I would have predicted faster than that. But there was no use forecasting anything without knowing the lane. I can't believe Keely didn't have enough clout to demand a favorable outside lane.
Very few runners are competitive from inside lanes at Diamond League level, at either 200 or 400.
Yeah tough from inside, especially with everyone making a big jump on her in the first 150m. However, she held her pace and finished decently.
TBH kudos to her - big star running an off distance at a big meet. She didn't have to do that, and not many would.
So....does this mean her 1500 potential is better than we might think? A lot of people doubting she could break 4 on another thread, but perhaps her 800 chops are more a product of endurance vs speed.
So....does this mean her 1500 potential is better than we might think? A lot of people doubting she could break 4 on another thread, but perhaps her 800 chops are more a product of endurance vs speed.
Discus.
No I think she is pure 800 - quite a rare breed. I don’t think she should dabble in the 1500 - she wouldn’t be competitive. Her training is perfect at the moment- working on 400m speed then going for the record.
I would have predicted faster than that. But there was no use forecasting anything without knowing the lane. I can't believe Keely didn't have enough clout to demand a favorable outside lane.
Very few runners are competitive from inside lanes at Diamond League level, at either 200 or 400.
Yeah tough from inside, especially with everyone making a big jump on her in the first 150m. However, she held her pace and finished decently.
TBH kudos to her - big star running an off distance at a big meet. She didn't have to do that, and not many would.
I also think kudos to her. Her and her team are wise and dialled in. They knew she had no chance of placing highly and this was more an opportunity for her to try and better her PB. It’s probably frustrating when people criticise an say ‘oh wow she came DFL’ - she was never in it to win it! And to think so is quite disrespectful to the 400m specialists around her.
I would have predicted faster than that. But there was no use forecasting anything without knowing the lane. I can't believe Keely didn't have enough clout to demand a favorable outside lane.
Very few runners are competitive from inside lanes at Diamond League level, at either 200 or 400.
also worth noting - she's now ranked 3rd in the UK this year at 400m so has a good chance of relay medals at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
...And Koch herself said she would have run faster if she'd had a better lane, preferably with Bryzgina outside her as well (& let's not forget her run of 48.27 in lane 1!)
Hindsight is always a wonderful thing, but my original gut was 51.1 based on common sense (what she ran indoors compared to last; her progression; her indoor time; this being an opening race etc.) alas I put y hands up: I TOTALLY got distracted and derailed by the video posted a few hors before the race of her training run time.
I agree with the other poster that a race with women in the 50.5 to 51.5 range would have been more beneficial. Especially having Butler directly outside her, who went out in sub 12 over 100m and hit 200m in 23.3. I think this impacted Keely. She was only 7th fastest from 300m to 350m, and from 350m to 400m 3 women were still faster than her, with 2 others around the same time.
In terms of the rest of the race, Jaeger had a superb last 50m, only one of two that went sub 7secs along with Anning. She looked so strong at the end & clearly can get to low 49 this year.
Manuel knocked exactly 0.75 off her PB for her first sub 50. Despite being equal with Klaver in training videos, she beat her by nearly 1 second. Klaver really needs to leave that group now, Meuwly's attention is all over Manuel (he was posting IG stories...) meanwhile her ex coach Bram Peters is taking Zapetalova to DL wins...
I have to admit, I was underwhelmed. I don't think Keely went into a DL 400m to just improve her PR 0.35. I am less optimistic about her breaking the WR than I was before.
You’re right. Keely would likely have gone faster in a race with more women in the 50.5 - 51.5 range. I actually think the ideal scenario would have been for her to be positioned in lane 4 or 5 just inside Sharlene Mawdsley.
They were very evenly matched a couple of years ago. Mawdsley has improved significantly this year though. However, she hasn’t incredible foot speed. Her 200m PB is ‘only’ 23.09. I think Sharlene or somebody else with a very similar profile, could have dragged Keely along to a sub-51 clocking.
As for Klaver, it’s very hard to understand what’s going on with her. She appears to have stagnated, if not regressed. I thought she looked quite flat at world relays. This carried over into her race last night. Perhaps she’ll get back down to sub-50, but it doesn’t look likely on current evidence. You can’t blame Meuwly for prioritising Manuel. She’s younger, more naturally talented, and has good pace judgement.
The conundrum for Klaver is where does she go next? There aren’t many elite level 400m training groups in Europe. Women like Jaeger and Natalia B seem to have their own bespoke setup. Perhaps Tony Lester’s group? The options are thin on the ground for her.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
It was definitely underwhelming. I think the combination of lane draw and superior competition should not be under estimated.
I am not sure why so many of you say it is “underwhelming.” If Emmanuel Wanyonyi lined up in a Diamond League 400m race and ran 46.33 would it be deemed “underwhelming” or just a race where an 800m stud went outside of his comfort zone to race against the best in their event and not his? I don’t know.
It was definitely underwhelming. I think the combination of lane draw and superior competition should not be under estimated.
I am not sure why so many of you say it is “underwhelming.” If Emmanuel Wanyonyi lined up in a Diamond League 400m race and ran 46.33 would it be deemed “underwhelming” or just a race where an 800m stud went outside of his comfort zone to race against the best in their event and not his? I don’t know.
Mostly because she is clearly capable of faster in the right race with the right opposition. She also made noises herself about going sub-50.
She is up against some tough competition such as Klavier, Lurdes Manuel, Amber Anning, Henrietta Jaeger, Natalia Bukoweicka.
I am expecting Keely to run no faster than 51.5
I think Keely was also underwhelmed. 1:54 low might be her ceiling just based on this 400 result. That said, I think she will be super-motivated for her Stockholm 800.
Yaa I agree. She will smoke the opening 800. And I do not believe she is done with the 400 this year. There's a lot of weight on a season opener for a non-specialist.
CLOWN himself would have done relatively no better had he raced the 400. I am not sure why the sense of letdown...51.8 would have been depressing but 51.1 is still a PR by a chunk and no doubt Trevor keeps her focused on the primary goal so it's not like she was training all year for a 400PR. I have confidence she is on track for her #1 goal and I sincerely hope she takes her cue from our alltime guru EDDY LEE...
It was definitely underwhelming. I think the combination of lane draw and superior competition should not be under estimated.
I am not sure why so many of you say it is “underwhelming.” If Emmanuel Wanyonyi lined up in a Diamond League 400m race and ran 46.33 would it be deemed “underwhelming” or just a race where an 800m stud went outside of his comfort zone to race against the best in their event and not his? I don’t know.
I am not sure why so many of you say it is “underwhelming.” If Emmanuel Wanyonyi lined up in a Diamond League 400m race and ran 46.33 would it be deemed “underwhelming” or just a race where an 800m stud went outside of his comfort zone to race against the best in their event and not his? I don’t know.
He’d run a lot faster than that
Probably more like 45-high, I’d guess. He’s too strong at 1500, road miles and 2k XC to run much faster than that.
I think Hodgkinson went out too fast: her splits were 12.39-11.78-12.87-14.10, or 24.17-26.97. To maximize her PB, she may be better served racing 50.5-52.0 runners where she could go out in 24.5+ without being badly gapped, and then run some women down.
Hopefully she stays with the 800. 51.1 is excellent long sprint speed. She can beat the 800 WR with that speed and the right continuing development. Who cares if she ever runs a 1500? It's a non-issue. Run the 800 as well as she does and that's all you need to do in the sport. On another note Klaver is 27 and there are 20 -21 year olds running 50 point. Some even faster. Klaver has had many good times and medals. We will see how she does this year.
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