The weekend's races were so compelling, I barely noticed the message board complaints about the broadcasters. Of course, we had the British announcers for the "morning" sessions. All-in-all, it was a fun weekend. Thanks team USA and the world's best athletes.
Really solid races from the 1500 men. Hobbs needs to learn that leading is not the only way to run a solid tactical race and Hocker did a better job not leading and using less energy, but Hobbs definitely ran better than he did in the rounds or at USAs.
I completely disagree. No way Hobbs would have got a medal without attempting to pull off the Centro move. Look at what happened in ABQ. Hobbs was bouncing around like he was in a pinball machine and got wiped out by Hocker.
Well we agree -- he tactically ran better than in ABQ. But that was sort of my point. He needs to learn to be calm running on the rail in 4th or 5th like Hocker is and knowing that at some point the opening will be there and then confident in capitalizing on it. I agree that the way he ran in ABQ was absurdly bad. The way he ran today is not his only ticket, however. He might be fitter than all of those dudes -- he ran 3:48 recently.
Bit of a nitpick but does anyone actually get any use out of the "Distance to Leader" statistic in the bottom left? The live top 3 is fine but who cares about the number?
It’s a stat clearly ideated by somebody who has no familiarity with the sport
I completely disagree. No way Hobbs would have got a medal without attempting to pull off the Centro move. Look at what happened in ABQ. Hobbs was bouncing around like he was in a pinball machine and got wiped out by Hocker.
Well we agree -- he tactically ran better than in ABQ. But that was sort of my point. He needs to learn to be calm running on the rail in 4th or 5th like Hocker is and knowing that at some point the opening will be there and then confident in capitalizing on it. I agree that the way he ran in ABQ was absurdly bad. The way he ran today is not his only ticket, however. He might be fitter than all of those dudes -- he ran 3:48 recently.
Except nothing did open up this time for Hocker. I suppose that's the way it goes sometimes... probably not correct to think that Hocker's tactics were "bad", just got a bit unlucky. And it seems like some luck is needed indoors.
Why was Ramsden trying to sit and kick at the back with this group? Was out if from beginning.
Hard to say, but she had the second slowest PR of anyone in that race. Race plan could have been: just ride the back, stay out of trouble, save your energy by avoiding the position battles and mid-race accelerations, and play the joker by snippering people who got caught up in the above.
Hocker usually has good tactics, not sure why people are saying he doesn't. I think in this race he got a bit too cute; wanted to hug the inside rail and he did that well, but nothing ever opened up for him to move up much and he had to endure a couple shoving matches. Net effect was having to swing pretty wide to start his final lap. Not sure what Beamish did during the race up to that point... I was focused on Hocker, maybe his race was similar + a slightly better kick.
With Hobbs' positioning (credit to him for getting it) Hocker wins handily, I think.
I think Hocker will continue to be underrated by Letsrun because of this performance. We do still need to see if he can run 328-329, but it seems like he should be able to given his past times and being fitter this year. I think he is only a slight underdog to Nuguse at USAs.
Hard disagree on the Hocker tactics comment.
He ran great today. By far the best tactics we’ve seen from him on the world stage.
There was one “shoving match”, and it had no impact on the results. He stuck with the front pack. Dropped a fantastic final 200m, and ultimately got beat by an outside kick. Nothing against Beamish, he ran the perfect race today and I’m pumped for him, but 9 times out of 10 I think Hocker wins that one.
Hard to say, but she had the second slowest PR of anyone in that race.
Race plan could have been: just ride the back, stay out of trouble, save your energy by avoiding the position battles and mid-race accelerations, and play the joker by snippering people who got caught up in the above.
That's a good strategy for her. The problem is that Ramsden was in the back AND in the SECOND lane for much of the race. If you're going to hang out in the back then at least run against the rail.
I kinda feel bad for Nordas. You could tell he was so frustrated not really being able to lead. He made some aggressive moves up but to and from lanes 2 and 3 and not all the way up. He should've just gone all the way to the front and done it early; he wasted more energy trying to stay near the front but in the outer lanes. He also has long legs/stride, which makes these types of bunched up races difficult.
Thinking back on the meet as a whole, there were so many breakthrough performances for American athletes up and down the list: Davis-Woodhall, Nichols, Nuguse, Hocker, St. Pierre, Hiltz, MacKay, and Kessler all winning their first global medals. Many of these athletes have been knocking at the door and it's great to see them have their respective moments.
Not sure which I was more shocked by: St. Pierre outkicking Tsegay in 3K or watching MacKay take control of the 1500 with 2 to go and holding on for a medal.
Like many of us, I wish more athletes would show up for the indoor season. Would love to see some of the above successes carry over in the summer to shut up all this talk about skipping worlds to be ready for Paris.
Hocker usually has good tactics, not sure why people are saying he doesn't. I think in this race he got a bit too cute; wanted to hug the inside rail and he did that well, but nothing ever opened up for him to move up much and he had to endure a couple shoving matches. Net effect was having to swing pretty wide to start his final lap. Not sure what Beamish did during the race up to that point... I was focused on Hocker, maybe his race was similar + a slightly better kick.
With Hobbs' positioning (credit to him for getting it) Hocker wins handily, I think.
I think Hocker will continue to be underrated by Letsrun because of this performance. We do still need to see if he can run 328-329, but it seems like he should be able to given his past times and being fitter this year. I think he is only a slight underdog to Nuguse at USAs.
Hard disagree on the Hocker tactics comment.
He ran great today. By far the best tactics we’ve seen from him on the world stage.
There was one “shoving match”, and it had no impact on the results. He stuck with the front pack. Dropped a fantastic final 200m, and ultimately got beat by an outside kick. Nothing against Beamish, he ran the perfect race today and I’m pumped for him, but 9 times out of 10 I think Hocker wins that one.
Any examples of when he had bad tactics on world stage? His two previous global finals were time trials, so no tactics there. Got through rounds easily in both of those as well, I don't recall any issues.
Heck, I'd take an example of bad tactics in any race.
As for today, I don't know what he could have done differently. The start is a mess and he didn't end up in front; don't think there is anything you can do about that, unless you go "full Robert" in the 800 today. And then once Hocker is in that spot, his choices are either to sit on the rail and hope something opens up, or make some moves wide and burn some matches (and with no guarantee of getting to/near the front, cause it's so hard to pass people).
Anyways, I don't think you'll produce an example of bad tactics. He always seems so confident in his race plans and you see that in his execution, like today where, all things considered, he was pretty calm on the rail.
Bol confirmed on Dutch tv she tempered her pace because it was Holmes behind her again. 'I wasn't going to make the same mistake as in Budapest by going out full pace'
I completely disagree. No way Hobbs would have got a medal without attempting to pull off the Centro move. Look at what happened in ABQ. Hobbs was bouncing around like he was in a pinball machine and got wiped out by Hocker.
Well we agree -- he tactically ran better than in ABQ. But that was sort of my point. He needs to learn to be calm running on the rail in 4th or 5th like Hocker is and knowing that at some point the opening will be there and then confident in capitalizing on it. I agree that the way he ran in ABQ was absurdly bad. The way he ran today is not his only ticket, however. He might be fitter than all of those dudes -- he ran 3:48 recently.
Most of this is a good point
but if he did not run it this way, Hobbs that is and did not get off the line so well
and maintain his position, even third might not happen
For example Nordas had a lot of run left but got shiffled back I think, just a couple spots too far
I think this was a very good result for He and Hocker
Great run by Kessler. Held his ground with a great efficient trip and he had something left all the way to the end.
I was so bummed when Hocker and Kessler didn't go 1-2, but how can you not love Beamish sweeping in for the gold. Going to be a darn fine Coffee Club podcast this week.
Hocker usually has good tactics, not sure why people are saying he doesn't. I think in this race he got a bit too cute; wanted to hug the inside rail and he did that well, but nothing ever opened up for him to move up much and he had to endure a couple shoving matches. Net effect was having to swing pretty wide to start his final lap. Not sure what Beamish did during the race up to that point... I was focused on Hocker, maybe his race was similar + a slightly better kick.
I actually had to rewind the race to see where Beamish came from because he was totally offscreen until about 50 to go; he just hung out behind that front pack while everyone jostled. Kara called him out in the announcing just before he came steamrolling around the outside, which was a good catch by her.