Stunned I'm first to post this - Robby Andrews hasnt declared in 800

This gives you the timeframe of when athletes/coaches must declare their intent to run an event. Deadline for yesterday was the 800 and 10k men and women. USA track and field seem to be doing a good job at updating the list of entrants for all events

USATF site says he is declared for the 1500

They took the full 32 for the 800 and 24 for the 10000 for both the men and women. I'm stunned.

ghjjkuy wrote:

They took the full 32 for the 800 and 24 for the 10000 for both the men and women. I'm stunned.

Awesome.

ghjjkuy wrote:

They took the full 32 for the 800 and 24 for the 10000 for both the men and women. I'm stunned.

Me too. Is it too much to hope that they've finally figured out that empty lanes and truncated fields do nothing to build the sport?

Robby's 3:34 at Occidental probably surprised even him, and in my mind, it's a game changer. Of the people declared in the 1500, only Robby and Russell Brown have run 3:34 this year.

He'd be a fool not to go with his best shot.

You've got to look beyond the Trials, too. Does Robby have a shot at a medal in the 1500? Absolutely. He ran 3:34 in his first serious attempt at the distance. He might well be in 3:31 shape by the time the Olympics come around, and would have better speed than most of the field. Is he a contender in the 800? Probably not. There's much less chance involved in an 800 than there is in a 1500, and his PR is well off the leaders.

I really think that Andrews and Vig are thinking about the Olympics. He has a much better shot at an Olympic medal in the 1500, because the race is likely to be slow and tactical, and Robby has crazy finishing ability along with being pretty fit for the distance (3:34).

This is a really good decision and I wouldn't be surprised if he grabs a medal. Plenty of time left for the 800 if that turns out to be his best event in the future. But somehow I doubt it.

Kid is the future of US mid-distance. Hell, he's the present!

Azaleas wrote:

You've got to look beyond the Trials, too. Does Robby have a shot at a medal in the 1500? Absolutely. He ran 3:34 in his first serious attempt at the distance. He might well be in 3:31 shape by the time the Olympics come around, and would have better speed than most of the field. Is he a contender in the 800? Probably not. There's much less chance involved in an 800 than there is in a 1500, and his PR is well off the leaders.

you are delusional if you think that there is less chance in the 800 than the 1500. the 800 is renown for being a real crap shoot in the olympics with dark horses medaling.

what does "his PR is well off the leaders" actually mean? there's one leader and it's rudisha. what do you think his PR in the 1500 is compared to the leaders? way off.

i think he is crazy to switch events at the last minute and switch events to one with a much deeper and more experienced field. do you honestly think he is going to beat manzano or centro? no way. so that leaves 1 slot for him and a lot of other runners with a lot more experience and faster PRs. i'm thinking wheating, torrence, brown and even our boy aj. the 800 is mr hilton, robinson and then a bunch of newbies with little to no big meet experience and comparable/slower PRs.

Webb was accepted in the 5k. I'm surprised nobody pointed that out yet.

Andrews will win the Trials 1500. He would have been one of ten guys capable of 1:44 in the 800.

Being that he can't possibly do both events, it makes sense he would declare in the event he has the best chance of making the team. There is absolutley no one who stands out out in the 1500, while there are 4 athletes I would rank ahead of him in the 800m (Jock, Symmonds, KD and Solomon).

I would say Andrews has close to a 50% chance of making it in the 1500. Basically, anyone who can kick off of a 3:36 pace has a shot and so far this year there are only 2-3 athletes who have shown they can do that this year.

The 1500m is more tactical than the 800, and therefore more of a crapshoot. It also suits his racing style very well. And yes, I do honestly think Andrews could beat anyone in the field for the 1500.

I don't think he's crazy, I think it's a smart move. Vig isn't an idiot.

I wonder if it's possible that Andrews "moving up" from the 8 to the 15 and Webb "moving up" from the 15 to the 5 was something that they and Vig were looking at this entire season and not a last minute decision.

he probably isn't going to make the team so to think he can beat everyone else in the world is just plain silly. remind me how many 1500s he has run against pros? 1? remind me again how many times he has run rounds of the 1500? 0?

I haven't looked at the schedule this year. Are the 800m qualifying rounds overlapping with the 1500m rounds? If they overlap or are within a couple of days of the 1500m semis and finals, then I think that Vig is making a very smart decision. He know his kid can kick with and beat anyone (remember, Vig used to coach Leo), but does not know if he can do that while vying for spots in two events, running a total of 6 professional races in a relatively short span of time.

Historically the 800 at the Olympics is place where upsets have happened. But this year isn't like other years. This year has Rudisha and Kaki. Both of these guys are medal locks barring injury or a fall in the final.

Meanwhile, even with Kiprop and Kiplagat the 1500 is more open. Centro just showed last year that a 3:34-5 guy with a great kick can medal.

I could have seen Andrews making the team at 800 a la Wheating 2008 or in the 1500 a la Centro last year.

do you mean the same kaki would couldn't get out of the semis in 2008 or are you referring to a different one? i don't know how you possibly can call someone a medal lock when he is 1-for-1 in choking in the olympics.

It's not possible--if that's what was going on, Webb would have tried to get the Olympic "A" standard in the 5000 earlier this year.

oldfatguy wrote:

I wonder if it's possible that Andrews "moving up" from the 8 to the 15 and Webb "moving up" from the 15 to the 5 was something that they and Vig were looking at this entire season and not a last minute decision.