This race was proof she beat herself, mentally, at worlds. Couldn’t handle the pressure. Now that it’s gone, she thrives.
Not so good. Just barely eeks out a win on home turf where Keely wasn't even sharp. Add a touch of pressure and she's completely done
That's amazing. Keely just set a British record and (obviously) the fastest 800 meter run she has ever run and you state that she wasn't sharp. Hmm. Me thinkith that your opinions may be a bit biased here?
Would be interesting to learn why Mu has gotten a few strides better than Hodgkinson the last couple of years. Mu is putting more and more distance at the top end ahead of Keely. I do think Mu has world record potential, so perhaps Keely needs to improve her 52-sec 400m speed closer to 50.5 or so.
She didn’t and she pulled away. Mu only ran 5.9m extra and considering she didn’t lead a step or have to make any moves is really darn good. Keely measured it really well but the other two just have a big higher ceilings on their best day.
And because our sport is dumb, Hodgkinson is the DL champion despite crossing the line second. I don't think wild cards should be allowed into the DL final (what's the point in having a qualifying system?), but if you're going to let them in, let them win the damn thing.
Would be interesting to learn why Mu has gotten a few strides better than Hodgkinson the last couple of years. Mu is putting more and more distance at the top end ahead of Keely. I do think Mu has world record potential, so perhaps Keely needs to improve her 52-sec 400m speed closer to 50.5 or so.
Agreed. Mu is the fastest in the field, even with a limited racing schedule. Right now I would say that she has the best chance of getting to 1.53 (but needs to race more), but should still try and get that 400m down to the 48's as she is young (Kersee taking her out of the 400m because SML is doing the event is non-sensical). She doesn't need to run 1500m (other than rarely like Arop) as she is naturally lean, just has to do the endurance work to back up her speed, and race more, if she wants to scare that WR.
Moraa had a bad run for her - lost it in the last 100m. She didn't run last week's DL 400m due to a personal matter, perhaps that was still affecting her yesterday.
Goule is getting older and her top end speed (51.mid) isn't good enough to threaten the WR. Keely is young and can still work on hers (51.7x), and needs to or she won't get down to 1.53. Moraa is new to the 800m, and is young as well (relative to Goule anyway) so her 50.5 can still get better. Of course all the while getting better endurance as well from training.
Good DL performance. Well, great in fact. An NR at a home meet is always fantastic (note, 4 of her top 5 fastest runs were all set at Eugene...) but....she didn't win the big one this year, so she isn't number 1.
A fast run on home turf is great. A world gold is better. But she won bronze, so....
This, oh so and so ran out on lane 2 or 1.5 or 3, is completely exaggerated, from the beginning of time you take the line you are given, period. An optimum line is often thought to be right on edge of lane 1. You are not trapped on the rain and can move if needed in the race on straightways is non impactful anyway as you are running a straight line hopefully.
Great race. Hodgkinson ran the best race of her career. She boldly and smartly got to the rail and ahead of her nemesis Moraa. It was the perfect Calvin Borel ground saving trip. She was simply outfinished by a superior athlete who tried different tactics that paid off.
It wasn't a bad outcome for Moraa either. She stayed out of the way the first lap and wasn't her typical bothersome self. That means neither Mu nor Hodgkinson learned a thing regarding how to deal with Moraa at her motivated peak.
Moraa's challenge this offseason is to get one second faster. She is incredibly annoying in the typical 1:57 race on the circuit, borderline in the 1:56 races, and outrun at 1:55.
This race was proof she beat herself, mentally, at worlds. Couldn’t handle the pressure. Now that it’s gone, she thrives.
Not so good. Just barely eeks out a win on home turf where Keely wasn't even sharp. Add a touch of pressure and she's completely done
I know you're trolling, but describing the form of someone who just PR'd and set a national record in the process as "not sharp" is hilariously absurd.
Good DL performance. Well, great in fact. An NR at a home meet is always fantastic (note, 4 of her top 5 fastest runs were all set at Eugene...)
That's not really saying anything considering that almost all of Mu's most important races happen to have been held in Eugene. NCAAs, USAs, Olympic Trials, World Championships, and Prefontaine Classic.
Besides the Tokyo Olympics Mu hasn't run many big meets outside of Eugene.
She seemed like a completely different runner than she was at worlds. I'm guessing it was nerves. She didn't even want to run worlds, was considering not showing up, wasn't happy being there, she was giving all the signs of feeling the pressure of defending her title and couldn't handle it.
No, that's not it.
The reason that Athing Mu was thinking about not going to the World Championships was because of a bad breakup with her boyfriend that just happened. It wasn't because she was afraid of defending her title.
And because our sport is dumb, Hodgkinson is the DL champion despite crossing the line second. I don't think wild cards should be allowed into the DL final (what's the point in having a qualifying system?), but if you're going to let them in, let them win the damn thing.