JACOB and YARED, why won't either try to emulate Hicham's 1500m tactics?

I can’t take this take seriously because El G had some of the craziest foot speed in the mile. He split 1:46 high in 2004 Athens Olympics. He could have run 1:44.

I would agree. What is a "finishing kick" at this level of running - if it's anything in the 12.7-13.1 range that is right at the top end and every single one of these guys can run well under that in terms of basic leg speed.

It's got to be one of the great misunderstandings in MD/LD running - that in a slow race you should "watch out for the guys with the 800m speed and their kicks" - it's the total opposite. And the only evidence against this that people like trundling out is "but what about Coe" - well what they are overlooking is that Coe was clearly a very complete MD runner with covert XC ability who really was far better than just 7.54 over 3000m (he ran that in 1987).

It's the strength guys that have the best kicks (but really we are talking about a "finish") - look at peak Ovett - 1977 World Cup 1500m - that's a "kick" - and this came only 13 days after he cruised a half marathon in 65min38 after turning up thinking he was just going to run an easy 10 miler.

He could have/did - and even faster. But it was that speed potential that enabled him to withstand insane early speed in his races (low 54 openers, 1.49.0 through 800m on at least 2-3 occasions) - not finish races the way he did.

Easy to forget that he ran ONE serious paced effort in his career over 5000m - and he ran 12.50.24 - in 2003. No wavelights and no super cushioned spikes. I mean that alone is ELITE endurance for the 1500m - second only to Jakob all-time, and there is no doubt that if Hicham had genuinely cared about a 5000m time he could have run a handful more and at a minimum run 12.46/7.

Foot speed is only available when you aren't compromised at the end of a race.

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I haven't completed in an 800m in a VERY long time. As of right now I only run 3-4 days a week (4 -10 miles) every run at AROUND 6:10 to 6:55 pace. The shorter the run I use the faster pace and 10 miles is always just slightly sub 7 minutes. I keep my speed memory by doing 6 to 8 (100m) grass strides at 75-85% max effort with less than 14 to 20 sec recovery. I'm not training for anything, this is just to stay a little fit... til I decide to seriously train and compete in age category events.

Jakob should just pull an Asbel Kiprop. Stay in the back the whole time and outkick them in the end with a 38 sec final 300

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Sounds good til someone on his shoulder finish with a 37.7 If you break everyone before the bell than you eliminate ALL threat.

That's true but the guys at the front will not be slowing down like they did in the final I posted above. At a minimum, without Jakob, they will go through 1200m in 2:52-2:51, I'm pretty confident in saying Jakob can close in 37-38 seconds off of the back of that pace without doing any work.

if jacob hits finals day thinking he's in 325 shape, which is a 1 second improvemet from now,

why not go from 600 m out after drafting to that point? and create a gap?

with a gap, good riddance to kerr and the field.

no more free ride.

If a runner's speed was not a factor in finishing in these events then any distance runner could excel over the 1500. But they can't. The 5k/10k or even marathon runners don't have the speed or the sprint capacity for the shorter events. So a ball-park of speed is necessary for the 1500. To kick or finish fast in that race isn't simply about "strength" or endurance. Coe showed that at Moscow in '80.

No, he can't. That is a pace that is better than 50sec for the 400. He is nowhere near that (who is?) and his best one lap time would scarcely beat it. You fans simply don't get that endurance and not speed is his strength.

he was at roughly 38.3 or 38.4 for final 300 in the BUdapest semis last year. And that was mostly in the 2nd lane and with a lot of showboating.

But that is with coming through in 2:55/2:56. NOT 2:51/2:52.

in the final, Jakob did a 40.1 coming off of a 2:49, BUT he was doing all the work.

Take from the combination of those 2 races what you will.

one thing is certain, The semifinal shows that Jakob has serious finishing speed in a 3:34 type race.

I strongly disagree! -For two 1500m runners with the same endurance, but different 800m PRs, the fastest of them (in a 800m) will at a 800m split in the 1500m be less spent -IMO it’s as simple as that. Meaning: He will finish stronger because he is less spent, not because of some magical kick ability / speed… But if he races against an athlete with significantly better endurance he will not close better even if he has a better 800m pb. What’s left in the tank determines the speed the last 200meters, unless the first 1300m has been a completely jog. In theory a completely jog will give the athlete with the best 200m leg speed the upper hand… When f.ex Snell out kicked his opponents in the mile/1500m it was, IMO, because he was the least spent athlete in the races with 200m to go…

I ran 2:07.5 at 52 and low 2:10 at 55. The 2:10 was world class that year. In the 400m I ran 57.5 at 52 and low 59 at 55. Both age 55 times were early season times (unfortunately I got a major food injury before the high season).

To run at a top level in md - 800 to 1500 - requires a degree of speed in simply being able to run at a competitive pace over those distances. The strongest finishers have more strength than their competition, and that includes when they and others are running anaerobically at the end of the race. It isn't that they are less spent but that they can find reserves of strength while being near their limits. But they are also not going to achieve the relative acceleration of a kick without a capacity for speed - even if they aren't the fastest sprinters in the field. The capacity to finish strongly or generate kick is part of their gift; it isn't that they are simply less spent. Snell and Coe had that gift; Ron Clarke didn't.

Updated 1500 stats:

Jakob is now 1-5 in global championship 1500 races.

Hicham is still 7-3 in global championship 1500 races.

Hicham is still 2-1 in global championship 5000m races, and will always be. Jakob is now 3-1 in global championship 5000m finals and it may become 4-1 with the 3000m indoors on Saturday.

What do their 5000m records have to do with a thread on 1500 METER RACING TACTICS? Do you want to throw in their video game playing stats while ur at it? Chess stats?

I love how Jakob worshippers resort to desperate whataboutism whenever their idol’s pathetic 1500m global championship record is the topic of discussion. “But but but what about the 5000m? What about Euros? What about the Norwegian championships?” Lmfao 🤣 😆 😂

are you mad bruh? 🤣🤭

Maybe if you learned how to not use recency bias and cherry-picking, you could learn to make better arguments.