She won’t run 800. She stated in one interview that she didn’t like distance running. And since Bobby doesn’t like his athlete competing against each other, he also won’t let Sydney run 800.
I'm thinking about Sydney and I'm also thinking about Femke Bol...
Maybe in one possible world Femke, who had dabbled in distamces over 400m, could.go under 1:52. In all the others, evem if she could, the desire to do so would be lacking. As long as she keeps winning and running 400m/h anyway. 600m WB more likely.
400m and 800m is probably one of the hardest doubles of "adjacent" events to do. Yes it's been done but not in a very long time, and for good reason.
Sure, she ran 47.8, but that doesn't mean very much about her 800m potential. Sprinters fall off much faster than people realize, your speed does not matter when the limiting factor shifts and starts to become aerobic. A big engine is great over 100m/200m and you can even stretch it to 400m but there's just no way to get it to 800m. It's potentially even a liability.
Remember when Amos slapped around some of the best 400m runners in the world in a 500m race? The best 800m runners in the world would probably beat her at 600m, let alone 800m. She'd be lucky to run 1:55, and there's a very real possibility that without specific training for it she'd really struggle to break 2:00.
The biggest part of this message board are distance runners who are still thinking in terms of a 4-5 second/lap slow down each time you double the distance. That doesn't apply to sprinters. We're talking about different beasts entirely.
400m and 800m is probably one of the hardest doubles of "adjacent" events to do. Yes it's been done but not in a very long time, and for good reason.
Sure, she ran 47.8, but that doesn't mean very much about her 800m potential. Sprinters fall off much faster than people realize, your speed does not matter when the limiting factor shifts and starts to become aerobic. A big engine is great over 100m/200m and you can even stretch it to 400m but there's just no way to get it to 800m. It's potentially even a liability.
Remember when Amos slapped around some of the best 400m runners in the world in a 500m race? The best 800m runners in the world would probably beat her at 600m, let alone 800m. She'd be lucky to run 1:55, and there's a very real possibility that without specific training for it she'd really struggle to break 2:00.
The biggest part of this message board are distance runners who are still thinking in terms of a 4-5 second/lap slow down each time you double the distance. That doesn't apply to sprinters. We're talking about different beasts entirely.
I was thinking about a fundamental change in fibers changing from fast to slower ones with distance training, but it seems it's a moot point because she's not interested in that transformation.
You're also correct that most of us on this forum and board are biased towards distance running and so we have less of an understanding about the mindset of the sprinter.
I'm thinking about Sydney and I'm also thinking about Femke Bol, the latter, with her deceptively outrageously easy looking stride.
1:49.00/800 seems preposterous for a woman, but so did a 2:11:52 marathon for a woman a few years ago.
I think it's possible.
I think women like the above two could do it with specific training.
Think Alberto Juantorena and Alberto Cruz.
This is one of the dumbest arguments I’ve seen on here in a while. However, if we’re talking about stupid things, I think she could put up one heck of a heptathlon score.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Never fails that distance people always seem to disrespect sprinters by trying to move them up to an event they do respect. So many of you equate mileage with having "worked hard". Geez.
You're correct she's big, but with more endurance training she would lose 10-20 pounds. Kratichvilova had a similar physique. It's not unheard of for 800 specialists to be bulky.
Training to run 2 laps in 55 seconds should be physically possible for a 47+ 400 runner.
We here this silly argument often here. It popped up frequently when jeremy Wariner was the best in the world: "He can run 43. Running 400 in 50 seconds would be like jogging for him. It shouldn´t be a problem to keep the same pace for one more lap." Well, that is not how physiology works.
55 for one lap wouldn´t be a problem for SML, but she would bonk completely on the second lap, and if she started to do a lot of 800m specific training she would no longer be a 47s 400 runner.
Danny Everett (400m 43.8? open) and Kevin Young (400h WR first sub 47) specialist both of UCLA back in mid 1980's never trained for 800m but both ran sub 1:50 (the first and only year they attempted). Both men also ran 200m in sub 20.20.
So it's proven it is possible for World Class 200/400m runner to run fast 800m. Heck didn't Jarmilla?
Most male 400/800 types need to run 47-48 to go under 1:50 and
there’s typically a much greater drop off in pace between 400m and 800m for girls than there is guys.
That's the thing that most posters here don't understand. The anaerobic/ aerobic ratio is much different for men and women in the 800.
I know a guy whose 400 pb was 48.0, almost the same as what Sydney just ran. His 800 PB was 1:51. But men can do that, women can't. A woman and a man could have identical 400 PBs but the woman would be several seconds slower in the 800.
400m and 800m is probably one of the hardest doubles of "adjacent" events to do. Yes it's been done but not in a very long time, and for good reason.
Sure, she ran 47.8, but that doesn't mean very much about her 800m potential. Sprinters fall off much faster than people realize, your speed does not matter when the limiting factor shifts and starts to become aerobic. A big engine is great over 100m/200m and you can even stretch it to 400m but there's just no way to get it to 800m. It's potentially even a liability.
Remember when Amos slapped around some of the best 400m runners in the world in a 500m race? The best 800m runners in the world would probably beat her at 600m, let alone 800m. She'd be lucky to run 1:55, and there's a very real possibility that without specific training for it she'd really struggle to break 2:00.
The biggest part of this message board are distance runners who are still thinking in terms of a 4-5 second/lap slow down each time you double the distance. That doesn't apply to sprinters. We're talking about different beasts entirely.
I was thinking about a fundamental change in fibers changing from fast to slower ones with distance training, but it seems it's a moot point because she's not interested in that transformation.
You're also correct that most of us on this forum and board are biased towards distance running and so we have less of an understanding about the mindset of the sprinter.
It’s body type and not mindset. Maybe she is a 400/800m type and if so, she’s ready to go for the 800m WR. If she is more 200/400m, running 50 mpw per week and running XC, won’t change that. Different training does not change skill set.
400m and 800m is probably one of the hardest doubles of "adjacent" events to do.
Yes it's been done but not in a very long time, and for good reason.
Which is why Athing Mu running 1:55 and a 48.3 relay split at the 2021 Olympics was so impressive. Besides mega drugged Jarmila Kratochvilova no other woman had ever done something like that.
But Athing and Sydney are very different. Sydney is a 200/400 runner and Athing is a 400/800 runner. Saying that Sydney can break the 800 world record makes as much sense as saying that Athing can break the 200 world record. Neither of those things are ever going to even come close to happening.