Unofficial Day 3 Eugene World Championships Thread

Pretty much everyone is recognizing g that Fisher ran well enough to get a medal. The difference is that some are happy enough with just getting 4th and others want to see him actually get the medal he ran well enough to get.

I was there, sitting on the turn into the final 100 and the sun was absolutely brutal. As the morning went on, everyone was commenting how rough the 10k was going to be. I know what the air temp was, but it really was very, very difficult 10k conditions.

Tickets were $200, good seats are for kool-aid drinking vaccination only people. The historic Hayward would have been sold out.

$200 for a ticket to line Vin's pickets and with Biden's inflation is a lot to ask for when we didn't want historic Hayward torn down. Nike did it anyway without a chance for public comment.

There are no vaccination requirements and had a friend just buy a ticket for 45 bucks. Too bad you guys complaining about cost didn’t plan ahead. There were many $50-$100/seats in prime spots over 6 months ago when initially released. And the evening sessions have been packed.

This is one of the criticisms of BTC: Jerry should allow his athletes to race more, especially in Diamond Leagues. It helps with fine tuning these scenarios. Beating down other Americans or matching up with Joe Klecker (or his teammates) isn't enough. Like, 2-3 extra races a year, not just for him but also to give us something to watch, would be great.

Morning/afternoon sessions are almost never filled to capacity whether it's Eugene or Timbuktu.

Last night was filled and I expect the same tonight.

Not every track market is London.

What are you talking about? Clearly he did not run well enough to get a medal. Running "well enough to get a medal" means running fast enough to at least get 3rd place.

There's a lot of GF bashing going on, which is a shame.

Perhaps he didn't play it perfectly on the last 500m. He will come to some conclusions about that.

But I gotta say I just love the guy in interviews: smart, polite, level headed, honest. He's a good man.

I can see from multiple posts that you cannot see beyond the brim of your M.A.G.A. hat.

The conclusion will be, of course, that he needs a few more burritos.

I agree! The difference between any one runner and the field as a whole is key. However, I would frame the problem a little differently. Instead of saying the problem is courage or work ethic, I'd say the problem is what is sensible for each runner versus what is sensible for all runners.

In these races, many runners would like someone to "make it an honest race," to avoid the chaos of a mass sprint to the finish. At the same time, no indiviual runner wants to be the one to actually make the race honest. So much can go wrong that it is just too risky for any runner to push the pace. The result is what see in these races -- nobody pushes the pace, and we end up with (yet anothe) sit-and-kick race.

(To see the risk, just think of all the races where someone who took it out hard ended up getting swallowed up by the field.)

If I'm right, you can't eliminate sit-and-kick by telling runners to be brave or work harder. The only way to fix the problem of sit and kick races is to change the incentives of runners. One way to change incentives is to get guys like Jakob, who are willing to push the pace because they can't win in a sit-and-kick. Another is to pay someone (usually an outsider!) to push the pace.

PS For those who remember their economics, I'm saying races create a social dilemma for runners. In a social dilemma, the rational strategy for each runner-- let someone else push the pace -- leads to a sub-optimal outcome for all runners -- a tacticql/sit-and-kick race.

PPS I've left out a lot of the nuance that complicates the story, such as runners like Centro, who like sit-and-kick races, and work to keep the pace slow.

Don't get me wrong, no disrespect. Grant was ALMOST there, and I thought he had a shot until the last 20 meters. Just calling out someone who made an inane statement.

What a sight with the three Americans in front on home turf! And they all did very well IMO, with the right support, training they can be threat to medals going forward no doubt! 4th is great for GF, but it is easy to speculate what would have happened if he had 2-3-4 Diamond league meets under his belt. You cant replicate this type of environment with only american runners. Next year should bring the expectation of medals!

And wow Cheptegei. What a legend! I must admit the thoughts go straight to the 5000. He must be the largest favorite by far.

Typical out of context LR poster…

Cam levins:

runs 3 min PR

says he runs the race of his life

way over shoots to get 4th.

grant fisher:

7th fastest time in history….

World leading time this year

In the shape of his life and dominates all year long

gets fourth

its fine. Not great. Says himself he has mixed emotions.

I think you are misreading if you think people are bashing Fisher. Most of us are fans and wanted to see Fisher run well and get a medal. We are just acknowledging the fact that he could have earned a medal if he would have positioned better at the end. His positioning gave him no chance and that is why some are frustrated. If he positions himself well enough to get a medal but gets beat anyway, I think neaely everyone would acknowledge that (minus a couple trolls). As it is he gave himself no chance and played it safe to get 4th.

Exactly. GF is the mf man. Should be able to snag a bronze. Feels like 4th is subpar showing. There’s some nuance here which not surprisingly is lost on the highly sophisticated letsrun crowd.

Fair enough. And I acknowledge that the bashing is mostly in other threads.

Yes, and with a younger sprinter brother and Olympic gold medal sister. See:

olympics.com

The Borlee family: From Moscow 1980 to Tokyo 2020

For some athletes, the Olympics are a family affair, as siblings, cousins and even spouses chase a single dream. In the second of a new series about Olympic families, Tokyo 2020 take a look at Belgium's Borlee family, who are...

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