no one. literally no one. citius mag, even Isaac wood who had valby ranked #1 preseason before anyone else, has said they do not believe it would have made a difference and too much is made of this. she did fine on the tangents, this thread is quite silly.
I think most of us making the point agree KT was PROBABLY going to win regardless, because her strategy was to let her dangle out front and then chase her down when she felt ready to do so. (Although there were a few turns where KT made up huge ground, so there is legitimate debate that KT would’ve needed to make the move earlier if Valby was hitting turns like Verstappen out there).
However, to say it’s no biggy for an elite level racer, of any discipline, to not understand how to take turns is straight up ludicrous!!!!! I will never be convinced otherwise.
If she never gets this figured out I GUARANTEE she will lose a race in the final turn as someone takes the inside line and this thread will come back from the dead and we can all laugh at you folks making excuses for her not understanding an important skill.
So I'm not as blunt about this as your post...but I do agree in the thought process. If this had been a track race and the lead runner moved out to lane 2 for a few turns, then the announcers and fans would have been all over them.
Again, I don't believe it had any bearing on the result of this race, but it DID make it easier for Tuohy to catch her. I'm not saying PV did this in a lot of corners, but there were certainly a few...and I did notice the corner you are referencing (at 16:40 5.2km)...PV runs the middle of the trail while Tuohy cuts the corner. She likely gained 3 meters alone by doing so....which is huge in that situation.
Early in the race the announcers talked about the importance of the Tangents and the advantage PV had since she could pick out the best lines....as opposed to Tuohy who was in the middle of the front pack and couldn't cut as tight in the first half of the race.
But despite this disadvantage, she closed the gap and didn't even look tired when she caught her. Nor was she tired after blowing by her and finishing the race. KT had more than enough gas in the tank even if Valby ran a perfect race.
You don't have to look tired to be tired. The only time she's looked tired was in her final NXN. She will openly admit if she was barely hanging on when asked about it after races. She did the same thing at to 5000 championship in the spring where she said she was exhausted from catching up and holding on for dear life, but she "looked" like she was fine when she crossed the finish line.
It's called having some humility and respect for her opponents. She doesn't feel the need to talk trash about how easy it was. Likely she also doesn't want to spark any additional competitive motivation from her opponent. You have no idea how women work. Let's just say this...never take what a woman says at face value.
Every time she would go through the “S” sections she followed the cart, which followed the “s” shape while everyone else took a straight line through them. There is an excellent aerial shot towards the end where KT makes significant ground up because of this.
there were many corners she was closer to the apex but there was not a single frame of the race where I saw her hugging the line like KT was while chasing. She was always at least 2-3yards away from the most inside route.
When KT passed her, she passed her on the INSIDE of a turn.
we can debate all we want about how much this cost her, but the reality is, this was more than one blunder caught on camera, it was the whole race.
PV made a mistake on the first hill and a much smaller one near the end but overall she probably ran about the shortest distance of most/all competitors including KT. I’m pretty sure KT ran the longer distance running in the front as part of the pack.
PV started on the right side and all turns are to the right except for the one uphill turn to the right and then left and back down the hill. virtually no one ran the tangents perfectly and it would be impossible for KT since she was in a pack about 4-5 abreast for about 4K but PV could run the tangents better since she was alone upfront. she did it for the most part after she had the definitive lead on the downhill before 2k.
the ones that ran the longest distance were in the middle of a large wide pack (KT). you could run shorter if you ran single file or in the lead (PV). PV wasn’t perfect but she started on the right side and had the lead for much of the race and ran about the shortest distance compared to her competitors.
watch the video from the start. What lines did KT take for 4K? What did the rest of the top 25 do behind her? PV had opportunities to cut it shorter but so did everyone else and pretty much no one did.
Such a situation early on when PV looks as if she was turning into the wrong direction for a second I have only seen in road races when runners have been seriously confused and sometimes really taken wrong turns. Not sure how one could get confused on that quite open XC track as the runners can usually inspect or even run on the track on the day before the meeting (or is this different in the US?) But stranger things have happened, such as Chepkoech missing the turn to the waterjump in London 2017.... Valby would have to turn onto the longjump or javelin runway to top such a blunder...
A better view is to watch some of the hand-held cell phone videos from onlookers. I have seen several where Valby took poor angles or wide curves. It is much more apparent at ground level.
PV made a mistake on the first hill and a much smaller one near the end but overall she probably ran about the shortest distance of most/all competitors including KT. I’m pretty sure KT ran the longer distance running in the front as part of the pack.
PV started on the right side and all turns are to the right except for the one uphill turn to the right and then left and back down the hill. virtually no one ran the tangents perfectly and it would be impossible for KT since she was in a pack about 4-5 abreast for about 4K but PV could run the tangents better since she was alone upfront. she did it for the most part after she had the definitive lead on the downhill before 2k.
the ones that ran the longest distance were in the middle of a large wide pack (KT). you could run shorter if you ran single file or in the lead (PV). PV wasn’t perfect but she started on the right side and had the lead for much of the race and ran about the shortest distance compared to her competitors.
watch the video from the start. What lines did KT take for 4K? What did the rest of the top 25 do behind her? PV had opportunities to cut it shorter but so did everyone else and pretty much no one did.
You make a good point as far as who ran further in totality, but when you look at the last 2k, when it really becomes the race, when both runners have their choice of line, it became clear Touhy was taking the proper line and making up ground faster than she would have had Valby run the correct tangents.
We don't need to take a vote to answer your question of whether or not Valby 'knows how to run in a straight line'. We can clearly see instances where Valby picked good lines.
We don't need to take a vote to answer your question of whether or not Valby 'knows how to run in a straight line'. We can clearly see instances where Valby picked good lines.
She said in the post race interview herself that she didn’t understand what the reporter or her coach were talking about. Whatever decent lines she took were because the cart she followed took them.
We don't need to take a vote to answer your question of whether or not Valby 'knows how to run in a straight line'. We can clearly see instances where Valby picked good lines.
She said in the post race interview herself that she didn’t understand what the reporter or her coach were talking about. Whatever decent lines she took were because the cart she followed took them.
I think you are reading too much into what Valby said, or perhaps Valby was not communicating clearly. Watch the race 14:34 to 15:00 in the race. Valby takes good tangent to right turn and then we see her going around the turn pretty tight to the side of the track. The lead trucks are not tight to the side, they are in the middle. Perhaps sometimes she was focusing on her stride and not noticing upcoming corner. Perhaps her view was blocked by the lead trucks coming into a corner or two. But she clearly demonstrated that she can find the short line.
I think you are reading too much into what Valby said, or perhaps Valby was not communicating clearly. Watch the race 14:34 to 15:00 in the race. Valby takes good tangent to right turn and then we see her going around the turn pretty tight to the side of the track. The lead trucks are not tight to the side, they are in the middle. Perhaps sometimes she was focusing on her stride and not noticing upcoming corner. Perhaps her view was blocked by the lead trucks coming into a corner or two. But she clearly demonstrated that she can find the short line.
Keyword: “can” find the short line. I agree, there were moments where it seems like she chose a good line but it wasn’t consistent, showing a lack of understanding of why it should be done.
BIG ALSO: her worst blunders were at the end of the race (KT quickly closing and passing on the inside) and when she started her initial attack on the field. The two most important moments of her race. Two moments where maximizing your effort are crucial.
You don't have to look tired to be tired. The only time she's looked tired was in her final NXN. She will openly admit if she was barely hanging on when asked about it after races. She did the same thing at to 5000 championship in the spring where she said she was exhausted from catching up and holding on for dear life, but she "looked" like she was fine when she crossed the finish line.
It's called having some humility and respect for her opponents. She doesn't feel the need to talk trash about how easy it was. Likely she also doesn't want to spark any additional competitive motivation from her opponent. You have no idea how women work. Let's just say this...never take what a woman says at face value.
Okay. I'll take your word for it. Or then again, according to you I shouldn't. This is all so confusing. I can't figure it out since I have no idea how women work.