I might hammer this wrong, but I think that the closest Bol has been to Syd was in their first meeting, and the gap is pretty significant. But I think that they have only met at the 2020 (run on 2021 of course) and 2024 Olympics plus the 2022 WCs. [Do I have this wrong?]. The biggest gap is 2024 but that race is not representative of Bol's quality. I thought she would run close to her semi-altitude time but if you misjudge it the Bear is really hard to carry over the hurdles where most of the gap was from 9 and 10 in.
I also guess that she peaked too early and looks to avoid that this year. Her European time shows that her 400 just before was a rust buster, and I don't think her 40-mid looked either all out or peaked. I don't think that she will win, but I expect it to be the closest yet and be within shouting distance and she will beat some good 400h ladies by more than her gap to Syd with a 50point mark.This assumes that Syd does not run a 49.
I don't think Femke will be within 1 second of Syd in Tokyo. She tried to run the first 200 with Syd in Paris and blew up. If Femke focuses solely on gold she may take a bronze again.
Where does this 2 seconds behind come from? Bol's 50.95 was ratified as the official Euro record and altitude assisted times are not ratified, so it's legit as well as the 51.30 she ran at London as well as the 51.45, 51.70 and 51.98 she ran two years ago. Her two fastest are less than a second behind and none of her sub 52's are two seconds behind. She yet to go backwards in her improvement curve so why do people think she's not going to be faster? Get your numbers straight.
My sincerest apologies for not remembering Bol’s altitude-assisted time.
I was referring to the 2 seconds behind she was during the last time they raced each other: The 2024 Olympics.