What about Oidira having a pb of 2:11 at '20', taking five years off, having a child, and running 1:54 after one year?
Lilian has two children.
Was watching RoJo and Gault's recap show. I can understand their dsapointment at their favourite Hodgkinson losing again. But had to log off after they started talking about how Lilian needs to explain her absence from the sport whining about Kenyan doping when simple journalistic research would've revealed she became a mother of two.
RoJo can barely conceal his contempt for Mary Moraa who he depicts as a spoiler, so that made Lilian Odira's win extra sweet for me. Also, calling Kenyans "suspicious" when we now know US authorities hide their violations is rich!
I think I'm due another hiatus.
This post was edited 11 minutes after it was posted.
I think what is interesting/impressive is that Odira didn’t even look tired at the end… she was barely breathing.
That first lap in 55 clearly impacted Keely. Which is what Mary intended. Then the strong finish from Odira from way back.
Georgia Hunter-Bell was sensible to not go with the initial pace. It’s only a second but if it had been a 56 second first lap it could have been different for Keely. Who knows though. Interesting race.
Listening to Jenny Meadows (one of Keely's coaches) who was working as a pundit for BBC, she said that that because of the injuries truncating her build-up, they hadn't been able to do any speed work with Keely. So they were relying on strength and thought that she could be vulnerable to a kick. But they thought that she'd be vulnerable to Hunter Bell. So, I think they were fairly ready for this and Keely losing wasn't a big surprise to them. They were happy with Moraa taking it out in 55 because this lent itself more to a strength-based race, but no one thought Odira would have that kind of close in a race that fast because she'd never demonstrated anything like that over the last two years. It's hard to prepare for a complete lightning bolt.
Listening to Jenny Meadows (one of Keely's coaches) who was working as a pundit for BBC, she said that that because of the injuries truncating her build-up, they hadn't been able to do any speed work with Keely. So they were relying on strength and thought that she could be vulnerable to a kick. But they thought that she'd be vulnerable to Hunter Bell. So, I think they were fairly ready for this and Keely losing wasn't a big surprise to them. They were happy with Moraa taking it out in 55 because this lent itself more to a strength-based race, but no one thought Odira would have that kind of close in a race that fast because she'd never demonstrated anything like that over the last two years. It's hard to prepare for a complete lightning bolt.
That makes sense. I’m going to need to go back and rewatch Odira in the heats. She wasn’t really on my radar and she clearly should have been.
Nobody (apart from Keely) had appeared to be near 1.54 all year..
I thought her biggest threat would be Werro/ GHB or Moraa’s tactics (which was kind of true).
That makes sense. I’m going to need to go back and rewatch Odira in the heats. She wasn’t really on my radar and she clearly should have been.
Nobody (apart from Keely) had appeared to be near 1.54 all year..
I thought her biggest threat would be Werro/ GHB or Moraa’s tactics (which was kind of true).
She ran 1:56 in the race Keely ran 1:54. She might’ve had minimal drafting there I’d say. Her general style is patience while trading running a little wide for a smooth ride and not having to navigate boxes. She has a potent kick, so maybe Bryce Hoppel at his best is the comp?
Was watching RoJo and Gault's recap show. I can understand their dsapointment at their favourite Hodgkinson losing again. But had to log off after they started talking about how Lilian needs to explain her absence from the sport whining about Kenyan doping when simple journalistic research would've revealed she became a mother of two.
RoJo can barely conceal his contempt for Mary Moraa who he depicts as a spoiler, so that made Lilian Odira's win extra sweet for me. Also, calling Kenyans "suspicious" when we now know US authorities hide their violations is rich!
I think I'm due another hiatus.
Kenyans are suspicious because of the literal hundreds of doping positives, and that's even with a non-compliant anti doping agency.
Imagine how many there would be if they tested properly?
Odira and Hunter-Bell ran more even splits: 56.27/1:54.62 (58.35) +2.08 and 56.08/1:54.90 (58.82) +2.74. It was law of diminishing returns for everyone else who went out too hard including Hodgkinson 55.85/1:54.91 (59.06) +3.21. It may have also been difference between first and second. For Odira it was the best paced effort. Keely likely wanted to control at the front and not let Moraa get away but it made a difference over the final meters. These are 400m splits:
1 Mary MORAA KEN 55.67 2 Keely HODGKINSON GBR 55.85 +0.18 3 Audrey WERRO SUI 55.86 +0.19 4 Sage HURTA-KLECKER USA 56.06 +0.39 5 Georgia HUNTER BELL GBR 56.08 +0.41 6 Lilian ODIRA KEN 56.27 +0.60 7 Sarah MORAA KEN 56.48 +0.81
This post was edited 8 minutes after it was posted.