Uceny goes down! Uceny goes down!

In a tight quarters race, Uceny's advanceing left leg was knocked off line by the advancing right knee of Ethiopia's Aregawi, pushing Uceny's left leg into her own right calf. Her right leg was not there to support her on her next step, and down she went.

1. girl with red uni and bleach blond hair is totally boxed in at the bell and pushed aregawi to get out.

2. aregawi panics and moves out suddenly into the space where uceny's legs are extending behind her.

3. aregawi's thigh clips unceny's heel and down she goes.

all i can say is maybe she should have moved a little sooner...but really uceny got the shaft. stupid tactical races suck anyway.

I just watched the reply multiple times. It is not at all obvious what happened, but it seems her knee brushed (barely touched) on the back-kick of the Russian in front of her. In itself, that did not appear to be enough to cause the fall. Instead, it seems she reacted and kind of jumped, tripping herself as her left foot clipped her calf on the next stride.

It was almost as if she freaked out when brushing the runner in front, thinking, "FooK! Here I go again!"

Very disheartening. I look forward to hearing her interpretation of what happened.

I cannot decipher any contact between Uceny and Aregawi, although they are very close and it is possible. Aregawi does react after seeing Uceny loose her balance, however. Instead, I think she brushed the runner in front, reacted with a jump to prevent further contact with the runner in front, lost her balance, and tripped herself.

Again, none of this is obvious, so it will be interesting to hear her account.

correctionnnn wrote:

1. girl with red uni and bleach blond hair is totally boxed in at the bell and pushed aregawi to get out.

2. aregawi panics and moves out suddenly into the space where uceny's legs are extending behind her.

3. aregawi's thigh clips unceny's heel and down she goes.

all i can say is maybe she should have moved a little sooner...but really uceny got the shaft. stupid tactical races suck anyway.

This - It was what I thought happened at first glance watching the race; that a trickle effect from that inside lane boxing caught her in some way and tripped her - the video common posted proves the exact opposite of his claim and shows the end of that where the ethiopian's right knee catches Uceny's left heal which bumps it into her calf.

student wrote:

I cannot decipher any contact between Uceny and Aregawi, although they are very close and it is possible. Aregawi does react after seeing Uceny loose her balance, however. Instead, I think she brushed the runner in front, reacted with a jump to prevent further contact with the runner in front, lost her balance, and tripped herself.

Again, none of this is obvious, so it will be interesting to hear her account.

Looknig at this

I see Uceny's left heel hittin Aregawi's knee/thigh. Uceny is already bringing her leg through, but her foot has been knocked a little to the right, which hits her right calf.

A real bummer.

Twelve women in the race. Initially an extremely slow pace so everyone is still in it. The pace has just picked up very fast. You're running wide so you don't get boxed, which means those on the inside are boxed. Everyone behind you is going to try to get past you. A recipe for disaster. Ucency's tactical mistake was that once the pace picked up, she needed to stay toward the front, rather than dropping back as she did. My question would be what in the world is she doing in seventh place at that point rather than second, third, or fourth.

student wrote:

Again, none of this is obvious, so it will be interesting to hear HER account.

Her account will certainly be to blame others and not take responsibility for poor race tactics and ultimate fall.

Thank god for Rudisha. Finally a track athlete (above 400 meters) who actually competes, pushes the limits, and doesn't tolerate the bullshit games that have been plaguing championship mid-D and Dist racing for too long. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this Womens 1500- with or without the fall - set a new low for embarrassing competition. How does a fringe sport that loses more fans with each passing year ever hope to regain popularity when it allows the competitors in a championship race to effectively not show up for 75% of the race. The IOC should not award any medals for this race - I'm sure there's some arcane rule about maintaining the integrity of sport and competing in good faith. This was a joke. Who cares is she fell - this wasn't even a race.

Montesquieu wrote:

My question would be what in the world is she doing in seventh place at that point rather than second, third, or fourth.

Trying to run faster?

Is she woulda took it out that wouldn't have happened. One of the worst races I've ever seen

justafan wrote:

Thank god for Rudisha. Finally a track athlete (above 400 meters) who actually competes, pushes the limits, and doesn't tolerate the bullshit games that have been plaguing championship mid-D and Dist racing for too long. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this Womens 1500- with or without the fall - set a new low for embarrassing competition. How does a fringe sport that loses more fans with each passing year ever hope to regain popularity when it allows the competitors in a championship race to effectively not show up for 75% of the race. The IOC should not award any medals for this race - I'm sure there's some arcane rule about maintaining the integrity of sport and competing in good faith. This was a joke. Who cares is she fell - this wasn't even a race.

This is why I suggested in a thread a couple of days ago that they have a 'B' final in middle distance races for the athletes who just miss out on the 'A' final right before the 'A' and let times between the two finals determine the overall placings, like they do in speed skating and the swimming heats. Probably some fast women who ran poor tactical races in the semis would have gone for it in the 'B' final and clocked 4:01 or 4:02, if not faster. That way, you would be guaranteed to get an honest effort out of the athletes in the 'A' final, as the favorites would know that they would have to go faster than the 'B' winners to win the race.

It would still be a strategic race - not a time trial - as there are multiple women in the 'A' final capable of that time, but they would have to work together to ensure that the pace is on target. Another positive from changing the format would be that it would allow twice as many athletes to qualify for a 'final' which would mean more countries represented and, in turn, more coverage of the sport in countries who otherwise might not broadcast a women's 5000m final, if none of their athletes were qualified.

Of course, this being letsrun, I was told to get lost for even considering that the status quo, while usually entertaining, might not be optimal for showcasing our sport at the Olympics. Whatever. I think that changing the sport would be the best thing for distance running. As you said, the crowd went wild for Rudisha, as they do for any GREAT performance. We're not selling the incredible athletic prowess of distance runners by having women running 75+ second laps in an Olympic final. It seems such a waste that athletes are spending their whole lives peaking for these races, in front of the entire World, but not running world-class times at the one time that casual sports fans are watching and could possibly be hooked on the sport.

Me thinks that her coach doesn't know jack about 1500m tactics. She has the worst positioning on the track. She opts to run in Lane 2/3 outside shoulder of the leaders, the worst position because she is paranoid and trying to run safely, yet it's the only position that is in the way oF EVERY SINGLE runner behind her trying to pass.

She needs to watch some footage of Mo Farah or the Algerian dude. She needs to learn to get in Lane 1 and live with it, make moves and get out. Stop running in Lane 2 like a rookie.

Fool me once, shame on me...

justafan wrote:

"Thank god for Rudisha. Finally a track athlete (above 400 meters) who actually competes, pushes the limits, and doesn't tolerate the bullshit games that have been plaguing championship mid-D and Dist racing for too long. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this Womens 1500- with or without the fall - set a new low for embarrassing competition. How does a fringe sport that loses more fans with each passing year ever hope to regain popularity when it allows the competitors in a championship race to effectively not show up for 75% of the race. The IOC should not award any medals for this race - I'm sure there's some arcane rule about maintaining the integrity of sport and competing in good faith. This was a joke. Who cares is she fell - this wasn't even a race."

*************

This is off topic, but actually, if you go all the way to 1984, there was a 19-year-old from Inkster, MI, who routinely took it out in the the 800m in 49-point and would hang on for dear life for 1:43-point. Earl the Pearl. Rudisha is not the innovator in that regard. Heck, he is running very even pace, when you think about it. Maybe he should try going out in 47.

I feel sorry for Uceny. A victim of more gutless tactical racing. Had the group been running an honest pace instead of walking into a sit-and-kick finish, the field would have been more spread out and this would not have happened.

When you run a GUTLESS...TACTICAL..."race", you get what you deserve.

I only disagree with this author when he says he will be interested to hear Useny's account of what happened. The video is better evidence than Useny's recollection.

I still haven't seen the race, but there is no point in analyzing this like it's the Zapruder film of the kennedy assassination. These are not set up record attempts: it's real racing, no rabbits, and you have to be ready for whatever comes your way, like Mo Farah was. SSpeed isn't everything. You need to be able to find an opening. You need to be able to use an elbow when you have to. It's a tough sport.

I am a Cornell alum and a big Useny fan. Very sorry for what happened, and I hope she comes back to do great things. She has time yet. It's a rough and tumble sport at this level. No one is going to walk out to a big lead and waltz to an Olympic gold medal. Well, maybe Rudisha is an exception to the rule. Thank you.

The fall is unfortunate, but a result of her positioning in a crowded race that had just pick up speed. The great ones rarely get caught up in a situation like that--or they seem to find a way out.

But what I can't figure is her reaction. Tumbles down, and rather than rolling with it (literally), getting up and fighting for every last 100th of a second, she slams her hands down and initiates a bawl fest.

idiotttt wrote:

aregawi was a goddam idiot...got herself shuffled to the back and then tripped morgan to get out so she could run. very happy she died in the last 20m. f her

+1

My thoughts exactly...even if I did have Aregawi 2nd in my prediction contest, I'm glad she didn't get a medal.

But why? wrote:

But what I can't figure is her reaction. Tumbles down, and rather than rolling with it (literally), getting up and fighting for every last 100th of a second, she slams her hands down and initiates a bawl fest.

Couldn't agree more. She could have been remembered for getting up and making a gutsy effort to get back in the race, but instead that image of her slamming her hands on the track will be the one that sticks with her.