2) When it ended, Paul Swangard said the following: "It is the first European medal in this event since Mo Farah in 1987."
What?
Yes, this one was the head scratcher to end all head scratchers. Even a casual fan would catch himself reading that out and realize it was wrong. I’m assuming someone handed him that stat and he just read it, anyway, since it was just so blatantly incorrect. I have a friend who does local sports commentary and it’s way harder than it looks, you’re constantly being fed info on paper or in your earpiece while trying to make your endless talking sound natural, so some sympathy there. But wow, that stat was blatantly wrong lol.
Maybe it was meant to be first European medal other than Farah since 1987? Am a bit young to remember and haven't bothered to check online, but that at least doesn't immediately sound like a rubbish stat.
I don't understand Fisher's insistance that he has a kick. He really doesn't. He would have had a free medal if he pushed from 1k out
I'm not sure he would have had a free medal. There are plenty in that field that can run a pretty good 1000 off that pace.
I'm sure he believes he has a kick based on the Olympics.
The hard thing about racing is that you're making decisions in real time and sometimes in a split second. Then you have to factor in every other competitor doing the exact same thing. The best plans mean nothing so much of the time.
The decisions made during the race can look like brilliance or stupidity, but only after you cross the line. That's what makes racing so much more interesting to me than the time-trialing we see in so many other meets and races.
Yes, you nailed it! Racing is like an exquisite game of chess. You have to know your moves, the opponents moves, when to make your moves, when to anticipate the opponents moves...so much more interesting...and obviously happening in 'real time' where a strategy can go to @#$% in a heartbeat or a breath. In my neck of the woods (SE USA) kids in high school and college and their coaches are all chasing time trial type courses and meets. And none of them can 'race', especially championship settings. This guy got a well deserved win because he obviously capitalized on an opportunity the others didn't. Good for him.
Almgren was praying for Grant to make it fast. I think Almgren or Kejelcha would have won the race if it had been 1 minutes faster.
Everyone criticizing grant needs to get grip. These guys aren’t fit enough to break the field. I think the strategy was fine. If he goes from front, maybe maybe he medals but I don’t think he’s fit enough to break the field and win that way. He wanted gold.
perfectly reasonable to think he could out kick these guys in a 10k. Only one I wouldn’t think he’d out kick would be aregawi and maybe young and grant beat aregawi and young.
Yes, this one was the head scratcher to end all head scratchers. Even a casual fan would catch himself reading that out and realize it was wrong. I’m assuming someone handed him that stat and he just read it, anyway, since it was just so blatantly incorrect. I have a friend who does local sports commentary and it’s way harder than it looks, you’re constantly being fed info on paper or in your earpiece while trying to make your endless talking sound natural, so some sympathy there. But wow, that stat was blatantly wrong lol.
Maybe it was meant to be first European medal other than Farah since 1987? Am a bit young to remember and haven't bothered to check online, but that at least doesn't immediately sound like a rubbish stat.
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This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Reason provided:
said something dumb and possibly incorrect :-)
I was glad none of the favorites won when it went out so ridiculously slow. An 81 second lap is slow even for the marathon ! I hate these kind of races. It should have been at least a minute faster , hot weather or not .
I don't understand Fisher's insistance that he has a kick. He really doesn't. He would have had a free medal if he pushed from 1k out
I'm not sure he would have had a free medal. There are plenty in that field that can run a pretty good 1000 off that pace.
I'm sure he believes he has a kick based on the Olympics.
The hard thing about racing is that you're making decisions in real time and sometimes in a split second. Then you have to factor in every other competitor doing the exact same thing. The best plans mean nothing so much of the time.
The decisions made during the race can look like brilliance or stupidity, but only after you cross the line. That's what makes racing so much more interesting to me than the time-trialing we see in so many other meets and races.
And that's why you have your race strategy hammered out before you even get to the start line. Looking formula 1, yes there are some erase adjustments but they are quick and you react to your competitors in near real time. You don't go into the race with no plan and just wait to see what everyone else does.
That's what you get when you leave 15 dudes in the race with a lap to go.
Should have been pushing the pace from at least 5000m. You got to use the conditions to eliminate the contenders.
If you listen to his interview, he said if he had wound it up and pressed the pace earlier, it would just be sacrificing yourself because you would hardly drop anybody.
Honestly before the meet started that if the men's and women's field let it go slow enough that J. Gressler and Nadia both could win the Gold 🥇 Medal. The thing is I didn't think either FIELD would let it go that slow but stupidly both actually did...WTH 😳
Honestly before the meet started that if the men's and women's field let it go slow enough that J. Gressler and Nadia both could win the Gold 🥇 Medal. The thing is I didn't think either FIELD would let it go that slow but stupidly both actually did...WTH 😳
Paris Olympics 2024 when the pace was pushed from the start Fisher ended up 15 seconds ahead of Gressier. If I recall correctly, Gressier was absolutely spent after that effort last year.
But play dumb games and leave people in the race too long you get what you deserve. Running 81 laps when you're a world class runner is idiotic. Should have been running 67-68 laps with an occasional 64-66 lap to see how everyone is doing.
Congrats to Gressier, Kejelcha and Almgrem. I can't be mad at them for seizing the opportunity they were given.