McRunnin wrote:
The 4x400 relay legs run by Femke Bol and Shamier Little at these Olympics really destroy the notion that Sydney is beating up on lesser talents in the hurdles. Little didn’t make our hurdles team, but there she was whooping Klaver in the women’s 4x4.
Klaver is not Paulino or Naser.
Little is clearly worse than Alexis Holmes, who got 6th in the 400m finals. You just underscore my point
Neither Paulino nor Naser are Sydney. If they want to face the best, why don’t they face Sydney in the hurdles?
What’s more challenging physically: running a 400 without barriers or running a 400 with barriers?
Do we know what her plan is for the rest of the season? Will she run a competitive flat 400?
everyone is doping wrote:
Yes absolutely. It's a tier 3 event. She could have tried to throw down a truly world class 400 open time. Or 200.
No one runs the 400m hurdles. Flojo didn't, the east Germans didn't etc.
Historically this event was one by athletes that couldn't hack it in more mainstream events.
SML is the first specialist in this event that has elite talent in this event that started it at a young age.
That said her being coached by the Chemist pretty much has taken the joy out of watching her run.
If Bol is clean my heart bleeds for her because I have never heard of a runner running with Bobby Kersee that doesn't have doping rumors less Felix but she dated busted doper Gay around the time of his bust.
Paris Olympics schedule did not make a 400Hurdle + 400 double feasible. Same for the 200/400. This would explain why both Gabby Thomas and Sydney McHurdler backed off from their interest in the 400. After Tokyo, Bednarek talked about breaking 43.0 in the 400, but he chose to stick with 200 as primary and double with the 100.
Hopefully LA28 makes some schedule changes that can showcase top US talent. 200 and 400H immediately -- then 100 and 400 later. So potential event doublers can do their thing.
Doublly Bubbly wrote:
Paris Olympics schedule did not make a 400Hurdle + 400 double feasible.
What are you talking about? 400h were Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday, 400 was Monday-Wednesday-Friday. If Sifan Hassan could do two rounds of the 5,000, the 10,000, and then come back 36 hours later and win the marathon on a brutal course, surely Sydney could handle the 400h and 400. Especially since the first two rounds are essentially a jog for her.
Imagine if Hassan only did the steeplechase, and only ran it three times a year.
The 400m Hurdles is indeed a niche event.
Just a reminder that Irina Privalova, one of the best short sprinters (60m-200m) of the early 1990s, won Gold in Sydney after running the event for the first time earlier that year.
Wikipedia wrote:
In 2000, Privalova switched to the 400 m hurdles as her main event targeting the 2000 Olympics. This followed a year out of the sport with injury, forcing her to miss the 1999 World Championships.[12]
She worked on the switch with her coach and husband, Vladimir Paraschuk. Paraschuk chose the 400 m hurdles because it was an event that reduced the risk of injury, was within Privalova's capabilities as an existing 400 m runner, and it had at the time a comparative lack of formidable competitors. In addition, she had tried athletics multi-events so had had some experience with hurdling.[13]
She achieved Olympic gold after running only 6 races previous to arriving at the games.
I would assume she'll be recovering and preparing for next year's WC meet.
OlympicContest wrote:
Gabby Thomas and Paulino thank Sydney for not doing the 200/400 double.
dude i think we all know there was a fortuitous sequence of injuries you're leaving out
re "backwater," to the extent you're saying 400 is the fix, go ask around the office who won the women's open quarter this time, or who they thought stood out in the mile relays (gender and mixed). maybe someone remembers bol running down our team?
then go ask around about the short sprints. they will probably remember shecarri and maybe thomas.
you are misidentifying the PR sweetspot, and then missing where it is relative to sydney's athletic sweetspot.
i do think sydney could make an interesting run at richards-ross and the eastern bloc steroid record but i actually see that as more similar at the moment to 400H, where the interest would be more in her dominance and setting records. the event has lost some domestic oomph since felix fell off.
essentially, at least for the 400-distance events, the crowd will follow her where she goes if she is highly successful. which makes this convo circular.
now if she stepped down i think that would pit her and shecarri, and there is going to be some churn in terms of the competition, as the jamaicans are all getting old, hurt, or retired, signs of which we just witnessed in paris or their trials. but is she built to dominate a short sprint the same way?
couple other thoughts, (1) the team picture NCAA 400 finish from arkansas -- or at least the american part of it -- is going to be maturing into roles in the domestic open quarter, which is one reason i think little (their coach) was involved. (2) if anyone at 400H should be moving, it's everyone else, eg, bol, who can run 48-low but is destined for silver if she stays hurdles.
I'm old enough to remember exactly these remarks made about Ed Moses back in the day. Yes, the 400 hurdles is a niche event but it's her event and she is very very good at it. But she's such a talent though, that yes, one can't help wonder what she run if she focused on a flat 400. I always thought Cathy Freeman (for instance) could've run a great 800. Or imagine Ovett in his prime doing the 5k seriously.
As I get older (albeit only 34) I have more respect for the hurdles / field events / steeple.
400h in particular is an awesome race. She has increased it's exposure and that is a good thing.
Just the opposite. Sydney found the perfect event and received a series of major breaks along the way.
Sydney was already long established at 400 hurdles before she had any idea that new shoe technology would change that event more than any other. Her 5-9 height is perfect toward stride length but also not spending too much time in the air. She found a rival in Dalilah Muhammad who forced her to change stride pattern to keep up. And perhaps the greatest break of all was that Dalilah didn't have time to work on 14 steps prior to Tokyo. Dalilah wasn't a 14 type. But she said once they arrived in Tokyo and say how springy the track was, they decided to go for it.
However, Dalilah was unpracticed at 14 and already beyond 30 years old. In Tokyo she only managed to carry 14 for two hurdles, numbers 2 and 3. I don't think there's any question that if Dalilah had managed 14 through hurdle 5, Sydney never pulls out that race. Dalilah took 5 more steps than Sydney yet only lost by .12. Sydney would have entered Paris without an individual gold medal. In other words, she would have been Grant Holloway. Still awesome but not the marquee figure.
She also benefitted from a subsequent rival who is very high profile and well liked, but an overachiever type who is not her athletic equal or a genuine threat to win the head to head matchup.
If Sydney switched to any other event she would not own a fraction of the advantages she carries at 400 hurdles. She would be dependent on a subpar field. That's not impossible at 2028 400 flat. All of the Paris medalists will be beyond their 30th birthday.
Over the top wrote:
Marita Koch was 28 when she set the 400m WR.
If SML had geared her "athletic peak" to the 400 meters, she would have ran 47 low and absolutely everyone would know the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Target the hurdles and there's apparently a shadow of a doubt. But I pity the idiots living in those shadows
Interesting.
I have no interest in her running this event anymore unless it is sub 50. And frankly I would be more impressed with two medals in the 200/400 instead of running sub 50, even if both weren’t gold. Try it in 2025 and 2026. If it doesn’t work out you have 2027 and 2028
Fear of Paulino led SML to avoid running the 400m in Paris. Paulino ran an olympic record 48.17.
Vee Eye Tee wrote:
re "backwater," to the extent you're saying 400 is the fix, go ask around the office who won the women's open quarter this time, or who they thought stood out in the mile relays (gender and mixed). maybe someone remembers bol running down our team?
then go ask around about the short sprints. they will probably remember shecarri and maybe thomas.
you are misidentifying the PR sweetspot, and then missing where it is relative to sydney's athletic sweetspot.
i do think sydney could make an interesting run at richards-ross and the eastern bloc steroid record but i actually see that as more similar at the moment to 400H, where the interest would be more in her dominance and setting records. the event has lost some domestic oomph since felix fell off.
essentially, at least for the 400-distance events, the crowd will follow her where she goes if she is highly successful. which makes this convo circular.
now if she stepped down i think that would pit her and shecarri, and there is going to be some churn in terms of the competition, as the jamaicans are all getting old, hurt, or retired, signs of which we just witnessed in paris or their trials. but is she built to dominate a short sprint the same way?
I tend to agree. 400h is neither a niche event nor a second or third tier event. More like one of the most exciting events on the track.
Everyone, even non track fans recognize the names: Edwin Moses, Sydney Mclaughlin and Karsten Warhom.
However, ask them who Marita Koch or Wade Van Niekerk are and you'll get a blank stare.