OMG...Jakob 3:46.46 in the mile!!

At the end of the day we can only go by what they have run in their career. El G is clearly by an objective measure far better at 5000 than 800. Jakob is the same way. Why Jakob "only" ran 1:47 is not hard to figure out.

How, then, should a 1500m runner start? Why the left foot forward, etc.? Thanks.

How can Jakob run a 1:47 800m and finish 4th one week and a 3:46 mile the next?

By being a 1500m / 5000m type runner.

Worth ca. 3:29.87 in 1500m. Second fastest ever in month of June.

Trained through that 800m. A sharpening race for his 1500m.

Yes, Crammy had a few weeks of uninterrupted training for the first time in 5 years likely and showed a glimpse of his old talent even at 33 years old.

And here's Morceli missing Cram's Mile WR in Berlin (and slower than Jakob yesterday) :

Van Diepen who won the 800m in Bergen in high 1:46 ran a low 1:44 the week before and also a low 1:44 a week later. The windy conditions in Bergen obviously didn´t promote good 800m times.

Jakob ran 1:46.48 two years ago and he has possibly potential to run at least 1:45 under good conditions.

+1 #:31.18 converts to 3:48 flat for the mile

3:31.18 converts to 3:48 for the mile

Makes no sense.

His PB is 1:46.

How can he run only 1:47 (4th place) while in 3:46 shape?

No other 3:46 miler is such a slow 800m guy

I think Jakob may have trained right thru that 1:47

Post of the decade.

if the shoes are providing 4 seconds a mile advantage....then why isnt he running like 343?

was webb really a faster runner than Jakob (webb didnt have super shoes)?

would hicham have ran 339 mile if we wore super shoes?

Here is an interview of Aouita where he talk frankly about doping and EPO.

Saïd Aouita: “Tired of seeing robots running! »

What is the share of cheaters today in international athletics?
All I can say is that a lot of athletes still dope today... We see a lot of unimaginable performances, it's often robots running.

In your opinion, should this sport be cleaned from the ground up?
Obviously. Why are stadiums increasingly empty during major events? Maybe it's because people are tired of going to doping-distorted competitions. And that's perhaps why, personally, I won't send my children to do athletics...

Do you seem disgusted?
Me, I like athletics. But, honestly, if you ask me if I like middle distance, I say no. I know there's still a lot going on today when it comes to doping with EPO or growth hormones.
Doping is still circulating in the middle distance now?
Yes I think.

Have any recent performances really surprised you?
Of course, a lot of performance. But a lot of people close their eyes. I repeat, I just hope that the international federation will be strong enough to clean up this sport.
Did any victories surprise you at the last Olympic Games in Athens?
It's not just the Athens Olympics. In the middle distance, it all started in 1994-1995, with the use of EPO.

To follow you, in modern athletics, a competitor with talent is therefore condemned to always be beaten by cheaters?
I think so. All the best, those who made the legend of athletics, Sebastian Coe, Alberto Juantorena, Mirius Yfter, if they ran in the present day, they would be dropped, they would be nothing.

Maybe also because times have changed, today's athletes are much more professional?
No, I don't believe in that kind of argument. I was six times world record holder, I know what it takes to break a record. I know what a performance from 800 meters to 10,000 meters is. I know the effort required by certain times. And, it really takes deadly effort to produce some of the times that have been achieved over the past ten years. Suffice to say that there are therefore a lot of things that disgusted me in the recent past.

Listening to you, all is lost?
No, we must continue the fight against doping, coordinate the efforts of national anti-doping agencies and those of the World Anti-Doping Agency. You have to clean again and again.

What is your assessment of this World Cup in Helsinki? Some complain that athletics lacks big stars...
Me, I believe on the contrary that there is a lot of change, we see a lot of new faces. A new generation is emerging in athletics. It's a good world championship, because we see something new, our sport is nourished and built on that.

So, who are the stars of tomorrow's athletics?
On 1500 meters, there is the Bahrainian Rachid Ramzi, the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele on 10000 meters, the Cuban Zulia Catalayud, world champion of the 800 meters, the American Lauryn Williams, winner of the 100 meters here... All those- there, plus a few others, are the new generation athletes and she's going to be around for quite a while.

Faced with the domination of the Africans, can the Europeans still hope to prevail over the long distances and the middle distance?
Why not ? In athletics, the division of the world is a question of means. We Africans focus on distance running because it requires much less resources. Europeans and Americans specialize in technical events because they are more likely to invest in these disciplines which require a little more equipment. But the trend will eventually reverse.

So, it is better to be “poor” to succeed in athletics?
Being hungry always makes you want to go further. I also believe that there is a shyness, a kind of complex of European athletes vis-à-vis Africans. And then there is also a big prospecting problem in Europe. Recruiting as many athletes as possible is quite easy on the African continent. In Africa, young people can easily drop out of school to play sports. In Europe, it is much less obvious.

How do you explain the permanent renewal of athletics in the United States?
Americans benefit from the richness of their university system, at least as far as sports are concerned. And if they still favor the sprint and jumping or throwing disciplines, they are now starting to create long-distance and middle-distance schools. Increasingly, in the United States, sponsors are supporting American long-distance and middle-distance athletes so that they can hone their skills in major meetings.

Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 at 4:51 p.m.

Source with Google English translation:

www-marathons-fr.translate.goog

Saïd Aouita : « Marre de voir courir des robots ! » - MARATHONS.FR

MARATHONS.FR

Au Maroc, cet homme est un mythe, encore plus adulé que son compatriote Hicham El Guerrouj, double champion olympique à Athènes en 2004 sur 5000 et (...)

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I suppose Said Aouita is not very bright? He says Seb Coe would be NOTHING today. Really. 1:41 is NOTHING.

And I should clarify if the interview was in 2005 Aouita was saying 1:41 was NOTHING then.

You didn't understand, he said that all greats athletes known before will lose with the cheaters of today.

I understood. It is incorrect.