I’m honestly baffled by why people put Jakob on such a pedestal when it comes to the 1500m. He certainly deserves respect for his 2020/2021 Olympic gold and his WC/Oly 5000m golds. But he’s now been favorite to win the last four 1500m global finals, and has lost every single time in very predictable fashion - first Tefera, then Weightman, then Kerr, and now Hocker/Kerr/Neguse. 5 different guys have humiliated him on the biggest stage in our sport.
Why do I say ‘predictable’? Because he’s actually not really all that exceptional by historical standards. In the ‘super shoe’ era, the times are probably at least 3 or 4 seconds faster. So his 3:26 might really be closer to 3:30 pre super shoes….
So I ask you this hypothetical question…. Jakob basically ran a 3:28 in Paris from the front… same thing in Budapest… same as Eugene. In the pre super shoe era, that’s a 3:30 or 3:31 at best. Question: At any point over the last 40 years (since the early 80s) if you gathered all the world’s best 1500m runners together and said “hey, next year at the WC/Olympics, this guy is going to run from the gun a perfectly even 3:30 / 3:31 pace…. How often in the last 40 years do you think a 3:30/3:31 would win? (again, to be clear, everyone in the field knows excatly how the guy is going to run and have all year to prepare for it!!)
I would venture to say that the 3:30 / 3:31 runner would probably never win. There’s always going to be on or two or even a few guys in the world who can just hunt him down and out kick him. And that’s what we’re seeing with Jakob.
He’s a great 1500m time trialer. And a true champion at 5000m. And his arrogant persona is entertaining and great for the sport. But I just can’t understand why people are so infatuated with him as a 1500m runner when he gets humiliated so often. Is it just because we love watching him lose?
BTW, Fun Fact: His only global title in the 1500m in Tokyo: he didn’t lead a single step of the race till the last 120 meters… heh… go figure!
We can all skip nuances and claim things that can’t be proven. But you reveal your shallowness when you write things that definitely can be proven wrong: “.. His only global title in the 1500m in Tokyo: he didn’t lead a single step of the race till the last 120 meters… heh… go figure!” -I think you know this is a lie, because it’s pretty obvious that Jakob led the race quite a few meters of the first 400+ meters, and that this couldn’t have escaped you, and also that you have been corrected on this before…
And the rest of your post is of course the same liars mind set -you pose some shallow claims by not examine each of the races / shoe factors in their proper context (hint: take a look on all the previous threads about the matter(s)…
Splitting hairs - what’s your point.
As I said, Jakob’s 3:26-high is closer to a 3:30 pre superspikes. It’s conjecture, but do you really disagree with that???? And the 3:28 he ran in Paris is probably closer to a 3:31-high pre superspikes. My point is that if - since his racing strategy is so consistent and predictable - it’s predictable that he will lose when it really counts because his competitors have him figured out - and are fit enough with better finishing kicks to deliver.
If he ever wants to regain the gold in a global championship final again, he’s going to have to either (a) develop a better finishing kick - which would be very difficult for his profile, or (b) be more unpredictable in his race strategy. Doesn’t guarantee he’ll win but it’s a better strategy than the one he’s been using.
He just doesn’t have enough of a fitness gap with the rest of the field to win a global championship final by being the ‘pace setter’.