Hot take but .. could it just mean that holt is getting better?
Will the track and field karma gods strike down on Messrs Holt and Kessler in 2 weeks time on the fabled tartan of Hayward Field?
50m to go and Kessler holds the 3rd and final spot for Paris.... but wait! The mighty gods of karma bellow...
"DID THOU REALLY STEP OFF THE TRACK IN THE BOWERMAN MILE AFTER BEING AWARDED THE PRIVILEGE OF THE START? COULD THOU NOT HAVE CONTINUED IN THE SAME VEIN OF COOPER TEARE WHO SUFFERED A MORE EGREGIOUS SETBACK?!"
Then boom, like a flash of lightning the ultimate embodiment of a journeyman - Eric Holt, overlooked for years - no massive shoe deal or hype, comes steamrolling past him like a man possessed and gets the 3rd spot in what is certainly his final shot at Olympic immortality?
This is 100% going to happen.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Man New York deserves Oly trials over Eugene. They should build a stadium and add it as a diamond league stop.
You've got to be kidding. Deserves? Sure, there's a lot of people nearby who can fill seats, but this organization can't even provide functional blocks. It was like a high-school meet with people standing on the blocks to keep them from slipping. The danger slipping blocks exposes these athlete to only a few days from the Olympic Trials is unforgivable and certainly doesn't make them deserving of anything but ridicule.
Dude, but if it was hosting Worlds or DL meets or Trials, don't you think those administrative issues would become non issues? Come on man... SMH
Put Hayward’s stadium at Icahn and we would get packed crowds for the trials
Maybe. Don't forget that there were a lot of Jamaican fans at Icahn just as there are at Penn Relays. Will those fans show up for a U.S. Olympic Trials in N.Y.?
Hobbs Kessler's best and most significant race was World indoors this year where he took the bronze. He elbowed his way to the front from the gun and hung on until 20 meters to go when he got nipped by Hocker and Beamish.
That is how he makes the Oly team in Eugene. There are downsides to front running of course, but in his unique case the pros of him not tangling with people in the pack outweigh the cons of leading.
In a 1500m final where the top two competitors each set personal bests, it was New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish holding off Americans Cole Hocker (silver) and H...
Hot take but .. could it just mean that holt is getting better?
Will the track and field karma gods strike down on Messrs Holt and Kessler in 2 weeks time on the fabled tartan of Hayward Field?
50m to go and Kessler holds the 3rd and final spot for Paris.... but wait! The mighty gods of karma bellow...
"DID THOU REALLY STEP OFF THE TRACK IN THE BOWERMAN MILE AFTER BEING AWARDED THE PRIVILEGE OF THE START? COULD THOU NOT HAVE CONTINUED IN THE SAME VEIN OF COOPER TEARE WHO SUFFERED A MORE EGREGIOUS SETBACK?!"
Then boom, like a flash of lightning the ultimate embodiment of a journeyman - Eric Holt, overlooked for years - no massive shoe deal or hype, comes steamrolling past him like a man possessed and gets the 3rd spot in what is certainly his final shot at Olympic immortality?
This is 100% going to happen.
Holt doesn’t have the standard right? if so, doesn’t really matter if he gets third unless he manages to move up massively in world ranking.
edit: he’s 40th in world ranking so would go if he gets 3rd
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Eh, who cares. I don't think this now indicates Holt is the superior runner over Kessler. There's a reason we hold a championship event - whether that be Worlds of Olympics - and don't just count the number of wins a runner has during the season to determine who the best runner is. Championships are what determines who the best are as that's when the each runner has put all the eggs in the basket, so to speak.
These mid-races mean very little, although it would have been nice to see him finish at the Bowerman as that was a race where everybody was really aiming to run well. This race was just a tuneup.
Will the track and field karma gods strike down on Messrs Holt and Kessler in 2 weeks time on the fabled tartan of Hayward Field?
50m to go and Kessler holds the 3rd and final spot for Paris.... but wait! The mighty gods of karma bellow...
"DID THOU REALLY STEP OFF THE TRACK IN THE BOWERMAN MILE AFTER BEING AWARDED THE PRIVILEGE OF THE START? COULD THOU NOT HAVE CONTINUED IN THE SAME VEIN OF COOPER TEARE WHO SUFFERED A MORE EGREGIOUS SETBACK?!"
Then boom, like a flash of lightning the ultimate embodiment of a journeyman - Eric Holt, overlooked for years - no massive shoe deal or hype, comes steamrolling past him like a man possessed and gets the 3rd spot in what is certainly his final shot at Olympic immortality?
This is 100% going to happen.
Holt doesn’t have the standard right? if so, doesn’t really matter if he gets third unless he manages to move up massively in world ranking.
edit: he’s 40th in world ranking so would go if he gets 3rd
is that how it works? I thought if we had 3 spots, we had 3 spots. That’s why CJ albertson’s rank mattered for Lenard Korir’s chances of going to Paris (CJ had the highest rank)
Eh, who cares. I don't think this now indicates Holt is the superior runner over Kessler. There's a reason we hold a championship event - whether that be Worlds of Olympics - and don't just count the number of wins a runner has during the season to determine who the best runner is. Championships are what determines who the best are as that's when the each runner has put all the eggs in the basket, so to speak.
These mid-races mean very little, although it would have been nice to see him finish at the Bowerman as that was a race where everybody was really aiming to run well. This race was just a tuneup.
Here's what Hobbs had to say after. He seemed pretty pleased with it all things considered. I think he was working on tactics a bit and was all good with the result because he'll be a bit more aggressive and have another gear in 2 weeks:
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PLACE NAME BIRTH DATE NAT. MARK 1. Jake WIGHTMAN 11 JUL 1994 GBR 3:34.01 2. Eric HOLT 12 MAY 1995 USA 3:34.05 3. Hobbs KESSLER 15 MAR 2003 USA 3:34.41 4. Vincent CIATTEI 21 JAN 1995 USA 3:34.62 5. Grant FISHER 22 APR 1997 USA 3:34.90 6. Eduardo HERRERA 23 SEP 1997 MEX 3:35.29 7. Luke MCCANN 12 MAR 1998 IRL 3:35.51 8. Jesse HUNT 28 JUL 1998 AUS 3:36.17 9. Morgan BEADLESCOMB 01 JUN 1998 USA 3:36.43 10. Abdihamid NUR 14 OCT 1997 USA 3:38.49 11. Benjamin FLANAGAN 11 JAN 1995 CAN 3:39.38 12. Mason FERLIC 05 AUG 1993 USA 3:40.23 Patrick FORREST 12 MAY 1999 USA DNF Mike COLUMBUS USA DNF
Holt doesn’t have the standard right? if so, doesn’t really matter if he gets third unless he manages to move up massively in world ranking.
edit: he’s 40th in world ranking so would go if he gets 3rd
and if he gets 3rd at USA nationals that will be a massive points boost for his ranking. At this rate I would be shocked if he couldn't run a half second faster and get that time post Eugene. Of course none of this matters until the mighty Gods of Karma strike down with a vengeance in that final 50 ;)
But Rojo - is that even fast enough - say the goose goes from 700 with 56 lap you are at 2.37 at bell and then likely ending up at 3.32/3 race at that point. Goose coke teare and maybe even centro are still there. I thinking 1.53 or so at 800 and then ask OAC to take it - 2.35/6 at bell and this strategy works.
Based upon having watched him race locally when he was in high school, through the present, I can theoretically answer that. This guy has zero "quit" in him. He takes failure and being told "you can't" and metabolizes it into motivation as well as anyone I've ever seen. Every time he 'crashes & burns' in a big race, he disappears for awhile, then comes back and starts dropping PR's again inching closer to the top tier guys. Obviously you can't keep doing that forever. Maybe at 29 this last set is as good as it gets for him. But he's fun to watch, and he's good for the sport, so I'm definitely going to keep watching to see where it goes from here.
This.
Holt spent his entire HS career getting torched by Nick Ryan... until he finally took down Ryan in the 1600 at the NY state meet their Senior year. A metaphor for his whole career.
Other than SML 400 the meet sucked and I stopped watching after the childish waste of time by the 100/200 sprinters. And you wonder why track in the US is just a cult for losers.
I am happy to see how well he is doing right now. He does not have a natural, smooth stride, unlike a couple of his teammates, but he runs hard and he does insanely difficult workouts. He has gradually, gradually been improving and apparently absorbing those insanely fast workouts better. That is the difference. The recent one put up from NAU was roughly 1:18/4x2@5:00 pace/50/4x2/50-51/4x2/1:19 at 7,000 feet on long rest. There's more in the tank as well if he is healthy and fresh.
Icahn's a fine stadium but the location is terrible for New Yorkers because it is hard and slow to get there and away, despite being right in the middle of the city. Walking is awkward and potentially dangerous; there's no subway connection anywhere near; the bus comes every now and then. I ran from Queens, which puts you out high above the river along the triborough and then in a kind of tunnel along the highway before getting over there. Just put a track stadium on the east or west side where there is already a track.
Disappointing run from Nur. In the past he’s had a great close in longer races so I would expect more from him here off a slow pace. Hopefully this doesn’t portend trouble ahead in 2 weeks
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