7:17 and 3:26 trump anything anyone else did this year, including Hocker's gold at the Olympics.
You let your infatuation with Jakob cloud your judgment. Nobody matched Kerr’s greatness this year across the entire middle distance spectrum from 800 to 2 miles. He was a professional race winner this year at 800, mile, 3000, and 2 miles. What other man can say that?
Josh Kerr this year ran 1:45.94, 3:27.79, 3:45.34, and 8:00.64. Nobody else matched him this year from 800 to 2 miles. Wanyonyi and Kessler ran faster in the 800 but Kerr ran faster than them in 1500, mile, and 2 miles. Hocker ran faster in the 800 and 1500 but Kerr ran faster in the mile and destroyed Hocker at 2 miles. Jakob ran faster at 1500 and 3000 but didn’t do anything in the 800, ran slower in the mile, and didn’t do anything at 2 miles. Nuguse was slower in every middle distance event. Kerr had the best year in the middle distances.
By that line of reasoning (which doesn’t seem to account for performance in global championships) Jakob would be 2023’s undisputed middle distance runner of the year.
You let your infatuation with Jakob cloud your judgment. Nobody matched Kerr’s greatness this year across the entire middle distance spectrum from 800 to 2 miles. He was a professional race winner this year at 800, mile, 3000, and 2 miles. What other man can say that?
Josh Kerr this year ran 1:45.94, 3:27.79, 3:45.34, and 8:00.64. Nobody else matched him this year from 800 to 2 miles. Wanyonyi and Kessler ran faster in the 800 but Kerr ran faster than them in 1500, mile, and 2 miles. Hocker ran faster in the 800 and 1500 but Kerr ran faster in the mile and destroyed Hocker at 2 miles. Jakob ran faster at 1500 and 3000 but didn’t do anything in the 800, ran slower in the mile, and didn’t do anything at 2 miles. Nuguse was slower in every middle distance event. Kerr had the best year in the middle distances.
By that line of reasoning (which doesn’t seem to account for performance in global championships) Jakob would be 2023’s undisputed middle distance runner of the year.
I was just providing supplemental info to my first post. I covered global championship performance and more in my first post. Kerr won global championship medals indoors and outdoors, broke records indoors and outdoors and on the road, ran fast from 800 to 2 miles, and had big wins indoors, outdoors, and on the road. He had a complete year.
By that line of reasoning (which doesn’t seem to account for performance in global championships) Jakob would be 2023’s undisputed middle distance runner of the year.
I was just providing supplemental info to my first post. I covered global championship performance and more in my first post. Kerr won global championship medals indoors and outdoors, broke records indoors and outdoors and on the road, ran fast from 800 to 2 miles, and had big wins indoors, outdoors, and on the road. He had a complete year.
It almost sounds like you’re describing Cole Hocker‘s season (not quite, but very close). Obviously, the way Cole so thoroughly bossed Josh in the Olympic final gives Cole the nod. If you need further convincing, ask whether Josh would trade his season for Cole’s - of course he would.
I was just providing supplemental info to my first post. I covered global championship performance and more in my first post. Kerr won global championship medals indoors and outdoors, broke records indoors and outdoors and on the road, ran fast from 800 to 2 miles, and had big wins indoors, outdoors, and on the road. He had a complete year.
It almost sounds like you’re describing Cole Hocker‘s season (not quite, but very close). Obviously, the way Cole so thoroughly bossed Josh in the Olympic final gives Cole the nod. If you need further convincing, ask whether Josh would trade his season for Cole’s - of course he would.
Excuse me? Hocker didn’t break any world records this year like Kerr. Hocker didn’t break any indoor records this year like Kerr. Hocker didn’t do anything on the road like Kerr.
Bossing? Hocker beat Kerr by 0.14 sec at the Olympics. That’s not bossing. Bossing is Kerr beating Hocker by 5 seconds at Millrose and 3 seconds at Pre.
Excuse me? Hocker didn’t break any world records this year like Kerr. Hocker didn’t break any indoor records this year like Kerr. Hocker didn’t do anything on the road like Kerr.
Bossing? Hocker beat Kerr by 0.14 sec at the Olympics. That’s not bossing. Bossing is Kerr beating Hocker by 5 seconds at Millrose and 3 seconds at Pre.
Kerr didn’t break any world records. He set a worldbest in the indoor 2 miles (six seconds slower than the outdoor 2 mile world best).
The 2 mile is a World Best, not a World Record - Josh Kerr has never set a single world record, much less records plural. And bossing isn't about the time margin, but the way Kerr “ran out of gas” (his words, not mine) down the home stretch as Cole kicked by him. His body language told the story.
The 2 mile is a World Best, not a World Record - Josh Kerr has never set a single world record, much less records plural. And bossing isn't about the time margin, but the way Kerr “ran out of gas” (his words, not mine) down the home stretch as Cole kicked by him. His body language told the story.
“World best” vs “world record” = insignificant semantics.
What’s more dominant, winning by 0.14 sec or winning by 5 seconds in one race and 3 seconds in another race?
I think Kerr is a better runner, meaning in a 1500m/mile race, Kerr would beat Hocker 6-7 out of 10 times, and he would steamroll Hocker in anything longer than a mile, BUT an Olympic gold still trumps everything Kerr has done so far in his entire career. So there's no way he's the middle distance runner of the year. You can argue Wanyonyi is a more worthy recipient, but not Kerr, sorry.
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Kerr’s got a case that you make effectively and succinctly, OP. But certainly if the 5th Ave. mile impacts the decision so much, the Brussels DL final has the potential to as well.
Not just the 1500 crew, but if Wanyonyi or Arop break the 800 WR that goes a LONG way.
And counting 3k/2-mile, which is “mid-distance” IMO, 7:17.55 does a lot of work as well.
I don’t think anything that happens in Brussels can knock Kerr off his perch. Nobody can match his total greatness this year at indoor track, outdoor track, and road racing. His resume is complete.
Remember he also has the world’s fastest time in the mile this year on the track.
OP, first of all, there were only a few real miles this year, so "fastest mile" is not much to brag about.
It really comes down to the 1500, of course. And lets remember, Jakob ran a 3:26.xx this year. When someone else does that, let me know. Also, Jakob also has more sub-3:30s this year than anyone else.
But if we are being fair, nobody really dominated the season, so we just have to accept that we have more than one guy at the top of event: Jakob, Kerr, Hocker, and Nuguse. They are four horsemen of the 1500m event!
In the 800m, Wanyonyi is the boss with Arop close behind. If they keep putting up 1:41s, we might have to accept their running is more impressive than anything we see in the 1500 (baring a world record or more 3:26s).
Right now, Jakob's 7:17 is the only thing we'll still be talking about in 20 years. That should make it obvious that that is the performance of 2024. That was the MVP run this year.
Wanyonyi should be the men’s middle distance athlete of 2024. Olympic gold and 4x 1:41.
Kerr was not even the best 1500m runner this year.
Wanyonyi also won that road mile and set a “world record” at the time. That should also help an argument for him.
Hobbs has had a pretty remarkable year as an 800-1500m runner. Grand Slam track is going to enable some pretty fun conversations over “middle distance athlete of the year” in the future. I wonder if they even tried to court Jakob? I’d love to see him run some 800s this year. I could only imagine the current set up of Grand Slam would further encourage him to move up in distance though.
I don’t think anything that happens in Brussels can knock Kerr off his perch. Nobody can match his total greatness this year at indoor track, outdoor track, and road racing. His resume is complete.
Remember he also has the world’s fastest time in the mile this year on the track.
OP, first of all, there were only a few real miles this year, so "fastest mile" is not much to brag about.
It really comes down to the 1500, of course. And lets remember, Jakob ran a 3:26.xx this year. When someone else does that, let me know. Also, Jakob also has more sub-3:30s this year than anyone else.
But if we are being fair, nobody really dominated the season, so we just have to accept that we have more than one guy at the top of event: Jakob, Kerr, Hocker, and Nuguse. They are four horsemen of the 1500m event!
In the 800m, Wanyonyi is the boss with Arop close behind. If they keep putting up 1:41s, we might have to accept their running is more impressive than anything we see in the 1500 (baring a world record or more 3:26s).
Right now, Jakob's 7:17 is the only thing we'll still be talking about in 20 years. That should make it obvious that that is the performance of 2024. That was the MVP run this year.
I mean, I’d bet money that Hocker winning Olympic Gold will still be discussed in 20 years.
I think Kerr is a better runner, meaning in a 1500m/mile race, Kerr would beat Hocker 6-7 out of 10 times, and he would steamroll Hocker in anything longer than a mile, BUT an Olympic gold still trumps everything Kerr has done so far in his entire career. So there's no way he's the middle distance runner of the year. You can argue Wanyonyi is a more worthy recipient, but not Kerr, sorry.
You could argue Hocker had the single best PERFORMANCE of 2024 but no way did he have the best YEAR. Hocker only finished 7th at Pre, lost to Kerr by 3 seconds at Pre, lost to Kerr by 5 seconds at Millrose, and got beat by Geordie Beamish of all people at the world indoor championships. Sorry, he is not worthy of the middle distance runner of the YEAR award.