Wilson Kipketer. Watching him in person was something to behold.
This. I can also tell you that back in his era (which was also El G, Komen, Geb's era), Kipketer was the guy that almost every pro was like "he has the best form, by far". I ran against him and you can't imagine how light, balanced and easy he was running 24-25 second pace.
There have been greater movers - but Kipketer was really the poetry in motion.
Wilson Kipketer. Watching him in person was something to behold.
This. I can also tell you that back in his era (which was also El G, Komen, Geb's era), Kipketer was the guy that almost every pro was like "he has the best form, by far". I ran against him and you can't imagine how light, balanced and easy he was running 24-25 second pace.
There have been greater movers - but Kipketer was really the poetry in motion.
This. I can also tell you that back in his era (which was also El G, Komen, Geb's era), Kipketer was the guy that almost every pro was like "he has the best form, by far". I ran against him and you can't imagine how light, balanced and easy he was running 24-25 second pace.
There have been greater movers - but Kipketer was really the poetry in motion.
Yeah this is peak WK. And on the tight curves of the boards it just emphasizes his mechanics even more. The other crazy race which shows just how good his form was, is the 1.41.24 WR from Zurich when he goes out in 48.30. When you can hold it together in the final 150m off that wild pace, then you know you have something very special.
Running form does matter but I also think having/developing a form that is maxed out and can't be improved further isn't that rare either. So, there isn't a single person with best running form.
In the early 1980s I worked in the exercise phys lab at the University of Arizona.
We did a boatload of submaximal testing for running economy of the local runners...
What we found was that to a great degree... what looked like "good" form and actual running economy at those speeds really didn't correlate.
What we DID notice though is that people with low back kicks and people who's toes pointed inward during their back kick tended to have better running economy than guys with higher back kicks and toes pointing outward during back kick.
However, these were just observations from a group of maybe 75 local runners.
Rupp had really nice form. He worked hard on his athleticism and it showed. That 3:50 indoor mile really showcased his form.
Like everything, beautiful running form is a combination of talent and hard work. That hard work being form drills, agility training, stretching, weights, core work, dynamic stretching, plyometrics, speed work and limiting junk miles.