Clayton Murphy disappeared!!!!!!!

CalBears44 wrote:

Women's and Men's 800m races were completely different. Women went out at PR pace for the women in the field and therefore it was very likely some of them would tie up on the homestretch. Meanwhile the men must've thought they were running the 1500m as the field came through in 54 mid with Murphy dead last.

You're not catching anyone the last 100m when you've spotted the leaders 10+ meters after going out in 54.5 unless you're in 1:38 shape.

I agree. To add to what you said, the races had completely different components. If the women's field was as similar as the men's it's likely to have been slow as the leader would be doomed to fade late. However, Mu has a 3-4 second faster 400 PR thus could control things from the front without issue.

Same goes if one of the men in the field was a 1:40 guy with 44-45 speed, the male equivalent of Mu.

Pissant is just devastated that this was the first 800m Olympic final since 1984 in which a North African wasn't present.

Thank heavens for Sebastian Coe finally putting an end to full throttle doping in that region.

Someone really hurt your feelings. Like really bad I’m assuming. Get better soon.

No clue how this guy medaled five years ago. I must of missed that race. He made it further than any other American so I can’t bad mouth him too much but be sucks lol. Whoops.

Brazier wasn’t the one displaying his cast, he was saying it was nothing a champion couldn’t overcome

I think Engels wanted to discretely show in his insta story that Brazier had a stress fracture, to let us know what really happened because that was his friend and he wants to stick up for him

As I watched Murphy go through the rounds i thought he didn't quite look like he wasin medal form. But he is generally a good tactician and I thought he'd give himself a shot.

But then he misjudged what was happening around him on the break and let that wall form in front of him. I give him credit for using his hands to keep from being held up too badly, but it was always going to be a heavy lift at that point.

Essentially, he was left with two bad options: (a) go out to lane 3 and make a big costly move to get into a better place, or (b) drop back to get to the rail and hope the race would come back to him. He chose B, but as many have pointed out, last place off a slow pace is a bad place to be.

While I don't think he has his best stuff right now, I think he could have snuck into bronze if he had that first 150 to do over. even drawing lane 7 or 8 could have made a huge difference, because it's easier to get into an advantageous position from there.

So yeah, he kind blew it, but I'm not going to slay the guy. Hopefully he's in peak form again next summer and he gets a better result.

He just didn't have as good a kick.

The leader (Peter Bol) came through at 53.8. The ultimate winner (Emmanuel Korir) 54.0. Murphy came through in 9th place in 54.5.

The second lap - the winner ran 51.0 and Murphy ran a 52.0. Bol actually ran 52.1. Only Amos with a 52.4 had a slower last lap.

Murphy obviously needed to be capable of 50.5 or faster to get to the lead which would have been a faster second lap than anyone ran that day. Not sure if it's weather, fitness, or perhaps his positioning going into the final lap. But today, he didn't have it.

I want to add to what one of the Brojos said earlier -

Murphy typically sat closer to the back of the fields in the trials and in these rounds. He relied on his kick to blast past everyone in the last 200m. But when the pace was so slow to start, and a 53.8 has to be among the slower first laps of an 800m final in decades, Murphy needed to be at the front. To the extent he could run faster than the field over the last 200m, his poor positioning and the lack of significant fatigue in the other runners' legs negated the effectiveness (if any) of Murphy's "kick."

This. The rest of you crazy lunatics are WAAAAY overthinking this. He didn’t have the energy, today, plain and simple.

Heats and semis he had a big acceleration in the final 100. Was in perfect position to use it.

Today he wasn’t in position and had to go wide. Couldn’t get into high gear.

This is the racing we saw after the trials. I’m wondering if perhaps he isn’t doing enough fast running during his warm up to get his engine pumping and comes out flat in some of his races.

Also his navigating the last 100m weaving through competitors isn’t a reliable strategy. He needs to make his own race and take control when the pace is too slow.

This was the kind of race for Isaiah to take out and go wire to wire.

Still a great season for Murphy. OT Champ and Olympic finalist.

Every guy over 1:45? Nick Symmonds ran 1:42 high and got 5th! Weird. Murph seems to be an up and down dude.

An elite level 800 gives an individual the chance to make one move in a race and that move will dictate where they finish, as everyone is capable of running fast (unless your name happens to be Rudisha in his prime). Hanging back and relying on his kick has worked well for him in the past. It didn't work in this race because of the slow early pace (the other runners still had kick in their legs). It was a bad race, it happens to everyone, even the best of them. The 800 is a finnicky race that way. You could put those same 8 athletes in a race next week, and you would likely get a different result.

ceccione wrote:

Anyone not at the front of a 53.5 opening lap was SLEEPING

You can't fit everyone at the front.

Clearly we had a field full of guys who thought they were great kickers.

joed|rt wrote:The 800 is a finnicky race that way. You could put those same 8 athletes in a race next week, and you would likely get a different result.

Donovan Brazier approves of this post.

Well all that chest pumping at the trials and this is what happens when cockiness takes over. Donovan was obviously injured and you are just not in his atmosphere and haven’t done much since ’16. Whatever dude you suck and I am loving it.

He reminds me of Borzakovskiy. That guy always was way behind then finished like a madman, sometimes not until 50 meters left. However, it sometimes backfired on him and he would either just fall short of gold or not be even a factor.

joed|rt wrote:

An elite level 800 gives an individual the chance to make one move in a race and that move will dictate where they finish, ...

The initial after the break to the rail is critical for setting up the race.

The makeup of Murphy's race was decided soon after they all broke to the rail. Korir's strategy was tops: get out front at pole position, slow it down for the first lap..(but then probably go with anyone on that first lap that wants to go). When Korir (and whomever) up front slowed it down, all of those that didn't make it to the early pole-position bunched up; Murphy pushed Amos for space, then went backward to try and avoid trouble, but that was not a good strategy because the first lap remained slow and bunched up. (Maybe if Jewitt had been in the race, it would have strung out a little more?)

Regardless, Murphy made a split decision early and gambled by going to the back after the initial bunching in order to avoid trouble. In retrospect, maybe he should have continued to fight for the front rail pole position (even after pushing Amos), but with his suspicious hammy, maybe he had already thrown out the idea of contributing to making it a fast race before the gun went off.

2:0X Scrub wrote:

This is the racing we saw after the trials. I’m wondering if perhaps he isn’t doing enough fast running during his warm up to get his engine pumping and comes out flat in some of his races.

Also his navigating the last 100m weaving through competitors isn’t a reliable strategy. He needs to make his own race and take control when the pace is too slow.

This was the kind of race for Isaiah to take out and go wire to wire.

Still a great season for Murphy. OT Champ and Olympic finalist.

I'd say with his experience and record of success that he rarely alters his warmup routine.