If You Were Giving Out Grades at the Pre Classic

I rewatched and they said not once, but twice she was with the lights, yet it seemed not fast enough by ~600 m into the race. So does the F not go to whoever set the pace lights (and told Gear to run with the lights)?

Meet Management: A, is a charity meet, all unpaid volunteers, interns, students, they do a superb job.

Competition: C, the Nike athletes generally don't want to be there but the Nike contract obligates their competing.

Fans: F, no fans, the fans who show up criticize, complain, whine, expect to park in the neighborhood, I hate the attitude.

Facility: F, lines at the urinals. crowded stairs when no fans are in the stadium, stu pid FN design where they have timing, clerks, equipment take up many rows of seats.

The stingy fans didn't support T&F, GST, LAGP. NYGP. Bermuda, Wc22, OT24, and on bit the dust. Athlos is next they say. Flotrack is sinking fast. The revenue for the last decade is flat for all meets in the US. No growth. No fans. No Venture Capitalists Swim, Gym, etc have the same prob. Fans want to pay $5 a seat and expect FREE parking.

Good observation. I didn't catch that. No excuse for erratic moves as a pacer...

And did you see the women's steeple as well? It was a bit different in that race. They were supposed to run with the lights (which they did) but Yavi was feeling great that day and moved up on them.

I honestly don't know what pacers are supposed to do in a scenario like that...

This is the first really bad take of the thread. Do you hear me complaining? It was/is the best single-day meet in the whole world and all my friends and family loved it.

No fans? It was literally packed. The few open seats were mostly from people who were walking the concourse or buying swag/food etc. It was packed and everyone was screaming like crazy for those world records. I had to stand up to see because everyone in front of me was out of their seats cheering.

And the competition? I assume you are joking. Two world records! 16 guys under 3:50 in the mile. Steeple #3 of all time (just barely missed WR). Mondo jumping 6 meters. 10.75 into a headwind in a women's 100m!

1. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA) -- 10.75
2. Julien Alfred (LCA) -- 10.77
3. Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (CIV) -- 10.90

I might even go with a D+ on this one... Kessler's time was good (they all ran fast) but he was super out of it. He was so out of this race that I forgot to mention him in my initial list of grades. He was never involved in the actual race whatsoever. It was a totally forgettable run from him. And I am saying this as a huge Kessler fan.

For a guy who is hoping to level up and move from 5th at the Olympics to the podium at Worlds, getting 10th (and losing to Fisher) is a bad sign.

1. NED - LAROS Niels - 3:45.94 NR
2. USA - NUGUSE Yared - 3:45.95 SB
3. FRA - HABZ Azeddine - 3:46.65 NR
4. USA - HOCKER Cole - 3:47.43 PB
5. KEN - CHERUIYOT Reynold - 3:47.46 PB
6. AUS - MYERS Cameron - 3:47.50
7. KEN - CHERUIYOT Timothy - 3:47.71 PB
8. GBR - WIGHTMAN Jake - 3:47.82 PB
9. USA - FISHER Grant - 3:48.29 PB
10. USA - KESSLER Hobbs - 3:48.32
11. KEN - LAGAT Festus - 3:48.93 PB
12. GBR - GOURLEY Neil - 3:49.41
13. NED - NILLESSEN Stefan - 3:49.53
14. KEN - KIPSANG Abel - 3:50.93 SB
15. AUS - HOARE Oliver - 3:51.60

If you mean the fans who didn't show up, then you are perhaps correct. If you were a NASCAR or NFL fan, I assume you'd drive a couple hours to see an event of this magnitude.

I thought you were referring to the fans in the stadium...

F for the person who set the lights, or maybe for the pack for going by Gear. If they chill for a little more, does Yavi have stronger legs for the finish and get the WR? You don't always get the time by blowing yourself out early.

Anyway, as soon as the pack started to go by her, I looked down for the lights, and Gear was smack on them. No error there.

She is lock for Tokyo as she has a bye for winning worlds in 2023 but agreed she needs big improvement to even get out round 1

True on meet management.

Liar about the rest. You weren't there and you know nothing. You're just mad about not being there. Ever. Glad you aren't.

For Pre: Packed stadium,no tickets as low as $5, I believe $35ish for general admission. Never had to wait in line for bathroom. Free parking everywhere.

You liar. You've never been and shouldn't go. Please stay in the basement.

She has the bye. Might not make the 200 team though

PK spent an enormous amount and they screwed him,all he got a HS stadium. Tinyest attendance. GST Phily was the best meet all year. TX HS football games get more fans.

I've been to Hayward at least a dozen times since the new stadium was built and I don't believe I've ever heard the crowd as loud as they were when Nuguse took the bell. I got chills from the crowd's GOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!! I wanted him to get the win because I think the stadium would have come apart from the noise if he was announced as the winner.

Good post; I especially think Jefferson-Wooden's performance isn't quite getting the love it deserves mainly due to so many other insane performances and perhaps people just looking at the time alone and not accounting for the headwind. If that's 0.0 wind that would have been something very special indeed. And of course field events not getting as much love as running events, is what it is. It was really an astonishing meet!

Would not give Yared an A. He lost a race that he should have won by giving up the rail. Had he not drifted into lane 2, he wins. B or B+ at best.

When Conner referred to his goal marathon pace, he meant it as an indicator that he knew this wasn't his day. It was not his goal to run a 10K at marathon pace. He had cramping issues and said that when he ran a lap at goal marathon pace, he knew he was cooked.

Gear was on the pace lights for a bit but that’s not how the Africans run. It made no sense from the get go. Then she finished the mile alone, she should have paced the second pack. The legends they brought out was a random assortment but nice to see Mutola, a true OG.

What else can we do? We tried it all. T&F fans aren't MLS, WNBA, Banana Baseball fans. You can't force people to watch T&F on TV or show up to the stadium. T&F doesn't appeal to fans anywhere. Europe, Arabs, Chinese only have rent-FREE venues as part of public services, in the old days Feudal Lords traded FREE athletic meets so that townsfolk would not rise up and depose the dictatorships. PK makes Hayward rent-FREE as part of his retirement hobby. Yet PK shells out $Billions for Nike Icon Studios in NY/LA and Nike Virtual Studios in Inglewood CA. Athlos, Sound Running, ATL are on their last legs because cheap, self-centered fans won't pay and won't show up unless itheir kid is entered.