- Gressier was hugging the trail constantly. Never in first position, but always close to the lead. I was thinking that he was racing smartly but I never thought he would win.
- Kejelcha never ran in the inside lane. He probably ran a few meters more than Gressier.
2) When it ended, Paul Swangard said the following: "It is the first European medal in this event since Mo Farah in 1987."
What?
People forget that Farah was a child prodigy who won a Worlds 10k medal at age 4. That’s why I wasn’t surprised at all when he went from journeyman to unbeatable at age 28-30. Talent doesn’t go away.
Is is just me, or has this meet had some of the most uninspiring distance races in the history of championship racing? I get it, people are concerned about overextending themselves in the weather, but they should have prepared for the weather in training and know their limits given the conditions. Women's marathon and 10k where a completely gutless snoozefest. Same with the men's 10k, the actual 10k runners in the field just handed their medals away because they were too cowardly to make a bold move. Idiots.
Yes but he doesn't run in Kiprun spikes yet. He has a deal with his sponsor allowing him to wear spikes from another brand, as long as they are debranded. For this race, he used Adidas spikes (and not nike !).
He collaborates with the brand to develop their upcoming spikes.
I was so looking forward to this race and it too slow for too long. Not what we expect from best in the world like entire field was playing prevent defense in football. If you let it come down to sprint you get what you get. Tokyo is double edged sword with great stadium filled with fans but conditions terrible and definitely impacting the outcome. It was disappointing on so many levels including chopped coverage. They didn't chop the women's race and at least the top few made it interesting by breaking away early enough.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
2) When it ended, Paul Swangard said the following: "It is the first European medal in this event since Mo Farah in 1987."
What?
People forget that Farah was a child prodigy who won a Worlds 10k medal at age 4. That’s why I wasn’t surprised at all when he went from journeyman to unbeatable at age 28-30. Talent doesn’t go away.
Frontrunning the last 5000m in those conditions would have broken down the field, though it is unlikely this Grant Fisher, who did not have much of a kick today, could have broken the top contenders. As I have said for a while, he peaked indoors and has not been at that super strong level since. But a long drive for home, certainly from 1k, the key for Mo Farah all those years, could definitely have resulted in a medal, maybe gold at his best. The heat changes the calculus. If you can bear the heat, and Grant did say he was preparing for the heat, you can do it. What he does need to change is to have the mentality of a winner, not just a medalist, which means he has to take risks to go for the win and be in position to do that with a lap to go and stop calculating.
It was so funny seeing Gressier's face he looked distraught from how shocked he was lol
It
It should be called the “Dreams become reality face”. His wasn’t quite as good as Paternain’s when she stopped asking where everybody was and why there were only two women in the stadium at the end of the marathon.
They haven't been giving away all kinds of distance medals. African athletes broke into the medals in the 1987 World Champs by winning the 5000m and 10000m. African and African-born athletes then proceeded to win every 5000m and 10000m world medal on the men's side in 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. In the 10, non-African born athletes didn't break through until now.
Frontrunning the last 5000m in those conditions would have broken down the field, though it is unlikely this Grant Fisher, who did not have much of a kick today, could have broken the top contenders. As I have said for a while, he peaked indoors and has not been at that super strong level since. But a long drive for home, certainly from 1k, the key for Mo Farah all those years, could definitely have resulted in a medal, maybe gold at his best. The heat changes the calculus. If you can bear the heat, and Grant did say he was preparing for the heat, you can do it. What he does need to change is to have the mentality of a winner, not just a medalist, which means he has to take risks to go for the win and be in position to do that with a lap to go and stop calculating.
I can't find official splits, I think there was a timing issue. But I've seen the 1k clocked at 2:26. If so, that's not devastating in a 28:54 race. Farah and Cheptegei would have been closing that out in close to 2:20 even in humid conditions. Mass tactical balls up by that field because I'm sure there's guys there who can drop a 2:22 off that pace
This made my day. This is what WC and Olympics are about. Africans and Americans were didn't have to balls to put in a decent pacing. We need this kind of kick in the ball to make T&F more fun and exciting.
Until the day I die, African men will be giving away distance medals by turning Finals races into jog-and-kick lotteries.
All it would have taken is for 3 o4 of them to take out the pace and work together. Never gonna happen, though.
They're all overthinking it and probably counting the prize money and bonuses. They have to realize there are so many fast Africans and now even Americans. All of them cannot win. The victory goes to the one who will take the chance even if the effort might be just wasted in dragging everyone alone.
Until the day I die, African men will be giving away distance medals by turning Finals races into jog-and-kick lotteries.
All it would have taken is for 3 o4 of them to take out the pace and work together. Never gonna happen, though.
They still work together, it’s just that increasingly better testing (despite officials atill covering for Africans) is leveling the playing field a bit, as have advancements in training.
Unbelievable kick by Gressier- good on him. Unfortunately, now we have to see the overblown and contrived celebration that Gressier does for the cameras.
Disappointed he didn't try a knee slide through the line.
What wow?????????? Robert nothing at all impresses me with Jimmy Gressier. First up the race time was way too slow and it's quite shocking the pussi athletes are blaming the heat because in Beijing 2008 the heat was way worse when Kenenisa Bekele ran an Olympic record in 27:01 and Sammy Wanjiru had his in 2:06:32 and you are telling me today's athletes are that weak??????????????????????
What da heck is going on with our athletes why are they running like pussified zombies??????? Heat should never be a factor in a 10k race AND 32 degrees celsius should never be an impediment to past GOATS and LEGENDS!!!!!!!!
Remember too that Bekele also won a 33 degrees celsius Athens 10000m in 27:05 and Joshua Cheptegei a 32 degree Doha in 2019 in 26:46!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are objective stats if you would like some objectivity.
So I'm insulted by the standard of health and vitality of today's distance athletes because I came from another era of the true GOATs and LEGENDS!!!! If the winning time is so slow you should know better than you cannot read too much into the winners' or medallists' skills and talents. The element of luck is much more amplified when race times are so slow!!!!!!!!!!!