I don´t know so much about Kerr´s training and racing but isn´t he doing more less the same as the previous years and that seems to have been quite successful!
Jakob likes to race a lot in the season (he doesn´t like training) and yes I think he will take the many Euro races as sharpeners. And that is a good chance he will leave the Euros in improved shape.
Some people here think it is risky, including the Yorkshire guy, but I think it is a mistake. Jakob can possible qualify for the finals without going all in so it is really just and efficient way to sharpen. Even an intense 1500m final is something you recover from within some few days.
I have been both an elite (amateur) soccer player and an elite (master) runner and I can testify that a soccer match is much more tiresome than a 1500m or 5000m race.
And the professional soccer players play matches once or twice per week in most of the year. And some of them (Giggs, Ronaldo, Messi) are on the top of the world for 20+ years.
By the way : The soccer players also sharpens by competing. You can be in good shape when the season starts but you are not at your best before you have played a number of matches.
Finally: Remember the old saying: You can endure double as much as you think and...........
10 times as much as your mother thinks.
Am I the ‘Yorkshire guy’?!
I think what works for one person doesn’t work for another. Jakob has always raced lots. I personally think that’s a slightly higher risk strategy (see losing/being ill/being injured) in terms of peaking when it counts. How’s that gone for him? Yes he wins lots of DL races. He should win the major championships really..
Kerr peaks when it counts. He’s more selective about racing with eyes on the big prize. This isn’t unusual! Have you seen Faith Kipyegon this year? Is she racing every week to ‘race in to shape for the Olympics?’ No she’s yet to race..
I don’t mind Jakob, I think he brings a lot to the sport. His tactic is high risk but potentially high reward. That’s how he likes to play it.
Doesn’t mean Kerr is doing it wrong though!
Yes, Kerr peaks when it counts with his one gold, not Jakob with his three.
Replied to you but really to the OP. Wightman doesn't have a guaranteed place at the Olympics yet. Now he has the standard from Pre, he has to ensure he comes top 2 (or 3 if Kerr competes) in the 1500m at the British Championships at the end of June.
Kerr has the discretionary third place due to his Budapest gold so isn't under the same pressure but going on recent history he will be expected to make an appearance at the Championships. He may run the 800m again like last year.
Jakob is obviously guaranteed an Olympics berth so national championships is much less important and not something he has to peak for. The same for other global medalists who are going (Mondo, Bolt etc).
With this in mind, it doesn't make sense for Wightman to compete at Euros and compromise the trials, especially coming off injury. With Kerr there is less of an argument for not making himself available for selection, except that competing for continental titles is a step down from competing for global champs. As a British fan of athletics it's not something that anyone will hold against him. The athletes going will enjoy a lot of support and should be good enough to make the final and compete for medals.
This seems pretty compelling, Euros then British trials then Olympics is a lot
I think what works for one person doesn’t work for another. Jakob has always raced lots. I personally think that’s a slightly higher risk strategy (see losing/being ill/being injured) in terms of peaking when it counts. How’s that gone for him? Yes he wins lots of DL races. He should win the major championships really..
Kerr peaks when it counts. He’s more selective about racing with eyes on the big prize. This isn’t unusual! Have you seen Faith Kipyegon this year? Is she racing every week to ‘race in to shape for the Olympics?’ No she’s yet to race..
I don’t mind Jakob, I think he brings a lot to the sport. His tactic is high risk but potentially high reward. That’s how he likes to play it.
Doesn’t mean Kerr is doing it wrong though!
Yes, Kerr peaks when it counts with his one gold, not Jakob with his three.
Seriously, Kerr has a gold and a bronze. Jakob has three golds and two silvers and is three years younger. But let's keep talking about how Josh and not Jakob is always ready and peaks when medals are on the line, lol. Josh is having a moment, but he's way less consistent than Jakob and when all is said and done I'm sure we'll remember Kerr's 2023 and 2024 seasons but Jakob is the only one of the two who will be an all-time great.
Park run and a local club meet aren’t the same as the Olympics champ
See my post #47. Are you man to take the challenge?
What challenge? The one that demonstrates who knows more about elite training? You already lost that when you started citing the frequency of pro soccer matches as some sort of indication that pro runners should race a lot. Your PB is completely irrelevant to that discussion.
I think what works for one person doesn’t work for another. Jakob has always raced lots. I personally think that’s a slightly higher risk strategy (see losing/being ill/being injured) in terms of peaking when it counts. How’s that gone for him? Yes he wins lots of DL races. He should win the major championships really..
Kerr peaks when it counts. He’s more selective about racing with eyes on the big prize. This isn’t unusual! Have you seen Faith Kipyegon this year? Is she racing every week to ‘race in to shape for the Olympics?’ No she’s yet to race..
I don’t mind Jakob, I think he brings a lot to the sport. His tactic is high risk but potentially high reward. That’s how he likes to play it.
Doesn’t mean Kerr is doing it wrong though!
Yes, Kerr peaks when it counts with his one gold, not Jakob with his three.
I’m talking about recent form - not what people were doing 5 years ago or when they were 15. Jakob may have more medals. But in the last 2 years (and thus recent form). Jakob has lost out at the major world championships.
You can hate Kerr all you like but you must have seen the change in him recently. He is a different runner to what he was 3 years ago and even then he still won bronze at the Olympics in a highly competitive field. His trajectory is upwards. I think we are yet to really see what Jakob’s trajectory will be this year.
This post was edited 30 seconds after it was posted.
Euros? Nobody cares about the Euros to be honest. Many of our best athletes miss them. No credit to Jakob for winning a European medal (sorry) and I bet he feels the same. Let’s be honest the Olympics and the World’s are the ones that count.
I also don’t care what anyone was doing in 2017! That was 7 years ago. I am talking about recent form. Recent world championships- that is what matters. You’ve seen the change in Kerr. He wasn’t competitive in 2016/2017. He is now. Now counts.
Weak arguments.
Why do you use the phrase “nobody cares” when you know it’s incorrect? (It takes only one person who cares in the whole world to make it so..). Why choose to use such an un precise garbage language..?
You are of course allowed to claim that nobody should care about Euros. But my point was only that compared with some indoors worlds champs the competition sometimes is pretty fierce in the Euros (multiple WC medalist also there). Why don’t you confront my point directly, instead of taking an indirectly approach? Don’t you understand that this makes you a weak poster?
And you end your post as if I have called Kerr not competitive, when I as a matter of fact has called him the current best…
Once again, Jakob does not do race specific stuff in training. It's almost entirely high end threshold with exception of 200 reps. He NEEDS Euros to sharpen up. Josh and Jake do race-specific stuff in training so they don't need Euros.
3x1500m and 2x5000m will always hit specificity more than 12x400m or ladders.
Be serious. Does it matter who the "European champion" is? Maybe at alpine skiing, darts, netball or some other niche Euro sport. But not track.
Be serious! Jakob is never gonna highlight "European champion" on his resume. Sorry Europe, you suck. Low bar.
European champion, a badge of honor, worn with pride. Like warrior's scar, shows battles fought, challenges overcome.
Europe, not just landmass, but cauldron of talent, where best clash like swords in arena. To rise above, not just luck, but fire in belly, spirit that never say die.
Champions like Zatopek, Hassan, Mondo, like mountain peaks, stand tall, symbols of strength, beacons for others. They show what possible, inspire dreams in hearts of many.
So, don't scoff at European crown. It mark of resilience, of dedication, of refusing to give up. It proof that even in crowded field, one flower can bloom brighter than rest.
Remember, true greatness not just in winning world, but in conquering self, and self can be conqured in Europe.
Your worrying on Jakob´s behalf is really touching.
By the way: Kerr has NEVER run in the European senior champs to my knowledge. He participated in the U20 X country in Chia 2016 where he placed a respectable 32 sec behind 16 years old Jakob.
Here is a link if it is not too painful for you to watch
This year many athletes are missing the Euros - Kerr, Laura Muir, Wightman to name but a few. Most athletes do care more about global medals as the competition is tougher. That’s a fact. And I live in Europe- I think I have more of a steer on what European athletes care about.
Your worrying on Jakob´s behalf is really touching.
By the way: Kerr has NEVER run in the European senior champs to my knowledge. He participated in the U20 X country in Chia 2016 where he placed a respectable 32 sec behind 16 years old Jakob.
Here is a link if it is not too painful for you to watch
If I am like Jakob then why do you never bag him like you try to do to me? You're ful of sh*t. You never prove me wrong here. You are never right about anything.
Two egotists who think they are better than everyone else. Yup. You are the same. Thanks for proving it once again with that post.
So you liken an anonymous 70 year old poster in a message board, who no one knows or cares about, to a world-leading Olympic athlete, who is the subject of thread after thread on this site. Your obsession with another anonymous poster knows no limits.
Yes, Kerr peaks when it counts with his one gold, not Jakob with his three.
I’m talking about recent form - not what people were doing 5 years ago or when they were 15. Jakob may have more medals. But in the last 2 years (and thus recent form). Jakob has lost out at the major world championships.
You can hate Kerr all you like but you must have seen the change in him recently. He is a different runner to what he was 3 years ago and even then he still won bronze at the Olympics in a highly competitive field. His trajectory is upwards. I think we are yet to really see what Jakob’s trajectory will be this year.
In the last 2 years (2022-) Jakob has won:
2xWC gold
2xWC silver
4x EC gold outdoors
WC silver indoors
2x EC gold indoors
3x Diamond League golds
EC cross country gold.
If this is losing out at the major championships then rest of the field of runners must really suck.
Its Ok to have different opinions, but lets stick to the same reality. If you are going to give Kerr (rightly) credit for his olympic bronze, it seems weird to brush away 4 world championship medals and say his olympic gold is to long ago.
This post was edited 4 minutes after it was posted.
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