World Indoor Championships Day 2 Discussion Thread

Because everyone likes him so much more than Kreepy Kerr.

As I pointed out in the “Tactics” thread, many of you guys clearly don’t understand how tactical championship racing works. Stitchmo and Middling Distance are the worst offenders, and I wonder if you are trolls.

1) Sure, taking the rail and holding the lead and fending off every move would be the optimal strategy. This is NOT a feasible strategy unless you are definitively the fittest in the field. It is why Centro’s 2016 championship was so remarkable. It is the exception, it is incredibly difficult.

Hocker is NOT so much better than the field that he can get away with this. You may think he is, just because of his time trialed PR. He is not. That is what makes Jakob’s victories so impressive; he genuinely WAS that much better than the field. Josh is Cole’s equal. It’s clear they are very, very evenly matched runners. If Cole just held first place for 2900m, he would have been out kicked by Kerr. He, wisely, is aware of the level of his competition.

2) And sure, drafting off a solid leader or just following the best challenger and out kicking him at the end would be the second best strategy. This is NOT practical in the majority of pack-style, championship races. It just can’t work. This 3000 was a perfect example. Hocker would have loved to follow Kerr immediately, but he got trapped by Schrub. This was not Cole’s fault, it’s part of racing. Had Nuguse not tripped Wale and gotten Cole stuck on the rail at 500 to go, it’s likely Cole wins this race. Them’s the breaks. And Kerr capitalized on this moment brilliantly by boxing Cole in, intentionally. With 2 evenly matched runners, one good move will decide the race, and it was a savvy move.

The race was only decided by 0.14. you guys are acting like it was a travesty for Cole to lose. He barely got beaten, by his equal.

”Your move, Cole”

I’m not talking about the 5k. The tactics are very different in the longer races. But in terms of medals yes I do think this is where his focus should be.

All I’m saying - is that for Jakob’s skill and level he should have won more medals in word championships in the shorter distances like the 1500m.

I don’t mind the guy. But I I take an issue with people saying ‘if Jakob was here he would have won’. Well he wasn’t because he keeps getting injured. Part of being a consistently good athlete and winning medals is walking that fine line between peak fitness and injury.

Fair.

But keep in mind that no active athlete has won more than one men's championship 1500m.

When all of the big dogs have one outdoor 1500m win each, it's reasonable to look to other events for GOAT evaluation.

Zzz.

In that thread you committed the "appeal to expertise" fallacy, bragging about how you have "been there and done that" while presenting nothing to suggest Hocker is a good tactician, let alone a great one.

While I doubt that you have won a world championship, if the only thing you present in support of your argument is bragging about rare knowledge of the topic, than as I said in the other thread you should have the conviction to identify yourself.

If he always delivered he would have won in Paris in the OG final for example, after shooting off his mouth for a full year. Don’t rewrite history. He was lucky to hold on for second in that race. That said, he generally puts himself in better position to win than Hocker. Hocker blew it.

https://animation.news.com.au/animations/117d9f/b76c/b76c20e0d561e313ba2b014a27117d9f

I don’t owe you a thing. I’m a former competitor and now dedicated fan. It’s a pleasure to see the success he and some other American runners are having in the wake of Galen’s arrival.

I didn’t brag about rare knowledge or even expertise, only competence in discussing the concept of tactics. You, and others, talk about racing tactics like amateurs.

As I’ve pointed out in both threads, Cole’s success speaks for itself, and for his tactics. I think it’s fair to say we would all settle for his results.

This is a clown take. Jakob won far more medals and golds than Kerr in the last 7 global championships.