Good for her. She moved somewhat prematurely instead of trying to catch Semenya asleep at the wire. But at least it is another American who is willing to run towards the front.
Seemingly for 40+ years I've watched one moronic American runner at 800 meters and up who is content to lag in the back and somehow believe they will loop past the world's best as a block. It worked for Dave Wottle so it will work for everyone. Idiocy. I'm convinced the coaching is largely to blame, along with no comprehension that you simply can't give ground the higher you go. Yeah, race against a 3 year old and you can fade half a lap. Unless that 3 year old is a horse.
Johnny Gray was one of the rare exceptions. He may not have been elite enough to hold on every time but at least he gave himself a chance. Now it's taken another quarter century before finding runners like Centrowitz, Jager, Coburn and Wilson who will risk the forward tier.
Naturally we still have the Brenda Martinez types who have no strategic clue and invariably get stuck in the middle of the pack and in the middle of the second lane. What could possibly go wrong? Check out the start of that race. Martinez shared a lane with Niyonsaba. At the gun Niyonsaba was smart enough to boldly establish position. She went out only 2-3 steps ahead of Martinez over the first 100 meters but it was all the difference between safe stalking position on the rail or jostled uncertainty in the pack.
