I don't think Kipyegon had confidence in that pacer and could judge how fast she was going. She fares best when there's some familiarity.
But it's the reason the mile attempt has more upside than some are suggesting. Kipyegon never takes full advantage of drafting. The gap today was basically the same as her mile world record from 2023. She sat 5 meters behind the two pacers during early stage of that race.
The organizers of the sub 4 attempt will make sure Kipyegon has tall wide male pacers in front of her, and they'll have to emphasize to Kipyegon to stick close. Multiple practice sessions. It can't be like American male relay practice with one half ass jog through.
I think its a little karma remember when she had the audacity to be angry at not breaking the WR in Budapest as if it was a given
Then the gods snatched her abilities right back
Shericka's opportunity was Eugene 2022. Once it didn't happen there when newly 28 I knew it was hype that wouldn't be fulfilled.
I'm just glad she never got that individual Olympic gold medal. Shericka thought it was clever to join Shelly Ann and make fun of Elaine whenever possible, via body language and everything else. Four gold medals trounces either one of them.
Non-stop action over 2 hours. What more could an athletics fan want?
- Human interest stories. What are the athletes like off the track?
- Features. One example could be athletes tasting local treats and rating them from 1 to 10, or maybe having two athletes from different events getting to know each other in a relaxed setting.
- Advertisements. Getting to learn about cool new products.
- Outreach. Recordings of the Diamond League CEO (or meet directors) meeting with the local stakeholders before the event.
- Tension. Shots of athletes toeing the line for a few minutes. When are they gonna start, you ask? Wait and see.
- Aggregates. Why reveal the actual winner immediately? Stay tuned while we calculate the scores, cause the results table we just showed you doesn't tell the full story.
I don't think Kipyegon had confidence in that pacer and could judge how fast she was going. She fares best when there's some familiarity.
But it's the reason the mile attempt has more upside than some are suggesting. Kipyegon never takes full advantage of drafting. The gap today was basically the same as her mile world record from 2023. She sat 5 meters behind the two pacers during early stage of that race.
The organizers of the sub 4 attempt will make sure Kipyegon has tall wide male pacers in front of her, and they'll have to emphasize to Kipyegon to stick close. Multiple practice sessions. It can't be like American male relay practice with one half ass jog through.
This is where this concept breaks down though. There is probably a good reason she "never takes full advantage of drafting" - some athletes simply aren't comfortable running so close behind another athlete they get this magical 3% that this lab boffin thinks is out there. And now there is talk of having her run behind two - oh but wait, they are going to transition in and out after 800m so they are perfectly fresh? Madness.
It's just devoid of reality. This is so classic I've heard and seen stuff like this a million times in my line of work. The big dreamer lab boys roll in with an idea they have cherry picked the most ideal, optimum path to "success" for, and sell it to stupid upper management guys desperate for "wins". Except none of these research/science/lab guys have any actual experience in the vocation they believe they will create the next earth shattering moment in. Just dreamers with no understanding of anything non-measurable or non-quantifiable - no concept of infinite number of nuances and intricacies of things like sport. It's either black or white, no shades of grey and they sell it as bonafide lore.
If she doesn't run behind pacers now in races that actually mean something (where a WR can be set), she's not going to be swayed in 8 weeks. If I was Nike and her "team" right now I'd be worried that she doesn't cross her anaerobic threshold after only 1100m of a mile at 4min pace and then completely melts down in the last 300 - forget how close she has to run behind a pacer.
This is where this concept breaks down though. There is probably a good reason she "never takes full advantage of drafting" - some athletes simply aren't comfortable running so close behind another athlete they get this magical 3% that this lab boffin thinks is out there. And now there is talk of having her run behind two - oh but wait, they are going to transition in and out after 800m so they are perfectly fresh? Madness.
It's just devoid of reality. This is so classic I've heard and seen stuff like this a million times in my line of work. The big dreamer lab boys roll in with an idea they have cherry picked the most ideal, optimum path to "success" for, and sell it to stupid upper management guys desperate for "wins". Except none of these research/science/lab guys have any actual experience in the vocation they believe they will create the next earth shattering moment in. Just dreamers with no understanding of anything non-measurable or non-quantifiable - no concept of infinite number of nuances and intricacies of things like sport. It's either black or white, no shades of grey and they sell it as bonafide lore.
If she doesn't run behind pacers now in races that actually mean something (where a WR can be set), she's not going to be swayed in 8 weeks. If I was Nike and her "team" right now I'd be worried that she doesn't cross her anaerobic threshold after only 1100m of a mile at 4min pace and then completely melts down in the last 300 - forget how close she has to run behind a pacer.
And there are literal lights too, so you know the rabbits were doing everything right! Yes, today was pretty revealing that the Nike bigwigs have to get Faith fully on-board here. She and Sang have to have full control over who the pacers are, the exact pacing formation/personnel, and the tempo to be set. She likes going out slow let’s be honest. She also probably should have her personal male pacemaker from Kenya doing this. You can have someone else leading him out I don’t care.
But 60-60-60-60 is not the move here. 61.5-61 and see what happens. Even if she is wearing springs it’s clear she doesn’t like going out at pace, and would rather bang home a 58-59 last lap.
-Sick kick by Chebet, both a ridiculous change of speed and then sustaining it pretty dang well with 13.5 on the straight
-Great run by Tinch, as he starts to look more like he did at his breakout point, the vets Roberts and Holloway are struggling
-Shericka looked like she did in 2023, which is to say washed
-So far, not so good for this Coleman coaching switch, gotta see something better next week, if you're going to skip indoors, this isn't the early returns anyone wants to see
-I don't get Kipyegon not going with the pacemakers who went out on pace and not too fast. If for the sub-4 attempt, they set the lights for 60 and she runs a 61+ it's going to both look silly and kill off the "drafting science" that delivers her 6 seconds. It's not a new thing either, she often doesn't go with rabbits. She constantly trains with a personal male pacer, so maybe she just needs him to be the first pacemakers. Nike should listen to the athlete because Faith freelancing is not going to help things.
-I'm pretty down on El Bakkali, I think last year might've been it. Koech ran a tentative race, but he's probably ahead of El B fitness-wise, and he's traditionally a slow-starter. Firewu obviously took him down pretty easily. Edmund Serem is coming. His brother Amos might be the best of all of the challengers, though the fact that he wasn't here or at Adidas' event might indicate some injury issues after a respectable 2K XC race in February. We do get a rerun next week, so we'll see. But if anythiing I'd expect a 1-2-3 from Girma, Firewu and Koech more than El Bakkali winning.
I think you are right. El Bakkali got lucky in Paris last year due to one of the all time devastating hurdle stacks by Girma, who was about to run away for the gold.
This post was edited 38 seconds after it was posted.