This may be an unpopular take, but I'm not sure Mu will ever run faster than she did last year. It's not unusual for these phenomenal talents to peak at that sort of age (of course not all, like McLaughlin, Bolt etc), and the fact that she regressed a bit this year is slightly concerning to me. That, and the fact that she's a 400/800 type, rather than 8/15, so building a more solid aerobic base could potentially blunt her speed, which is her key weapon.
I'd happily be proven wrong on this of course, and she can still win gold medals being inferior to last year.
1.56 is enough for her - or anyone - to win a major championship. 1.55 is a dominant performance - as we saw last year. I also incline to the view that it is the "clean" limit for a woman. Maybe 1.54-high at best.
what a stupid take - YOU of all people, want to define what athletes (doping or not) are capable of before YOU decide whether they are doping. No wonder you are such a joke on this board. Please do everyone a favor and just go away. YOUR opinions (as seen of almost EVERY thread) are meaningless. You are just another blowhard like your friend Rekrunner.
Hodgkinson pulled even and then Mu squeezed her. I think they bumped arms a few times but Hodgkinson ran restricited rather than with her normal movement.
I’am a Brit so will try not be biased ,Lordy you havnt experienced the year long hysteria on BBC/media about the Mu/Hodg match up ,a number of comments in no particular order:- is Keeley clean ? Undoubtly ,she’s come from a modest clubbby athletics background ,she’s mentored by and coached by husband of Jenny Meadows ,an athlete who was always v vocal on doping and has had to receive her medals on a number of occasions years after the original recipients were stripped of them ,I feel not enough credit is being given to Mu ,her performances last year have been methodically broken down into numbers and the field have adapted accordingly,going by her performances this season and the earlier races at the worlds she v probably wasn’t super confident if it came down to a bunch sprint[interesting that the Bronze medalist went faster in the last 100 sure she showed similar form in the earlier rounds] ,so she broke away early ,yes she left a gap for Keeley [undoubtly she’d been coached on it if it’s a Mu thing to drift off],what did for Keeley was having to close that break then do the sprint ,if Mu hadn’t left a gap inside herself Keeley would of had to come around the outside and gaps at finish would of been bigger ,I think Keeley regrets are less getting marginally out sprinted but more letting the initial gap open ,Mu is surely going to get beaten as the pack stifle her natural way of racing but for now we should count ourselves lucky to having witnessed an untouchable Olympic champion a year later having to respond to fully informed pack
Thanks for the post, I didn't know there was a lot of interest in the Mu/Hodg matchup. There was some level of in interest in the U.S. as well but not as much because we didn't view it as a race among equals; the assumption was Mu would win. Kelly is an amazing athlete, but with Athing; she is always going to be chasing a moving target. Athing's performances have been slightly down recently because she is dealing with something I will not mention since she chooses not to discuss. Under normal circumstances, Athing would likely be running 1:54x right now and winning by wider margins this year. You probably noticed she did not even run the 4x4 and if she had it her way, she would be done for the year. In terms of Kelly doping, no serious person believes this young athlete is dirty...there are some wacky people on this message board who say things just to get attention. They would accuse the Queen of doping if she ran fast times. Btw, why isn't Kelly on your 4x4, any athlete capable of running a 1:55x 800, most likely can run a relay split of 50x?
I’am a Brit so will try not be biased ,Lordy you havnt experienced the year long hysteria on BBC/media about the Mu/Hodg match up ,a number of comments in no particular order:- is Keeley clean ? Undoubtly ,she’s come from a modest clubbby athletics background ,she’s mentored by and coached by husband of Jenny Meadows ,an athlete who was always v vocal on doping and has had to receive her medals on a number of occasions years after the original recipients were stripped of them ,I feel not enough credit is being given to Mu ,her performances last year have been methodically broken down into numbers and the field have adapted accordingly,going by her performances this season and the earlier races at the worlds she v probably wasn’t super confident if it came down to a bunch sprint[interesting that the Bronze medalist went faster in the last 100 sure she showed similar form in the earlier rounds] ,so she broke away early ,yes she left a gap for Keeley [undoubtly she’d been coached on it if it’s a Mu thing to drift off],what did for Keeley was having to close that break then do the sprint ,if Mu hadn’t left a gap inside herself Keeley would of had to come around the outside and gaps at finish would of been bigger ,I think Keeley regrets are less getting marginally out sprinted but more letting the initial gap open ,Mu is surely going to get beaten as the pack stifle her natural way of racing but for now we should count ourselves lucky to having witnessed an untouchable Olympic champion a year later having to respond to fully informed pack
Thanks for the post, I didn't know there was a lot of interest in the Mu/Hodg matchup. There was some level of in interest in the U.S. as well but not as much because we didn't view it as a race among equals; the assumption was Mu would win. Kelly is an amazing athlete, but with Athing; she is always going to be chasing a moving target. Athing's performances have been slightly down recently because she is dealing with something I will not mention since she chooses not to discuss. Under normal circumstances, Athing would likely be running 1:54x right now and winning by wider margins this year. You probably noticed she did not even run the 4x4 and if she had it her way, she would be done for the year. In terms of Kelly doping, no serious person believes this young athlete is dirty...there are some wacky people on this message board who say things just to get attention. They would accuse the Queen of doping if she ran fast times. Btw, why isn't Kelly on your 4x4, any athlete capable of running a 1:55x 800, most likely can run a relay split of 50x?
The final of the 4x4 was the same day as the 800. These two aren't college athletes, they are pros who need to be at the top of their game to win so they aren't doubling back on the same day as an individual final.
Hodgkinson isn't that quick over one lap, she runs 52 for the open 400. The UK has enough 400m women who are as good or better than that.
I have to say, I am dubious that 1:54 is possible for a clean XX woman. I guess there's Jelimo but I don't see Mu as being at her level of natural talent. Could be wrong, she's still very young but I think she'll top out at 1:55. I also don't think she'll stick with the 800. I expect her to move to the 400 in the medium term as she's already accomplished all she needs to at the 800
Hodgkinson pulled even and then Mu squeezed her. I think they bumped arms a few times but Hodgkinson ran restricited rather than with her normal movement.
Give me a break. Absolutely nothing in it. Why do all the Brits here have excuse rolodexs?
The 1st 700 meters of the race are irrelevant to the discussion. With 100 to go, the two are side by side. Imagine that Mu had come from behind to pull aside and them watch the last 100. Most would have a different opinion.
This reasonable. Ask the questions:
1. Was there enough room for Hodgie to pass when she moved there?
2. Did the gap get small after she had moved next to Mu? ie. Did Mu move in on her?
3. Was there contact?
4. Did it impede Hodgie?
My answer is yes to 1,2,3. Yes to 3 implies yes to 4 since Mu was slightly ahead, but it is not absolutely clear. Front vid would help.
Mu needs to protect her inside better and make runners pass on the outside. She may be a bit like Alan Webb who never learned race tactics because he was never challenged before becoming a pro.
I am dubious that 1:54 is possible for a clean XX woman. I guess there's Jelimo but I don't see Mu as being at her level of natural talent. Could be wrong, she's still very young but I think she'll top out at 1:55.
Not a fair comparison. Mu has ovaries and as a DSD athlete Jelimo has testes. That's why Jelimo stopped running.
As far as Mu not being able to break 1:55, she has already run 1:55.04. You don't think that at some point in the next decade Mu can't knock .05 of her PR? Of course she can.
She baited her into the inside and then pinched her in on the home stretch. Dirty dirty tactics
Excellent tactics
Yeah, this thread needs to end. Mu won fair and square. Was rooting for Keely as a Brit, but she got beaten by the better runner on the day; there were no dirty tactics, just common sense tactics.
Excellent race - the best and most exciting of the meet. I look forward to seeing these two battle it out (with Moraa coming through too) over the coming years.
1.56 is enough for her - or anyone - to win a major championship. 1.55 is a dominant performance - as we saw last year. I also incline to the view that it is the "clean" limit for a woman. Maybe 1.54-high at best.
what a stupid take - YOU of all people, want to define what athletes (doping or not) are capable of before YOU decide whether they are doping. No wonder you are such a joke on this board. Please do everyone a favor and just go away. YOUR opinions (as seen of almost EVERY thread) are meaningless. You are just another blowhard like your friend Rekrunner.
I guess you don't agree. So you tell me what is a likely doped performance? We do have a bar - 47.6 and 1.53.2.
Yeah, this thread needs to end. Mu won fair and square. Was rooting for Keely as a Brit, but she got beaten by the better runner on the day; there were no dirty tactics, just common sense tactics.
Excellent race - the best and most exciting of the meet. I look forward to seeing these two battle it out (with Moraa coming through too) over the coming years.
The ratio on the OP tells you all you need to know about the topic.