I always wondered about El G. performances in the 800m beside what we heard of his doing in the training.
British posters can wonder how Steve Cram would have done racing 800m in Olympics or World Championships. At least Cram raced 800m in regional meets like European Championships &/or Common Wealth Games. el G. would have been no better than J.I. at 800m. It is 100% b.s. for posters on this site to speculate that el G. was a secret sub-1:44 800m man.
* If el G. had sub-1:44 800m in him el G. would have raced 800m in Mediterranean Games;
* If el G. had sub-1:44 800m in him, he would have raced 800m in African Games;
* If el G. had sub-1:44 800m in him, he would have raced 800m at African Championships;
* If el G. had sub-1:44 800m in him, he would not have raced scared. He always had to be in the lead pushing the pace with either 1200m to go or 600m to go in 1500m races. That is fear of being outkicked by (1:42.xx to 1:45.xx) 800m men.
El G in 2004 with a season best of 3:27:64 and had already switched over completely to 1500m/5000m at the time, can still go 1:46:70 for the last 800m in Athens final from the front, taking the lead with 800m to go). He's at least in 1:44 shape in that race, despite his racing distance leaning towards the longer distance. In 1998 with a season best of 3:26:00 and not focusing on the 5000m he can go 1:43 for sure, but why would he when he's in the shape of his life and is able to run under 3:30 in every race he enters
take your pic. I will go with El G on this one. Rudisha would take it through in like 1:45, but fall hard. Now at 1000m, Rudisha would likely take it out in 1:43 and cruise in as Hicham dies with 200 to go.
I think everyone is talking about circa 2012 Rudisha, not 2017 on his downslide. Can't post a video of him losing a 1000m after his peak and LOL at that.
Rudisha 2012 vs El G 1999 or so at 1000 meters would be incredible, 1200 meters would go to El G for sure.
Have any of you ever competed in a race at a high level? David Rudisha has run 1:40.91 and he did that from the front. The man is not going to lead against Hicham El Guerrouj. So, let's say Hicham takes them through 800m in 1:48. Remember, Hicham is used to having rabbits in his record performances. Are there rabbits here? If not, then Hicham IS the rabbit, and David is going to come through 800m in 1:48 and although he is going to be a bit tired, he is going to be far from zapped. Remember, Rudisha is going to be the hunter, and he is following Hicham. Hicham, having served as the rabbit this time, is not going to be running a race commensurate with his records, because he does not have rabbits. Now is when things get interesting. It is true that Rudisha is a bit of an unknown beyond 800m. However, everybody agrees that he can come through 1000m in 2:15 and not be entirely zapped. Hicham is sort of in the same boat, except he is the rabbit. Now Hicham is probably slightly closer to his max at 1000m at 2:15 than David is, but of course Hicham has more staying power, and he is going to need it because he is doing the work and a man who ran under 1:41 without a rabbit now has one and this is why Rudisha has at least a 50/50 chance in this race, and to dismiss him as the loser here is to manifest a complete and utter lack of understanding regarding racing dynamics and tactics.
Brilliant analysis. This guy could have come through in 1:48 still full of running.
Kenya's David Rudisha was already the 800m world record holder going into the London Olympics, before taking on a stacked field and lowering the record again...
take your pic. I will go with El G on this one. Rudisha would take it through in like 1:45, but fall hard. Now at 1000m, Rudisha would likely take it out in 1:43 and cruise in as Hicham dies with 200 to go.
Rudisha in his final year of competition was so far off his 2010-2012 form as to render this evidence practically meaningless. In 2010-2012 he was lighter, faster, more consistent, more inspired. Don’t give me the man who ran a 1:44.90 SB (2,412th best performance all-time), give me the man who ran the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 19th fastest 800s in history from 2009-2012, and I’ll bet he runs a good 1000.