Why is 800m WR even in question? Not from this crop of runners even with bicarb, super spikes or whatever gimmick they can think of.
This comment is based on nothing. You're saying Arop and Wanyonyi (who is literally 20) can't PR by 3 tenths for the rest of their lives based on an end of season race, which mind you was still a great race.
I am a huge Arop fan, but I have never seen him run a great race when his opening split is sub 50. It's interesting that his best time of the year came when he was focused solely on racing and not chasing times. Wanyonyi is the youngest of the top three guys, but also seems to be the most tactically astute.
Is it just me, or does this meet have a bit of a ho-hum feel? We've already seen these matchups in Paris and a half-dozen other times this season and it just doesn't feel fresh any more.
I have to be honest, this is my biggest worry about the Grand Slam Track concept... Are we going to be jaded by the tenth Kerr-Hocker-Nuguse matchup of the season?
[writing this before the w5000/m800, so maybe still an outside chance for something truly memorable]
Grand slam is going to be even more ho hum when half of the field is not invited. Its engineered to give the casual viewer the impression that american runners totally dominates every track distance.
Athletes are motivated by success and success is measured in dollars. Delusional amateur fetishists can cry all they want to but that is the reality.
But athletes get rich in athletics via sponsorship deals not by competition results.
If you are setting WR's and winning World's and Olympics you get the huge contracts, and the small events are effectively warm ups. If it was prize money driven SML would be at every meet and cleaning up.
For this to change Athletics would move from the sponsorship model to the result model. The Nike Olympics is more honest than the fake amateur ideal. Better that Nike spends its marketing dollars on owning the sport's identity than handing it out to their favourites, who proceed to make a mockery of secondary events by not turning up to them.
I'm thinking that these really big fields force everyone to run the first back straight faster than they really should, and make a record much harder. It would be interesting to put together a couple of record attempts with a rabbit and just 3 or 4 key guys: Wanyoni, Arop, Sedjati, maybe Hoppel.
100%. I think the record attempt actually needs to be just two guys, smaller meet with wavelight and an elite pacer (an 800m guy that knows exactly how to run an opening 300m and get to 500m) - then we see the WR go down.
And that will be sad if it's how the WR goes down.
Old news since this happened yesterday ... but I've never seen a sport with such bad announcing as track & field. I was watching the men's 400 meter just casually, not paying much attention, but even so I could see for the final 50 meters that the winner was going to be neither Norwood nor James, even though the announcers ONLY talked about those two. How hard is it to see who is ahead in a race, on a straightaway?
Go watch a replay of the Rio 400 meters and you will hear a different crew of announcers do the same thing to van Niekerk. They didn't talk about him for the final 150 meters of the race in which he set the WR, until with about 20 meters to go.
I mean, what's the point of hearing "analysis" from people who can't even see who is leading a race?
Old news since this happened yesterday ... but I've never seen a sport with such bad announcing as track & field. I was watching the men's 400 meter just casually, not paying much attention, but even so I could see for the final 50 meters that the winner was going to be neither Norwood nor James, even though the announcers ONLY talked about those two. How hard is it to see who is ahead in a race, on a straightaway?
Go watch a replay of the Rio 400 meters and you will hear a different crew of announcers do the same thing to van Niekerk. They didn't talk about him for the final 150 meters of the race in which he set the WR, until with about 20 meters to go.
I mean, what's the point of hearing "analysis" from people who can't even see who is leading a race?
In their defense, the M400 has been the most random/unpredictable event this year. They probably were banking on Hudson-Smith, who DNFd early.
True, she probably would have dominated both with some real competition in the lanes next to her
She's never beaten Paulinho, who is unbeaten in 400m. You guys are so desperate sometimes. Overhyping Valby, Bol, and now SML!
One of those, unlike the other two, is the real deal and infact routinely trounces one of the other two whenever they meet and her name doesn't begin with v or f.
Old news since this happened yesterday ... but I've never seen a sport with such bad announcing as track & field. I was watching the men's 400 meter just casually, not paying much attention, but even so I could see for the final 50 meters that the winner was going to be neither Norwood nor James, even though the announcers ONLY talked about those two. How hard is it to see who is ahead in a race, on a straightaway?
Go watch a replay of the Rio 400 meters and you will hear a different crew of announcers do the same thing to van Niekerk. They didn't talk about him for the final 150 meters of the race in which he set the WR, until with about 20 meters to go.
I mean, what's the point of hearing "analysis" from people who can't even see who is leading a race?
It's tiresome hearing the world record commentary constantly
Is it just me, or does this meet have a bit of a ho-hum feel? We've already seen these matchups in Paris and a half-dozen other times this season and it just doesn't feel fresh any more.
I have to be honest, this is my biggest worry about the Grand Slam Track concept... Are we going to be jaded by the tenth Kerr-Hocker-Nuguse matchup of the season?
[writing this before the w5000/m800, so maybe still an outside chance for something truly memorable]
we are just spoiled with the goat 800 and 1500 season.
plus world records, etc
people are running on fumes. and putting up decent numbers.
Farewell to the Diamond League on Peacock era. I will miss it. I won’t be watching on FloTrack because I refuse to support that racket.
Emotional send-off from Swangard and the crew.
Absolutely. I had been hoping that Kara Goucher and SRR would have been there as well. I'm the first one to criticize some of NBC's coverage but I realize that much of this is the production format instead of the individual presenters. Who will be covering next year when it is on Flotrack? Tim Hutchings/Steve Cram/Hannah English are often on the Peacock broadcasts and they do a superb job. But we need Ato back for next year. God help us if the Flotrack broadcasts are done totally on the cheap.
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