lost the weight wrote:
Jo72 wrote:
No,I don't think it will chance the race. If Mu can run sub 4:20 she is a miracle or a dude (because Semenya was the only "female" in history with sub 50 400m and sub 4 1500m and she is bio-male). And there would be little anyone in the field could do (unless someone is in 4:15 shape and thus still faster and I seriously doubt this).
If Klosterhalfen is not completely off-shape she will keep/push the pace like she did in 2019 and 20 to take the edge off Purrier and other kickers, and she might not be the only one to push the pace. It will very probably not be a sit-and-kick race in 4:24-27 with or without Mu.
Mu ran 4:16 1500m outdoors last year. She has been a well developed 400/600/800m runner since 3-4 years, not a newcomer. Dropping ~16 sec. from that 1500m mark for a ca. 4:20 mile indoors in 9 months would be incredible. Dropping 10 secs to 4:24 would already be better than Wilson's 4:05 1500m and close to the strongest ever combined 400 +1500/mile times of female. If she runs that fast, she needs to try the 1000m WR (the one Semenya tried twice and I think without any sandbagging and failed). She should try the 1000m anyway.
Yes. A few times in HS I won races 20-30s slower than my PR in the mile. I ran those races to win.
We don’t know what Mu could’ve run last year or this year because she’s only run to win.
With that said, a person that is an overwhelming favorite in the 800m, is certainly not switching their event in the 11th hour unless training has indicated she can compete.
Finally, someone with some nuance and context here!
Both in her outdoor 1500 last year (a duel meet against the University of Texas!) and in her indoor mile last week (a B heat against off-brand Texas colleges), Mu is essentially running a public over-distance workout. She is not going even close to the well in either effort.
Folks on here (like Armstronglivs and Jo72) look at race times without any context, as if a given performance is literally the best possible time someone could run and failing to account for weather, competition, strategy and tactics, where someone is at in their training cycle(s), etc.
Mu is a generational talent with easily the best competitive mindset of any American woman running right now. She is the kind of athlete seeking (and unafraid to say as much) historical accomplishments—running a world-record for 800, pulling off an Olympic 400/800 double, etc. She is not entering this high profile and televised race on a whim, or simply for a paycheck, or to duck opponents in the 800 (a truly laughable proposition!). Her training obviously indicates that she is capable of a seriously strong time much closer to 4:20 than 4:30 or she would not be doing it.
And, yes, she should run a 1000 soon, as she would obliterate the 2:30 barrier if close to fit!
