Does Evan Jager just not have the fire?

Precious Roy wrote:

Evan is too long to be able to turnover on the last lap the way Kipruto can. He is also much more of a rhythm runner like Rupp and needs to grind people down before the last lap. Kipruto has always been able to out kick him.

I think Evan should try to move up in distance after 2020. At 29, his kick is not going to get much better. He will easily make the Olympics, but there will always be an E. African who can close better. He is an incredibly smooth and efficient runner. He could be surprisingly good at longer distances.

He probably would rather be top 3 in the world in the steeple than "surprisingly good" in the 5k lol

Heard another coach say verbatim: wrote:

More speed needed?

Run some more races.

Especially under-distance.

Instead, more of the same nonsense thinking about speed comes from strength.

The other best steeplers can’t come close to Jagers flat time or hurdle technique. What’s missing is some straight up toughness speed at the end when tired and that comes only from racing.

Would’ve been a perfect year to address it.

So you only get speed from racing, got it.

DC Wonk wrote:

Jaeger peaked too soon last year and the same this year. He needs to adjust to account for that. The six weeks between running 8:01 and today obviously did nothing for him. He was not able to go fast when it mattered.

You know nobody broke like 8:10 today, right? Who was going fast?

Shoe Maker wrote:

I agree that Jerry's dumb infrequent racing approach has done Evan a disservice in his pursuit of a sub-eight minute clocking.

My coach in college had a similar philosophy. Some guys would go months between races; competition began to feel like a distant memory, and one had no idea where one really stood race-wise.

Yeah. Jerry needs to attend a level 1 coaching clinic or something. Terrible coach.

TomatoTomato wrote:

Jager had to cool it after the Fancy Bears leak. He's never going to go back to the same level.

Yeah 8:01 is NOWHERE NEAR the level of 8:00!

Hey one of those big-nut bowerman babes you're referring to ALSO was outkicked in a high profile race. By another American, no less. I guess Frerichs doesn't have the fire either.

El Keniano wrote:

I’m a big fan of Evan ‘white simba’ Jager myself (yes I am, do a search) and he’s always been my favourite American runner. At the end of the race in Monaco, they showed a glimpse of him looking mighty frustrated and disappointed and I agree sub 8 is now unlikely . For one, I don’t think the sparse racing is a good strategy. But who am I to judge? I’m not his coach.

Hes run 8.01 low or 8.00 3 out of the 4 last year. Sub 8 could very well happen, even in a championship year.

Regarding fire: Well. Its obvious he doesn't have the acceleration that kipruto or bakkali has ( or perhaps they just have significantly lower lactate at the end of the race), but none of these guys are slacking off. Its not like you can will yourself to a monstrous finish when your lactate levels are sky high.

Of course he is faster than all but only a couple men walking the earth, but how can he start winning races? I watch any race other than domestic steeples with Americans only and just feel like he doesnt give himself a chance to win. He sits in back of domestic 1500’s, races every 4 months, has never attacked indoors, and doesn’t have a college career to have honed those sit and kicks, doubling for conference, etc. His race schedule is that of the Diamond League scripted affairs only.

As for tactics, I understand he may be working on his last lap, but maybe he needs to get even better at pushing the last 3 laps steadily at 61’s if he wants to level the sprint finishes?

I am really surprised when they had Huling and Hughes running at their best, they didn’t try to set up a perfect sub-8 attempt if that was going to be his sole focus since 2016.

Much worse than not having the fire... he has the fear.

I've not seen him take a race by the scruff of the neck since he disastrously fell on his face on his way to 7:5x.

I've no doubt 8:00.00 has become a mental barrier. I hope he can break through it before his career is done. Just needs Kipruto to try and break the WR next year.

Precious Roy wrote:

Evan is too long to be able to turnover on the last lap the way Kipruto can. He is also much more of a rhythm runner like Rupp and needs to grind people down before the last lap. Kipruto has always been able to out kick him.

I think Evan should try to move up in distance after 2020. At 29, his kick is not going to get much better. He will easily make the Olympics, but there will always be an E. African who can close better. He is an incredibly smooth and efficient runner. He could be surprisingly good at longer distances.

My thoughts, too. Move up.

I also think he can be a popular "draw" on the road circuit.

Precious Roy wrote:

Evan is too long to be able to turnover on the last lap the way Kipruto can. He is also much more of a rhythm runner like Rupp and needs to grind people down before the last lap. Kipruto has always been able to out kick him.

I think Evan should try to move up in distance after 2020. At 29, his kick is not going to get much better. He will easily make the Olympics, but there will always be an E. African who can close better. He is an incredibly smooth and efficient runner. He could be surprisingly good at longer distances.

My thoughts, too. Move up.

I also think he can be a popular "draw" on the road circuit.

You need a comma after the word "wait" in your second sentence. That's just the beginning of your problems.

running commenter wrote:

TomatoTomato wrote:

Jager had to cool it after the Fancy Bears leak. He's never going to go back to the same level.

Yeah 8:01 is NOWHERE NEAR the level of 8:00!

Takes a while for the doping benefits to disappear. Now he has to restrict himself to microdosing.

less EPO from 2017 on wrote:

running commenter wrote:

Yeah 8:01 is NOWHERE NEAR the level of 8:00!

Takes a while for the doping benefits to disappear. Now he has to restrict himself to microdosing.

It boggles my mind that every year people predict that next year all the times will be slower due to increased testing. Just amazing. If an omnipotent test for blood doping came out then you'd see a marked difference in performances of 1-2% in about 6 weeks, not a year. Why would it take a year for blood to return to natural levels?

Evan Jager ran faster this year than last year, and last year he ran faster than the year before. So explain that. The nonsense is just funny.

Every year is the same. Times remain in the same ballpark, some years being fast years, other years being slow years, due to a number of factors.

Great weather in Europe this year and no major competition has lead to great times, last year everyone was gearing up for London where the weather was shite and so times were slower.

We've had the best year for sprints in a while including hurdles. This is due to weather and competition. Overall we've had one of the best years for athletics at least on the men's side in recent years and far better than last year.

World leading times are as follows, I've included the ALL-TIME ranking in brackets after each:

6.34 (1), 9.87 (25), 19.65 (8), 43.6 (6), 46.9 (2), 1:42.0 (6), 3:28.4 (7), 7:28 (14)

Be prepared for maybe two more WRs in the half and marathon this year. World leads are 58:42 (4) and 2:04.0 (10)

I don't know what athletics everyone else watches but get Eurosport HD and enjoy the diamond league like me. It's been great.

eureka wrote:

I'm a huge fan of Evan but after today's race wonder if he has the killer instinct needed to be the best.

Kipruto ran nearly the entire race with one shoe. Jager was up there looking like he wanted to do well but once they went around him on the final lap just wilted. Sure you can't just will yourself to a victory but if Jager had whatever Kipruto had today I think we'd see a different result.

Kipruto may have a Ferrari engine but he also has something else uptop. He was determined to win the jackpot.

Ship is sailing.

Strength runner who tries to win the same way every time, failing the same way, everytime.

Except when he fell right before finish line while leading. ---Once, but never again.

Mental block.

Too few races.

Slow with no kick, regardless of "training"

Speculation as to PED use on Fancy Bear list where almost half on list have been actually popped. ....More cautious??

29 and getting older.

Best from the U.S., sure, but no fire, no appropriate tactics, all strength & no speed.

....Pony tail drag??

ex-runner wrote:

Much worse than not having the fire... he has the fear.

I've not seen him take a race by the scruff of the neck since he disastrously fell on his face on his way to 7:5x.

I've no doubt 8:00.00 has become a mental barrier. I hope he can break through it before his career is done. Just needs Kipruto to try and break the WR next year.

I don't know why I bother responding to idiots, has-beens and never-weres...

But Jager has medaled in the last global two championships in an event absolutely dominated by Kenyans for more than a generation.

If he never makes Number 1, if his career legacy is a couple of medals and a half dozen seasons under 8:05, that doesn't make him a loser. It just means he was the second of third best in the world on his best days.

Get a life, message board losers.

Clearly never said he is a loser. I said he has an issue around breaking 8:00. It's coincidence he runs 8:02 all the time

And since that fall in Paris he indeed has not taken charge of races in that way but employed a different tactic, for better or worse.

Then go see the Rio 2016 race, the Monaco 2017 race, the Monaco 2018 race. For me that's taking a race by the scruff of the neck.

You’re the only one being weirdly angry about this. Maybe you’re the one with the problem, pal.