For a guy who supposedly isn't very good at championship races, Jakob sure does win a lot of championships.
Straw man argument. Jakob’s abilities in unpaced races have never been questioned at a) European Championships vs. lower competition b) at the 3,000 and up. There is nuance to Jakob criticism
The legitimate concern is at the 1500m level where he’s gone 4th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th in his last 6 global champs. That is the best of anyone overall. But maybe Kerr (5th, 1st, 2nd) beats him over the last 3. Still he’s been the clear 1 seed in each of the last 4, so a 0% winning rate is well below his circuit winning % of 90+.
It’s reasonable to think Jakob simply does not want to race the 3k at the WIC. Obviously, if he’d wanted the standard he could have gotten it any time including today. Assuming he competes at all in China he’ll be doing more than any of the other “Big 4” in the 1500. Maybe best to focus on winning the 1500 after successfully doubling at Euros. Long outdoor season still ahead.
Yep, considering he only committed to WIC a few days ago, it's reasonable to conclude that he just doesn't care that much about it.
He doesn't typically backtrack on what he says he's going to do but now the idea of going to China just to run the 1500m seems odd for him as we know he doesn't really like traveling out of Europe to race a lot. I wonder if we see a reversal on this (highly doubtful but possible).
Either way I would much rather be on the hook to race 2 x 1500m races for a world title than be contractually obliged to do 4 x grand slam track doubles in the next 3 months prior to the outdoor season really kicking off. But that's just me.
It will be interesting to see how he races that 1500m final - if we see something similar to that Euro final where he starts very conservatively and clearly focusses on those 5 final 200's.
Side note re Laros - wow, what was going on there. He broke 7.30 only 3 weeks ago and was 11th here today in the type of race that surely must have suited him and all of this came after he almost didn't make the final to begin with despite being the second ranked European this year on time and probably the 3rd overall after Jakob and George Mills. That was really odd.
Yep, considering he only committed to WIC a few days ago, it's reasonable to conclude that he just doesn't care that much about it.
Side note re Laros - wow, what was going on there. He broke 7.30 only 3 weeks ago and was 11th here today in the type of race that surely must have suited him and all of this came after he almost didn't make the final to begin with despite being the second ranked European this year on time and probably the 3rd overall after Jakob and George Mills. That was really odd.
Dutch media reported that he's been ill and had the flu, but still wanted to try and perform in front of his home crowd.
For a guy who supposedly isn't very good at championship races, Jakob sure does win a lot of championships.
Obviously, haven't you heard that Josh Kerr with his 3 (three) gold medals in his career is a better championship racer than Jakob with his 30+ gold medals?
Laros isn´t strong enough yet to challenge Jakob, healthy or not; outer lane or not.
I feel like the question is though, has he gone up another level with that 7:29 win or was he capable of that in Paris. Like Hocker, I think he has improved somewhat but I don’t think it’s a massive jump just yet. Ditto what Kessler has shown. They might well be in more of a 3:29-flat/3:28-high level peaked but obviously that doesn’t scare Jakob in a 1500, let alone a 3000. Clearly Laros wasn’t close to top form today.
For a guy who supposedly isn't very good at championship races, Jakob sure does win a lot of championships.
Straw man argument. Jakob’s abilities in unpaced races have never been questioned at a) European Championships vs. lower competition b) at the 3,000 and up. There is nuance to Jakob criticism
The legitimate concern is at the 1500m level where he’s gone 4th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th in his last 6 global champs. That is the best of anyone overall. But maybe Kerr (5th, 1st, 2nd) beats him over the last 3. Still he’s been the clear 1 seed in each of the last 4, so a 0% winning rate is well below his circuit winning % of 90+.
Apparently Healy's win in the women's 3000 was the first individual gold for an Irish woman ever (started in 1970 so they were 0 for 55 years coming in). Here is the Irish commentary for those of you with the ability to get an Irish IP address.
The straw man is that anyone says Jakob is a poor championship racer at 3,000m+ or vs. fringe global finalists at 1500m. His tactics and abilities are proven at those distances or level of competition.
Straw man argument. Jakob’s abilities in unpaced races have never been questioned at a) European Championships vs. lower competition b) at the 3,000 and up. There is nuance to Jakob criticism
The legitimate concern is at the 1500m level where he’s gone 4th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th in his last 6 global champs. That is the best of anyone overall. But maybe Kerr (5th, 1st, 2nd) beats him over the last 3. Still he’s been the clear 1 seed in each of the last 4, so a 0% winning rate is well below his circuit winning % of 90+.
Not an argument at all. It’s a statement of fact.
The fact that he hasn’t won every world title in the 1500 or may not be the favorite any more to win every world 1500 does not change the fact that he has won the overwhelming majority of championship races he has entered across a variety of distances since he’s turned 17.
The straw man is that anyone says Jakob is a poor championship racer at 3,000m+ or vs. fringe global finalists at 1500m. His tactics and abilities are proven at those distances or level of competition.
I wonder how the Tokyo final would have played out had Jakob approached like he did Euros two months prior.
The fact that he hasn’t won every world title in the 1500 or may not be the favorite any more to win every world 1500 does not change the fact that he has won the overwhelming majority of championship races he has entered across a variety of distances since he’s turned 17.
Again, you’re arguing vs ghosts. There are no people who think Jakob isn’t going to beat Mills, Habz, Almgren. The doubts are when he faces the top competition in the world.
For a guy who supposedly isn't very good at championship races, Jakob sure does win a lot of championships.
Obviously, haven't you heard that Josh Kerr with his 3 (three) gold medals in his career is a better championship racer than Jakob with his 30+ gold medals?
Laros isn´t strong enough yet to challenge Jakob, healthy or not; outer lane or not.
I feel like the question is though, has he gone up another level with that 7:29 win or was he capable of that in Paris. Like Hocker, I think he has improved somewhat but I don’t think it’s a massive jump just yet. Ditto what Kessler has shown. They might well be in more of a 3:29-flat/3:28-high level peaked but obviously that doesn’t scare Jakob in a 1500, let alone a 3000. Clearly Laros wasn’t close to top form today.
I was writing about the 3000m only. But I don´t think Laros can challenge Jakob in the 1500m yet either.
By the way: I don´t think Hocker has improved SOMEWHAT. I think Cole is significantly up from the indoor season last year. If he can keep the shape outdoors or improve on it he might be the main favorite for gold in the Tokyo 1500m.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.