. I distinctly remember the lightbulb flashes following Johnson and hos gold shoes around the stadium en masse. The 200 was a different night. Still freakin' cool - my greatest track night ever too.
I was on the edge of my seat at the 17-minute mark. You could tell they were flying. Some of the best runners of all time were hurting with thousands of meters to go. Great, great race. Great win for Cheptegei. Aregawi gets another medal. Super proud of Fisher. Devastated for Kejelcha.
This race was amazing because it had it all for all 25 laps.
Right from the start they were on Olympic record pace and it was just relentless. Immediately everyone knew the Ethiopians were not messing around. Yet, so many guys hanging on in contention. 13:23 at 5k -- unbelievable in a championship race. Still a huge pack. Guys start dropping. Still a ton of guys in it.
So many lead changes, pace changes. Kejelcha would take over and put 3 meters on the field all of a sudden. He'd move out and drop back. Barega and Aregawi would drop back to 5th, 6th, then come up and lead again.
Despite the pace, every single one of the top contenders were in it with a lap to go. All of them had a chance to win until the very end.
Cheptegai so far back for the whole first 8k, almost falling off the pack. Not much racing this year. You had to wonder if he could even hang. Then all the sudden he was in it, then backed off again. Then took the lead with 500 left. Incredible.
The final straight. Fisher, Ahmed, Aregawi out of the back.
This. This was a great race among the whole field.
Anyone have a stat for the number of lead changes and how many runners had the lead at some point?
I watched all those either live or as close as possible and I have to agree that this 10000 was as impressive as it gets. A stretched pack of 12 with 1000 m to go? 1-6 run 2:26 for their final 1000, 1-6 inside of 1 second? A very impressive championship race
This. This was a great race among the whole field.
Anyone have a stat for the number of lead changes and how many runners had the lead at some point?
I watched all those either live or as close as possible and I have to agree that this 10000 was as impressive as it gets. A stretched pack of 12 with 1000 m to go? 1-6 run 2:26 for their final 1000, 1-6 inside of 1 second? A very impressive championship race
There was massive stupidity in this race. A smart racer could have hung on to the pack and sprinted away to victory the last 600.
This race was amazing because it had it all for all 25 laps.
Right from the start they were on Olympic record pace and it was just relentless. Immediately everyone knew the Ethiopians were not messing around. Yet, so many guys hanging on in contention. 13:23 at 5k -- unbelievable in a championship race. Still a huge pack. Guys start dropping. Still a ton of guys in it.
So many lead changes, pace changes. Kejelcha would take over and put 3 meters on the field all of a sudden. He'd move out and drop back. Barega and Aregawi would drop back to 5th, 6th, then come up and lead again.
Despite the pace, every single one of the top contenders were in it with a lap to go. All of them had a chance to win until the very end.
Cheptegai so far back for the whole first 8k, almost falling off the pack. Not much racing this year. You had to wonder if he could even hang. Then all the sudden he was in it, then backed off again. Then took the lead with 500 left. Incredible.
The final straight. Fisher, Ahmed, Aregawi out of the back.
Wow.
A smart racer could have started out dead last and gradually moved up and blown them all away the last 600.
Of note, while the Haile vs Tergat or whomever were exciting, this is the first race where the top 12 were within possible striking distance at even 8800 meters. We couldn't be sure if it would be Cheptegei or Aregawi or Kejelcha or Fisher or any permutation of Ethiopian, French, Kenyan, American or Canadian (Mo Ahmed) athletes...Heck even Nico Young, an NAU senior, finished 12th.
Aregawi had a kick that was unprecedented, going from 10th to Silver in the stretch.
I don't know if we'll see a race like this ever again.
I love a definite battle but this was a battle of 12.
Yeah, it's the best race I've seen. Absolutely.
This was a very convincing post for me. Well done!
THANK YOU. Yeah, I realize it was 50+ years ago, but holy crap. Coming out of the heats (where the WR nearly went), competition throughout, and a WR finish. Unbelievable.
There've been other GREAT race, but that's the one for me. (Oh, yeah: Shorter "only" set an AR in the heats, broke it in the final three days later, and "only" finished fifth. Then he did a 26M long run some days later.)
Wow, forgot about this race. To fall, get up and still win setting a record when there were heets. This might be the greatest ever. My American and recency bias mentioned yesterday and 64 but this was an amazing performance by the top runners.
Damn, you're right. The race was brilliantly covered in a chapter of Ron Clarke's "The Lonely Breed." And Sports Illustrated took a whole page to detail the race, lap by lap. (Yeah, SI used to consider t&f a newsworthy sport--so did a lot of the American public.) Kuts was determined to do the hardest thing he could think of--sub-30sec 200s, in a 28:45 race?--and Pirie hung with him, until he couldn't. Nice video of Kuts's 5&10 double here. Sorry that it was recorded with a potato:
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