1500m final

Webb is one of those athletes who will never win a major championship unless it turns out to be a time trial and most are not.

His major asset is his strength over the last 100m and he only gets to use it when the pace is really fast, comming off a slightly slower pace does not play into his favour.

So as Webb what do you do? Try and make it fast by taking it out fast?

I think thats exactly what he tried to do by leading the first lap.

I suspect his plan was then to sit back on lap two and three and hope someone else would make an early move.

It almost worked out that way if Absel K had fully committed when he went and not dropped back into the pack then Webb would be sitting on 3:30 type pace and second into the last 200m instead of in the front of the pack on 3:34 pace.

I suspect Webb will run great times in the future but as opposed to Lagat, he just does not have all the assets to win in all types of races.

Cripple wrote:

Webb has been able to outkick ANYONE all year. Today's last 100 was slow by Webb standards.

No it wasn't. His last 300 today was faster than he ran at Nationals.

he was talking about the last 100. not last 300.

The simple fact is Webb has been to do whatever it has taken all year in the last 100. He couldn't do it today.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

[ Pan over to Lagat who looked confident and focused. I had a feeling Lagat might win at that moment. Then during the race, Alan took a risk with leading most of the way, knowing he did not want to be in the back like in the semis, but in the end could not hold on. Lagat ran a smart and relaxed race, sitting around 4th position and kicking at just the right moment. Now I see why everyone says Webb needs to work on his race tactics. I don't think he "choked" or anything, he just needs to work on his confidence and race strategy. Physically, he should be the fastest, but mentally he was not strong enough. In the words of the430miler, "mentallity > physicallity."

Me, too. I thought the same thing when I saw Lagat: this guy's gonna win. He was smiling at the finish!

I think the best we can expecxt from Webb are some spectuacular times at the Home Depot meet in April. He peaked at the wrong time. Next.

Webb should just take these Champ races out fast from now on. He could probably run 3:32 solo. Sit the first 200, then go. Someone comes up on him with 300-100 to go, he can respond once, and that is usually enough.

He would have gotten a medal at least.

Should have gone 58-58-57 He still could have run a closing 300 in 40high off of that, but how many others could? Ramzi looked worse as well, Asbel fooled it up, And Mansoor was absent. Webb also got lucky as both Baala and Komen were not in the final, and Kaouch tested positive.

Experience will always trump talent. Desire will trump even that. Webb had niether today sufficient to win.

Wejo-Thanks for the headline spoiler!!?????????????????

watch his legs (pics, videos) from earlier and then this week in the last 100. earlier this summer he had good form - legs staying in plane. this week his legs were flailing badly. sure signs that:

- he was past his peak sharpness

- that the hamstring tweak in the 800 cost him top-gear work and therefore sharpness

- he was less than 100% from illness

great year for webb. season lasted longer than he did. he'll learn from this, too.

It's called not relaxing, usually happens when you feel defeated.

Webb's tactics were flawed, he should have used Lagat and took off with 700 to go. Or should have sat in 3rd no matter who was in front of him and with 700 to go made a strong push for the finish and broke the kickers, he should be able to run 55, 55 for the last two laps off of 58 second pace. Unfortunate, but this is only his second major championship competition.

Nick Willis looked SO relaxed finishing 10th. I think he had more left.

not always...experience didn;t trump talent in the Sydney 1500m. or at the usatf nationals when webb beat lagat. i think lagat was just in better shape than the rest of the field, and Ramzi made a tactical error and got boxed in (shows his inexperience maybe)

Sperminator 2: Judgement Spray wrote:

Webb should just take these Champ races out fast from now on. He could probably run 3:32 solo. Sit the first 200, then go. Someone comes up on him with 300-100 to go, he can respond once, and that is usually enough.

He would have gotten a medal at least.

Should have gone 58-58-57 He still could have run a closing 300 in 40high off of that, but how many others could? Ramzi looked worse as well, Asbel fooled it up, And Mansoor was absent. Webb also got lucky as both Baala and Komen were not in the final, and Kaouch tested positive.

Experience will always trump talent. Desire will trump even that. Webb had niether today sufficient to win.

This was Webbs first big international championship. It was a great learning experience and nothing to be ashamed about. Sure he took it out hard, but Korir lead a good portion of the race and got bronze, so taking the lead was not the reason he did not medal. As it is he finished less than a second out of first. He did not have the kick he needed at the end, but I am sure he learned a lot and Beijing will hopefully turn out different.

As for the statement that desire will trump experience, I disagree. You can have all the desire in the world and that will not beat talent or experience on it's own.

The posts about "desire" don't make any sense. Do some of you people really think that Webb would have run a faster last 100 if he simply wanted it more?

Desire has to do with dedication for training and doing all the little things in the days and weeks and months and years leading up to the championship race. Once the field is coming off the last turn, it has nothing to do with who wants it more at that moment. It has to do with who wanted it more the previous X years of training among a billion other factors.

He ran a good 1350 meters then didn't have it in the last 150. There is nothing to fault with just not having the closing speed of others, perhaps illness or being past his peak played a roll but going into next year he'll be able to re-evaluate what he did this year to help his tapering for next years olympics.

Uh, he was in the WC final in 05 and in the semis of the Olympics.

Boy Wonder wrote:

This was Webbs first big international championship.

Good gracious people, Webb simply peaked months ago. Awesome runner, but he withdrew too much from the bank this season to be at the top of his game today.

I said this before but I'll say it again: Webb's best chance for a world record is in the 1500 but if he wants a championship he's got to move up to the 5000 because maybe there, in a championship setting, he can take advantage of his strength.

He is only 24.

What did Lagat run at 24? What is Lagat's placing at Worlds over the years? It is amazing that we have anyone in the mile. Look at the 2nd generation of newly-dubbed-with-citizenship American Runners(Keino Bros, etc.). What will Lagat's kids look like? Even the Keino bros. body types look different with the fast food people eat over here in the States.

The previous points way aside, Webb will get it. He has his best years to come. He will learn to sit and kick like Lagat, bouncing not only at the starting line but also bouncing in the last 300 meters, ready to pounce, powering down the homestretch like a runaway train to victory. Go Alan!