LetsRun.com wrote:
Jonathan Gault's latest feature is out. We REALLY recommend it:
At the start of 2024, only five men had ever broken 1:42. Five have done it in 2024 alone, and David Rudisha's 1:40.91 world record looks poised to fall. What is going on? Jonathan Gault interviews coaches and scientists from all over the world and unveils Project 99 - the quest for the first sub-1:40 800 in history.
To get back on task about the article...Its an interesting theory. Im not sure im convinced that the average first lap differential of .7 seconds and 2nd lap of less than a second in 15 races is significant enough to be noteworthy? It would be cool if it was, because lets be honest it's not often that very well entrenched dogma (2 sec diff for the 800m being optimal) gets retired. I just wonder if this sample size, this small of change and this current crop of 800M guys not being the same as the last (not comparing apples to apples) is too much to ascribe meaning . I actually might be better convinced that its the bicarb and a few races that worked out the way they did. I mean Hoppel changed his training, coach and location? I know if you went back 5, 10 or 20 yrs you find athletes running a slower first lap that didnt work out well for them. It's NOT as though nobody ever tried this approach? And they are running 1:45? There is reason why we say 2 sec differential...lot more data. But athletes are all different, maybe we have a crop that races better this way.