Its weird that he couldnt run within 5 seconds of his previous race. Thats a very big non performance. he was in a heat that looks like it was much slower then the rest of them as well. Will be interesting to see what next season brings. Obviously hes very young, but giving up all that eligibility, could end up being a pretty premature decision.
LOL because the only way train to be a professional track athlete is to go to college? WTF planet are you living on???
Debatable doesn't understand elite running, and that's ok. I will say, that running in college does serve a purpose, and definitely adds experience. Running in college with a steady racing schedule is invaluable, you gain race experience, training experience, and most importantly you mature. Cooper clearly has the goods to be a world class professional, but he will need a year around support group to manage him. He's very young, and to all of the sudden be a professional runner earning a paycheck with a lot of expectations can be daunting. I previously posted that Cooper's coach should reach out to some world class 800m coaches for advice on how to train Cooper throughout the year, and to get him in a club with other world class 800/1500 runners. If Cooper and his coach choose to go it alone it could be a tough road ahead. You've got to look at least 8 years down the road when he will hit his physical peak, and hopefully will still be mentally motivated.
A truly amazing season. My only down comment is the way he gave up in the last 60 meters once he knew he wasn't making the semi's. That was disappointing to see him so obviously back off. Finish strong, you never know what might happen in front of you.
He reminds me of Ryan in 1964. He bombed out but everyone thought he was going to be great. Then he never won anything. Ran real fast but didn’t win nothing.
My biggest concern is his last race would have been almost 7 weeks ago. I feel like you can maintain a peak that long but you need to be racing at least once a week, imo. Was just wondering if they were planning on this whole worlds trip to just be gravy from that point.
Either way he has a bright future and prib shouldnt be running himself into the ground to maybe make it to the semi-finals.
But it wasn't a matter of 7 weeks from a peak. More likely that the trials was towards the end of a peak window.
Further racing would probably only have taken him backwards.
Anyway positioning was the problem today, not fitness.
He reminds me of Ryan in 1964. He bombed out but everyone thought he was going to be great. Then he never won anything. Ran real fast but didn’t win nothing.
Don’t forget Brazier bombed at US nationals after setting a collegiate record at NCAA as a freshman. It happens.
Getting to the big stage for the first time, esp when you didn’t expect to and have to extend the season, can be daunting. But the experience of being there and taking it in pays off in the future.