Offer prize money for the first person through halfway and make it more money tban 4th or 5th place overall. that way if someone has no shot of winning they would be more likely to set a faster early pace.
Offer prize money for the first person through halfway and make it more money tban 4th or 5th place overall. that way if someone has no shot of winning they would be more likely to set a faster early pace.
TMADDDHASFNE wrote:
Despite the allure of bigger paychecks for doubling the risk of injury for many athletes should be the main concern. Next year GST should return to traditional format without the doubling gimmick and add some events like the steeplechase and some field events.
“Gimmick”
Are you saying GST should stop being GST?
McRunnin wrote:
Agreed. That's why I've proposed mixing up the distances from meet to meet. In any event grouping, the fairest system is to have a balance of races between the shorter event, the longer event, and distances in between. Let's see the 800m runners and 1500m runners clash at 1200m. Let's see Gabby and Paulino square off at 300m.
Also: when thinking about possibilities for next year, don't forget the women! Pairing 800m and 1500m runners has worked very well for the women. In two of the three Slams, the women's 800m has been won by a 1500m specialist!
This format is perfect for Welteji because she was an 800 specialist for years before switching to 1500 emphasis in 2023. At Eugene 2022 everybody focused on Athing vs Keely for gold. Behind them, Moraa and Welteji ran together for the final 300 meters toward bronze. Moraa pulled away late to narrowly prevail. That caused Welteji to switch to 1500. But before Grand Slam Track everybody seemed to forget that Welteji had plenty of history at 800, including world U20 champion at 16 years old.
Welteji defeated Kipyegon in the road mile to end 2023. That caused her to pursue Olympic gold in 2024. She chased Kipyegon instead of sitting back for a minor medal. The result was 4th place and a screwed up perspective entering 2025. Somehow Jessica Hull and Nikki Hiltz were being touted above Welteji in Kingston. I mentioned in that pre meet thread that Welteji had dominant head to head results over both of them.
Regardless, I thought the production level was vastly improved in Philadelphia. They finally understood to use a commentary booth that didn't feature empty seats in the background. The crowd was larger than I expected and confining them to the straightaway stands made for a very good loud impression. Franklin Field carried plenty of empty seated risk. Great job to manipulate a few variables in their favor.