I’m honestly baffled by why people put Jakob on such a pedestal when it comes to the 1500m. He certainly deserves respect for his 2020/2021 Olympic gold and his WC/Oly 5000m golds. But he’s now been favorite to win the last four 1500m global finals, and has lost every single time in very predictable fashion - first Tefera, then Weightman, then Kerr, and now Hocker/Kerr/Neguse. 5 different guys have humiliated him on the biggest stage in our sport.
Why do I say ‘predictable’? Because he’s actually not really all that exceptional by historical standards. In the ‘super shoe’ era, the times are probably at least 3 or 4 seconds faster. So his 3:26 might really be closer to 3:30 pre super shoes….
So I ask you this hypothetical question…. Jakob basically ran a 3:28 in Paris from the front… same thing in Budapest… same as Eugene. In the pre super shoe era, that’s a 3:30 or 3:31 at best. Question: At any point over the last 40 years (since the early 80s) if you gathered all the world’s best 1500m runners together and said “hey, next year at the WC/Olympics, this guy is going to run from the gun a perfectly even 3:30 / 3:31 pace…. How often in the last 40 years do you think a 3:30/3:31 would win? (again, to be clear, everyone in the field knows excatly how the guy is going to run and have all year to prepare for it!!)
I would venture to say that the 3:30 / 3:31 runner would probably never win. There’s always going to be on or two or even a few guys in the world who can just hunt him down and out kick him. And that’s what we’re seeing with Jakob.
He’s a great 1500m time trialer. And a true champion at 5000m. And his arrogant persona is entertaining and great for the sport. But I just can’t understand why people are so infatuated with him as a 1500m runner when he gets humiliated so often. Is it just because we love watching him lose?
BTW, Fun Fact: His only global title in the 1500m in Tokyo: he didn’t lead a single step of the race till the last 120 meters… heh… go figure!