Jakob is great, which shows how awesome this year's field is. Three of the men in the field beat Jakob in his main event at the most recent Olympics when he was in 3:26 shape.
Both Kerr and Hocker have recently said they are in as good or better shape than they've ever been indoors. Hocker's tactics were good enough to win USAs, win Millrose, and win two global gold medals. Nuguse was sick earlier in the indoor season, which affected his results, but he's been feeling better since then and proved it by beating Young at USAs. Beamish has a track record of looking ordinary in the regular season and then winning when medals are on the line.
We agree that there's more than one way to evaluate the strength of a field. One way is to look at the top, and there's no denying this year's field has twice as many highly accomplished runners as last year.
The other way of looking at it is from the winner's vantage point. When someone wins a big race, we evaluate the quality of that win by looking at who he beat. Last year, Jakob beat one very serious threat and an otherwise ordinary field. Whoever wins this year will have to beat at least three bonafide extraordinary runners. Oh baby what a race!
Present fitness is the most important thing. All four of the runners you cited other than Hocker look far off their best. I could care less what they say their results speak for themselves.
Kerr hasn't raced in 6.5 weeks, so his word is the best thing we have to go by. Beamish has earned the benefit of the doubt. Nuguse proved himself by beating Young and making the US team along with Hocker.
Kerr hasn't raced in 6.5 weeks, so his word is the best thing we have to go by. Beamish has earned the benefit of the doubt. Nuguse proved himself by beating Young and making the US team along with Hocker.
Great field. Better than last year.
This field is undoubtedly deeper than last year’s. Ky Robinson won bronze last year and he is considered at best a long shot this year despite being a better runner than he was because you’d put the Olympic podium and Schrub above him. Yihune and Krop at their best are really good, though they might not be at A+ form. Then you have Habz and Corcoran too. That’s exceptionally deep for an indoor race.
This race is so compelling. There are 16 guys all hoping to establish the right position. That's a big field indoors. Hocker is proven consistent winner. Kerr is very good navigating the field and being in good position at the end. Nuguse is always in it but has been coming up just short. Beamish is also proven winner and devastating closer - he's true wildcard if his fitness is where it needs to be. Habz and Coscoran will mix it up too. Yihune and Wale may also be wildcards. A few of these entries are mystery and I don't know who they are. (How did Tesfay ERI get in with 8:07?) Will there be 2-3-4-5-6 guys in it at the bell??? They have many turns to figure it out, and I can hardly wait!
Geordie Beamish Andrew Coscoran Nicholas Griggs Azeddine Habz Cole Hocker Josh Kerr Jacob Krop Darragh McElhinney Luan Munnik Yared Nuguse Pol Oriach Yann Schrub Valentin Soca Alexander Tesfay Getnet Wale Addisu Yihune
This post was edited 58 seconds after it was posted.
The race is certainly an all-timer. You have the entire paris Olympic 1500m podium plus Beamish plus Jacob Krop (2022 Worlds 5,000 silver, 2023 Worlds 5,000 bronze).
I have Hocker allowing himself to get boxed and miss a medal, and Yared being out of the money in a tight finish witha the usual glazers claiming he would have won if not for a… b… c… etc. Beamish ftw.
How much of that was Hocker trying to conserve as much energy as possible in championships where he's doubling? Now that he only has one race to worry about, I think he'll run it more like Millrose. Hocker FTW.
I guess it's a logical enough theory, but I'm not so sure.
When you are talking about races to either qualify for world events or world finals themselves, the concept of "saving energy" - especially in finals really isn't relevant.
The 5000m races outdoors are always after the 1500m so I'm not sure what he would be saving energy for in those cases. In the 1500m races "saving energy" cost him a spot in the world 1500m final which he had the ability to win, and a start at the world indoor 1500m which he also had the ability to win. Sure, most of these guys at his level can save energy in the heats - I don't think any of them are actively thinking about saving energy in semi-finals or finals.
The other thing - leading a race, getting shuffled back in the pack and having to then go around bodies in a frenetic finish is the opposite of saving energy - it's actually a very inefficient way to run and uses more energy.
You might be right and he does try and front run the final gun to tape. I'd personally be surprised if he did but happy to get that wrong because if he does he will most likely win in emphatic fashion.
Present fitness is the most important thing. All four of the runners you cited other than Hocker look far off their best. I could care less what they say their results speak for themselves.
Kerr hasn't raced in 6.5 weeks, so his word is the best thing we have to go by. Beamish has earned the benefit of the doubt. Nuguse proved himself by beating Young and making the US team along with Hocker.
Great field. Better than last year.
If your bar for an impressive field is beating Nico Young then you have no idea what you are talking about.
Kerr hasn't raced in 6.5 weeks, so his word is the best thing we have to go by. Beamish has earned the benefit of the doubt. Nuguse proved himself by beating Young and making the US team along with Hocker.
Great field. Better than last year.
If your bar for an impressive field is beating Nico Young then you have no idea what you are talking about.
I know Nico Young won a Diamond League race last year. I know he had the 3rd fastest 5000 time in the world last year. I know he had 6th and 5th place finishes in Tokyo. I know he won the 3000 at the Sound Invite with a 26.06 close. I know he's currently ranked #3 in the world in the 3000 to 5000 event group. I know beating him is impressive.
I know this year's world indoor championship 3k field is better than last year's.
Kerr hasn't raced in 6.5 weeks, so his word is the best thing we have to go by. Beamish has earned the benefit of the doubt. Nuguse proved himself by beating Young and making the US team along with Hocker.
Great field. Better than last year.
If your bar for an impressive field is beating Nico Young then you have no idea what you are talking about.
Nico Young ran 12:45 closing in 55 to take down Kejelcha and Gebrihwet last year. Beating that guy isn't impressive?
Nico Young ran 12:45 closing in 55 to take down Kejelcha and Gebrihwet last year. Beating that guy isn't impressive?
I don’t really understand the obsession with listing out a bunch of accolades as if they mean anything currently.
Cool man, he won one race against two guys who were far off their best…not sure how thats relevant to this indoor season
If you're judging the quality of a field only by their indoor track season results going into the championships, then that's a point against last year's field because Aregawi didn't run any indoor races last year before Nanjing. He had only run a XC race in early January. His form and sharpness was a big question mark going into Nanjing, especially after he backed out of an announced half-marathon debut at Lisbon.
The race is certainly an all-timer. You have the entire paris Olympic 1500m podium plus Beamish plus Jacob Krop (2022 Worlds 5,000 silver, 2023 Worlds 5,000 bronze).
I have Hocker allowing himself to get boxed and miss a medal, and Yared being out of the money in a tight finish witha the usual glazers claiming he would have won if not for a… b… c… etc. Beamish ftw.
Reminds me of the “glazers” who can’t admit Hocker was blocked in Paris when he took down Yared and bigmouth Kerr. It was Yared this, Yared that. Ignoring Cole’s great last 60 meters.
This race is so compelling. There are 16 guys all hoping to establish the right position. That's a big field indoors. Hocker is proven consistent winner. Kerr is very good navigating the field and being in good position at the end. Nuguse is always in it but has been coming up just short. Beamish is also proven winner and devastating closer - he's true wildcard if his fitness is where it needs to be. Habz and Coscoran will mix it up too. Yihune and Wale may also be wildcards. A few of these entries are mystery and I don't know who they are. (How did Tesfay ERI get in with 8:07?) Will there be 2-3-4-5-6 guys in it at the bell??? They have many turns to figure it out, and I can hardly wait!
Geordie Beamish Andrew Coscoran Nicholas Griggs Azeddine Habz Cole Hocker Josh Kerr Jacob Krop Darragh McElhinney Luan Munnik Yared Nuguse Pol Oriach Yann Schrub Valentin Soca Alexander Tesfay Getnet Wale Addisu Yihune
How is it that Ireland has three guys in this field: Griggs, Coscoran, McElhinney?
I don’t really understand the obsession with listing out a bunch of accolades as if they mean anything currently.
Cool man, he won one race against two guys who were far off their best…not sure how thats relevant to this indoor season
If you're judging the quality of a field only by their indoor track season results going into the championships, then that's a point against last year's field because Aregawi didn't run any indoor races last year before Nanjing. He had only run a XC race in early January. His form and sharpness was a big question mark going into Nanjing, especially after he backed out of an announced half-marathon debut at Lisbon.
If your bar for an impressive field is beating Nico Young then you have no idea what you are talking about.
I know Nico Young won a Diamond League race last year. I know he had the 3rd fastest 5000 time in the world last year. I know he had 6th and 5th place finishes in Tokyo. I know he won the 3000 at the Sound Invite with a 26.06 close. I know he's currently ranked #3 in the world in the 3000 to 5000 event group. I know beating him is impressive.
I know this year's world indoor championship 3k field is better than last year's.
So he won the Sound Invite with a 26.06 last lap. Tons of guys can do that.
Which race is harder to win, one against the GOAT of the 3000m? Or one against a few qualified guys who have mostly looked ordinary going into the race (other than Hocker). It’s deep but not as strong. Last year is arguably harder to win.
If you're judging the quality of a field only by their indoor track season results going into the championships, then that's a point against last year's field because Aregawi didn't run any indoor races last year before Nanjing. He had only run a XC race in early January. His form and sharpness was a big question mark going into Nanjing, especially after he backed out of an announced half-marathon debut at Lisbon.
I never mentioned Aregawi
Who else could you have been referring to on the previous page when you said last year's field had a "runner with a silver medal in the OG 2024 10.000m and 2x silver medals in Worlds Xcountry and 2 WRs (5k and 10 k road)." That sounds like Aregawi to me.
The point is if you're only going to look at this year's indoor track season results for evaluating the quality of this year's field, you should do the same thing for last year's field. Last year, Aregawi had no indoor track races at all and no race results of any kind within 10 weeks of Nanjing. He had announced he was preparing for a half marathon. World indoors appears to have been a late change of plan.
Which race is harder to win, one against the GOAT of the 3000m? Or one against a few qualified guys who have mostly looked ordinary going into the race (other than Hocker). It’s deep but not as strong. Last year is arguably harder to win.
The race with 4 highly accomplished runners who are all focused on just that one race is harder to win than the race with only 2 highly accomplished runners who aren't focused solely on the race.
Last year, Jakob was doubling and he was distracted by his family's court case. Turns out he was on the verge of physical breakdown. He barely beat Aregawi, who had been preparing for a half marathon rather than getting sharp by racing indoors.
Which race is harder to win, one against the GOAT of the 3000m? Or one against a few qualified guys who have mostly looked ordinary going into the race (other than Hocker). It’s deep but not as strong. Last year is arguably harder to win.
The race with 4 highly accomplished runners who are all focused on just that one race is harder to win than the race with only 2 highly accomplished runners who aren't focused solely on the race.
Last year, Jakob was doubling and he was distracted by his family's court case. Turns out he was on the verge of physical breakdown. He barely beat Aregawi, who had been preparing for a half marathon rather than getting sharp by racing indoors.
Again, there are levels to this. Merely giving them labels such as "highly accomplished runners" ignores just how good Jakob is. He is undefeated in the 3000m since 2020. He is the WR holder. He has shown he can finish fast off of slow and fast paces. He can win any type of race. Even when he is "on the verge of physical breakdown" (exagerated much?) he can still close fast. Beamish is not even close to that level of ability. Hocker has shown that he is beatable when his tactics are off and in a fast race his kick is reduced. Kerr looked weak at the Millrose Games 2 Mile and scratching a race he really wanted to run at British Champs due to an injury doesn't give hope. It's not even close really. Jakob had to double back from a heat win the day before and Aregawi impeded him from running even faster over the last 800 so your point is both unfair and weak.