Is Justyn Knight done?

At 18 or 19 you're still getting stronger naturally. At age 25 you're only making those gains if you're training. And even for those 18 or 19 year olds, it takes them a year or two to get back to an elite level. That first year they're just trying to get back to what they did in high school. So ya, Knight not training at the age of 24 and burning a couple years in his prime was not a good move for himself if he wants to run world class 5k times.

yep. peak TRACK age is seldom overlooked

rupp

ritz

solinsky

teg

jager

centro

....

id argue its 25-26 compared to 23. yes there are outlier (who knows fisher could be one)

the list i added all had their peak time on the track at 25-26

this is the average, they go below and above like wheating and willis

Check your memory and facts. He didn't stop 'for a period in that range' ... he just stopped.

He doesn't have a result on the books at an age older than 25 years: his Olympic races in August 2021.

He ran a brace of PRs early in 2021, at 24, ran an impressive 7th in the Tokyo Olympics that summer just after turning 25, and has never registered a result after that. (At least not any recorded by World Athletics.)

He definitely raced at 23 in 2020, and he ran his lifetime 1500, 3000 and 5000 PRs at 24 in 2021. Then he stopped.

At only 28 and with supreme talent, maybe he has more in store. Hard to know!

I just googled him, but I didn't find any information.

Two athletes 4-5 years out from their PBs... the hunger must be real!

Karissa was actually almost back to her only 1500 and 5000 times last year, so good things could be ahead for Justyn.

As I Canadian, I think this is a fair point.

It is kind of like the Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs, who won the 100 in Tokyo 2021.

Since then he has taken some European golds and surely benefits from being a big fish in a small pond of Italian/European sprinters.

It's kind of the same story for Canadian distance runners. There are not exactly lineups of new guys kicking down the door.

yes.

I still dream about his epic NCAA XC win in 2017. It is like literally he was a flash in the pan. Then we had king Ches, but then at least he made a big comeback to run 2:05 recently. Maybe Justin Knight will surprise us by running Boston next year or something

run

Levins resurfaced after a few years off; hopefully Knight will too. Talent doesn’t disappear and hopefully the big fish/small pond reality in Canadian Athletics gives him the lifeline for one more campaign back to the top. Super shoes certainly will help a bit more in his case

this is a sad reality of the sport, there are very few who are talented enough that they don't have to take big gambles in training or lifestyle to be medal contenders. whether it's eating disorders or 200 mile weeks, you see these gambles come at the sacrifice of long term consistency and its a trade off same are willing to make.

Admittedly knight ramped up his volume and intensity in 2021 and it lead to a pretty bad injury that was poorly managed. he is among the very few who had world class talent.

the examples of prolonged consistency at the international level are few and far between, I can't think of too many.

Two runners that I've been really wondering what happened to are:

Justyn Knight

Jake Heyward

Any info on them?

Knight ran on a torn achilles at the 2021 Olympics, he's had a lot of issues and complications from doing that which is why he's not been competing etc. He posted about it on instagram in June.

Heyward has an achilles injury as well I think. A quick google lead me to some articles where he talks about having recurring achilles issues as a junior athlete. I can't remember where I heard it but I remember hearing he had a serious achilles issue again.

Good point!

Talent doesn't leave, and if Cheserek can come back at 30 then I want to think Knight can at 28.

A throwback while waiting a great comeback

The Brazier comp is a great shout, my hope is that as a 5k guy the demands on Knight's body are somewhat less dramatic and he'll get out of the injury spiral.

The 800 is so brutal with the combination of pure sprint speed AND training volume you need for the event. It can break you in ways the more aerobic based events don't, and sometimes you're just never the same.

Knight will be on the Canadian 10K team in LA

Could be Mo, Justyn and maybe Flanagan? Ben needs to move up - doesn’t have the wheels for the 5k. Given his success on the roads, I’d love to see him have a crack at the marathon soon. He’s got the right build.

Criminal that there aren’t more Canadians knocking on the door across the distance events. The current marathon team will be old enough to be in a retirement home by LA.