Disappointing is putting it mildly! For running fans it's extremely frustrating especially given last years champs with Hocker and Kerr showing up! Unless they are injured? It's very poor they didn't show up! It's not an Olympic year and world champs Tokyo are at the end of the season this year, but I imagine sponsors want them to compete at these events as well as fan and supporters from their respective countries!
No matter who shows up, there really isn’t much to win. Beamish’s win last year is the answer to a trivia question compared to Hocker winning in Paris. If Ingebrigtsen gets upset in one of his world indoor races this year, it will not change my expectations for him outdoors.
Nothing that anyone wins in T&F for the next three years will compare to winning a gold medal in the Olympics.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen didn't stop to talk for long after his 1500 prelim (he said he will talk longer after the 1500 and 3000 finals). Asked him whether he was disappointed his rivals from the Olympic 1500 in Paris weren't running World Indoors.
Lol, pulled the Constanza. I'd be more annoyed by everyone skipping this meet if it wasn't so logical for them to do it. Even taking GST out of the equation, the meet's in China in late-March. I get growing the sport, but Indoors is a huge scene in the US/Europe so the meets should descend upon there. Cross Country is a big deal in Kenya, so I think having championships there is great. Road racing/Ekiden is huge in Japan, let's put the World Road Champs there...Yes you can occasionally deviate, but play to your strengths and you'll get more of the big names.
that said, it isn't that big a deal to fly over for a one off, there needs to be more incentive, the athletes obviously don't see enough reward. sponsors can motivate with rewards, like a world champs medal, is one hundred thousand?, or prize money that pays the bills,
that would do it, cash to pay the bills.
once everybody shows up, then it becomes a competitive thing that people put on the calendar
He should concentrate on 1500m/Mile Wr and Tokyo Wc doble. He is losing training traveling to China. And China is in the east. Jet leg symptoms are bigger. More training losses. Ingy needs a trainer with authority who guides him a little. A weekend with mile/3000m race and a halfmarathon after 1500m season are stupid decicions. And know racing in China in middle of the season preparation.
For those of you who didn't see it live, Jakob waited until late. He walked off the line and was running in 6th coming off the 3rd to last turn with 250m to go. He then accelerated and was quickly in first before the final 100m.
I guarantee you this is all practice for Tokyo. What we saw at Euros, what we will see here in the final - I would be shocked if we see him pushing the pace in the opening 500m of the final this time because I genuinely believe he has figured that the 600m stretch starting from 900 to go is where he needs to really turn the screws.
And I think what we are seeing here is him just building confidence in that strategy, I'm going to be specifically looking at this stretch in the final tomorrow to see what he does.
There are 22 countries represented in the Grand Slam Track. Athletes are coming from farther than Norway to face the best competition. Unlike Jakob, they aren’t afraid.
Yeah and unlike Jakob, those athletes make no money so it's worth their while to fly to the US in April and try and score 20-30k in prize money.
Jakob:
1) Doesn't need Grand Slam Track money
2) Doesn't need to be spend a considerable amount of time away from training in some of the most crucial months of the year*
3) Can practice his "racing" and race strategy (and let's see how hard the racing really is in GST) in the European and World Championships where something is actually on the line and will be part of history and his legacy
* - put an asterisk to this because I was told something very interesting recently by a sports marketing guy from a large brand. We were talking about the time commitment for Grand Slam Track and I said to him "yeah 5 days is a substantial disruption that time of year" because I figured it was a day to travel to the meet, your first event, rest day, second event, travel home. He said that the athletes have been asked to arrive two days prior to the start of the meet so they have a full day (Thursday) for media/"content" etc etc. If that is true then some athletes could be there six days per meet - specifically the 3000m/5000m groups that race Friday and Sunday and the same would be if you racing Saturday and Sunday (like the 8/15 athletes are in Kingston). I can imagine (know) quite a few coaches aren't exactly stoked about this, and if you are a "racer" this is supposed to happen 4 times over the next 2.5 months.
So you want to know why there are next to none European based athletes as "racers"? - use your brain and take the above into consideration. Jakob is just smart that's all.
This post was edited 16 seconds after it was posted.
Lol, pulled the Constanza. I'd be more annoyed by everyone skipping this meet if it wasn't so logical for them to do it. Even taking GST out of the equation, the meet's in China in late-March. I get growing the sport, but Indoors is a huge scene in the US/Europe so the meets should descend upon there. Cross Country is a big deal in Kenya, so I think having championships there is great. Road racing/Ekiden is huge in Japan, let's put the World Road Champs there...Yes you can occasionally deviate, but play to your strengths and you'll get more of the big names.
Yeah I agree with you - we have seen this logic applied in many sports with respect to their major events - "let's go to nations where the sport isn't that popular and it will jumpstart participation and interest there" - and what usually happens? The events are received with a lukewarm reception, they end up having to give tickets away and it really does absolutely nothing long term.
The IAAF/WA have been trying forever to really jumpstart track in Asia (because this is where there is tons of untapped money), but it hasn't worked. Osaka World Champs sucked. So did Daegu. Doha they had the entire top section of the stadium tarp'ed off.
Indoor is so hot in US right now - world indoors should be held in the US and Europe on a 2 for 1 basis - 2 WICs here, 1 in Europe. The best track meet the US has held in the last decade? World Indoors in Portland which was sold out to the rafters and the atmosphere was insane (Ryan Hill in the 3000m and Centro in the 1500m that year nearly bought the convention center down). World Champs? Outdoors is still the domain of Europe - outdoors for some reason doesn't resonate as much in the US - don't have it here. Until the sport really starts gain global footing the WC's needs to be in Europe. London in 2017 was awesome. Doha as mentioned, terrible. Eugene, average. Budapest back to incredible. Tokyo I feel will be a free-ticket bonzana in a great stadium, but not something the crowd will really be into.
Back to your point - World Indoors should be in the US right now. No question.
People saying that Jakob’s competition is dodging is disingenuous.
His main 3 competitors have all been signed to Grand Slam Track which offers significant rewards for doing well and has tougher competition than even World Indoors (will only be matched at outdoor champs or Pre).
Those races will put a significant toll on their body which will be a disadvantage come outdoor champs. Adding world indoors would just accentuate that.
You could also argue that Jakob has been dodging competition in the US by doing his solo efforts in Europe. He’s also most likely going to dodge each GST meet meaning there’s no good argument supporting him not being a dodger.
This lack of practice against stronger competition will cause him to lose once again at the 1500 champs.
This lack of practice against stronger competition will cause him to lose once again at the 1500 champs.
I think you are missing one important nuance here.
The only way Ingebrigtsen wins a 1500m at a global championships is if he executes the race in the way that only he can, and the others can't. Obviously we all know what that is - we've watched him long enough dominate on the circuit running a certain way and struggle in championships races when it goes another way.
So really, "practice" for him is not about running against other guys. He doesn't need to be in GST races no matter who is in them, because 3.34-3.37 races (I'm just guessing what the Grand Slam races might be) are completely useless to him. If he is going to be win Tokyo it will be a question of if he can get it right (because he didn't in Eugene, Budapest and Paris) and that's a competition vs himself more than Hocker, Kerr, Nuguse.
His disappointments over the last 3 global champs have absolutely nothing to do with lack of practice vs stronger competition - I mean he's been out there the most of anyone in the last 4 years in the Diamond League when there was no Grand Slam and it didn't help him come championship final time did it? Your logic breaks down here sorry.
People saying that Jakob’s competition is dodging is disingenuous.
His main 3 competitors have all been signed to Grand Slam Track which offers significant rewards for doing well and has tougher competition than even World Indoors (will only be matched at outdoor champs or Pre).
Those races will put a significant toll on their body which will be a disadvantage come outdoor champs. Adding world indoors would just accentuate that.
You could also argue that Jakob has been dodging competition in the US by doing his solo efforts in Europe. He’s also most likely going to dodge each GST meet meaning there’s no good argument supporting him not being a dodger.
This lack of practice against stronger competition will cause him to lose once again at the 1500 champs.
agree with your first three paragraphs. Disagree with the last 2.
Exactly, if we’re talking about Hocker, Neguse and Kerr, those guys showed in Paris that they’re a level above Jakob. I hope Jakob will improve this year so that he can join their ranks, but for now he’s a level below them.
Most fans have said for years that they don’t care about world indoors. Why should runners travel all the way to China for an event that most fans don’t care about?
Fans don't care about Indoor Worlds because the best rarely all show up and go head-to-head. Jakob, like many of us, would like to see that change, evidently.
Freediverunner wrote: He should concentrate on 1500m/Mile Wr and Tokyo Wc doble. He is losing training traveling to China. And China is in the east. Jet leg symptoms are bigger. More training losses. Ingy needs a trainer with authority who guides him a little. A weekend with mile/3000m race and a halfmarathon after 1500m season are stupid decicions. And know racing in China in middle of the season preparation.
It's bad for Jakob. It's good for fans. He does it anyway. Going to the front of the Olympic 1500m on WR pace is bad for Jakob. It's good for fans. He does it anyway. Racing a ton is arguably bad for Jakob. It's good for fans. He does it anyway. Are you noticing a pattern here?
I find it very unlikely that Olympic champs, Worlds champs and former WR holders like Kerr, Hocker and the Goose wouldn't have travel and expenses paid for, either by the event or their sponsors. They don't show up to races like these because they simply think the new GST is more important than a world championship.
Guys like Kerr even thinks the European championships is beneath him as a runner.
I find it very unlikely that Olympic champs, Worlds champs and former WR holders like Kerr, Hocker and the Goose wouldn't have travel and expenses paid for, either by the event or their sponsors. They don't show up to races like these because they simply think the new GST is more important than a world championship.
Guys like Kerr even thinks the European championships is beneath him as a runner.
Easy to get to if you're European. Kerr is basically an American now. Kind of a pia to get there. Dont blame him for thinking juice isn't worth the squeeze.
For those of you who didn't see it live, Jakob waited until late. He walked off the line and was running in 6th coming off the 3rd to last turn with 250m to go. He then accelerated and was quickly in first before the final 100m.
I guarantee you this is all practice for Tokyo. What we saw at Euros, what we will see here in the final - I would be shocked if we see him pushing the pace in the opening 500m of the final this time because I genuinely believe he has figured that the 600m stretch starting from 900 to go is where he needs to really turn the screws.
And I think what we are seeing here is him just building confidence in that strategy, I'm going to be specifically looking at this stretch in the final tomorrow to see what he does.
It’s very likely he’ll win this race easily so I don’t see it making it making any difference in Tokyo. Winning a race from 700-800m out, will be far more difficult to accomplish in Tokyo that at world indoor.
I find it very unlikely that Olympic champs, Worlds champs and former WR holders like Kerr, Hocker and the Goose wouldn't have travel and expenses paid for, either by the event or their sponsors. They don't show up to races like these because they simply think the new GST is more important than a world championship.
Guys like Kerr even thinks the European championships is beneath him as a runner.
Easy to get to if you're European. Kerr is basically an American now. Kind of a pia to get there. Dont blame him for thinking juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Kerr has never competed in the Euros at the senior level, and when he's asked about it he says it wouldn't mean anything for him to win it. Plenty of other US based athletes who manage to carve out the time in their schedule to do it, Kerr basically being American is why he doesn't think the Euros are worth anything.
Hell, look at Wilma Nielsen, a Swedish runner who's competing for Oregon. She managed to compete in the indoor Euros, then go back to the US to win the NCAA mile, and now she's at the indoor Worlds, all in a span of like two weeks.
I find it very unlikely that Olympic champs, Worlds champs and former WR holders like Kerr, Hocker and the Goose wouldn't have travel and expenses paid for, either by the event or their sponsors. They don't show up to races like these because they simply think the new GST is more important than a world championship.
Guys like Kerr even thinks the European championships is beneath him as a runner.
Easy to get to if you're European. Kerr is basically an American now. Kind of a pia to get there. Dont blame him for thinking juice isn't worth the squeeze.
Easy to get to? Can you use your brain for a second here? Kerr lives close to the west coast. The flight is straightforward from there to China (hint: There is a whole ocean). It is not any more harder to get to than Europeans from Norway. Maybe a little more time.
I find it very unlikely that Olympic champs, Worlds champs and former WR holders like Kerr, Hocker and the Goose wouldn't have travel and expenses paid for, either by the event or their sponsors. They don't show up to races like these because they simply think the new GST is more important than a world championship.
Guys like Kerr even thinks the European championships is beneath him as a runner.
GST is just a track league, nobody will remember or care really. It’s the same argument you guys use to discredit Jakob and his many diamond league wins. The World Indoor Championships is a prestigious meet with history, maybe not to the extend of the Olympics, but basically the same as the WC.
