43.03WR!! Van Niekirk

The whole "coached by Grandma" thing is hilarious.

That last 30 meters was crazy, with the human runners tying up just a little and this guy just flying.

Mudder wrote:

The whole "coached by Grandma" thing is hilarious.

That last 30 meters was crazy, with the human runners tying up just a little and this guy just flying.

Outside lanes are faster. As long as you judge the distribution of your effort well, the outside lane will be faster because the turns aren't as tight as the inside lanes.

yes, lane 8 should be checked from that start point

Fhjsj wrote:

I thought tracks were either fast for sprints (hard) or fast for distances (softer).

Hard is fast for both but hurts distance runners more

Why then the WR of 5000/10000m on the track is faster than on the road?

Black Lives Matter wrote:

Mope Dealer wrote:

I wouldn't go that far mate, no whites in the 100m or 400m. Only Galen and Zane in the top 12 of the 10k. But what is true is the nation's with mostly white people living in them eg Denmark, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany medical drugs are more tightly controlled and are less likely to be available for cheating and paper work is traceable on these drugs.

I would say in richer nations, you are more likely to afford more advanced pharmaceuticals that are ahead of current testing standards.

Hey moron, a) I was refuting an inaccurate racial statement.

b) In richer nations there is no doubt some drugs cheats, however for your statement to be true these nations would have to use their superior incomes to set up systematic doping regimes. The evidence would suggest that this not the case. The evidence suggests that the governments in these countries tightly control pharmaceuticals and investigate doping behavior of their athletes.

Runrincerepeat wrote:

That was just incredible... He just destroyed MJs record

Meh.

0.3% improvement on an event WR in 17 years?

That is like if the 100 improved by 0.03 since 1997. Actually very slow progress and not surprising it happened.

roads for retirees wrote:

Runrincerepeat wrote:

That was just incredible... He just destroyed MJs record

Meh.

0.3% improvement on an event WR in 17 years?

That is like if the 100 improved by 0.03 since 1997. Actually very slow progress and not surprising it happened.

Except that you're ignoring context. With a few performances/performers aside, no one has even sniffed anything close to that record for nearly two decades, despite it being one of the most commonly run distances at all levels.

Stupid comment winner wrote:

kiowavt wrote:

That was my first thought as well. Not drugs, but track measure. Even a tiny bit can be enough. And, for 25 laps, more than enough. Likely it has been checked, but maybe best they check again.

Hey stupid, there only a handful of company's that are contracted to lay this type of surface in this type of world class facilitiy. They know what there are doing.

Hey stupid, mistakes can be made...

Jdjeidbdbd wrote:

Except that you're ignoring context. With a few performances/performers aside, no one has even sniffed anything close to that record for nearly two decades, despite it being one of the most commonly run distances at all levels.

And no one touched Lee Evan's WR for almost twenty years. And then it took 11 more for Johnson to get it. And now 17 for van Niekerk. If you want to cite something unusual in making this record happen, it's rare for someone so good as van Niekerk to be in lane 8 and in the 200m and 400m, the outside lanes are the fastest. You can think back to Xavier Carter running 19.63, 0.3 seconds faster than his next best 200m, in lane 8 in Lausanne in 2006. It's just that the fastest runners will usually be in lanes 3-6.

jyunker wrote:

Suspect he slowed far less than Merritt and James.

Bold theory.

Folks. Think about how great this is...

VNK ran just a fraction over 10.5 per hundred meters X 4 -- bleeping amazing!

How many people in the world can run just one 10.5? Damn few.

Lee Evans run did benefit from both altitude and great competition ... Larry James (look him up). And remember that Michael Johnson also set the 200 meter world record. VNK is in that world along with Bolt.

It's just so sad to see performances like this and know that not only this guy is a huge doper, but he will never test positive. Track and Field is just a masquerade.

Mope Dealer wrote:

b) In richer nations there is no doubt some drugs cheats, however.....what is true is the nation's with mostly white people living in them eg Denmark, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Canada, Luxembourg, Germany medical drugs are more tightly controlled and are less likely to be available for cheating and paper work is traceable on these drugs......The evidence suggests that the governments in these countries tightly control pharmaceuticals and investigate doping behavior of their athletes.

"some]/b] drug cheats" in richer/whiter nations???? LOL!

Your theory is garbage. Ever heard of the TOUR DE FRANCE ??? Ever heard of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL?? (I could go on and on and on, but I won't) I'm pretty sure that in "richer" and "whiter" nations there has been rampant doping in many different sports. There was no "tight control" of pharmaceuticals. And even if there was, drugs can easily be obtained by individuals from other less-controlled nations, and easily used by the individuals residing in the rich/white nations.

In the big scheme of things Russia is not a "poor" country (maybe avg individuals are, but the gov't and nation as a whole is not), and is very white, and they have had the largest, and longest systematic doping of any country.

So what exactly is your point?

He could have every record from 300-600 if he wanted

Runrincerepeat wrote:

That was just incredible... He just destroyed MJs record

Thanks [quote]400m runner, for the excellent comments. Simple physics tells you the more gradual curve will be fastest.

I also appreciate your mention of MJ. I always liked the efficiency of his stride. That upright posture was crazy, like his legs might outrun his torso. Curious what his splits were for his 43.18.

Star wrote:

You move up to the 800 when you can't win in the 400.

I don't see him messing with the 800.

And I don't understand this fascination.

It stems from wanting to see all time greatness. He's an all time great 400 runner, but being able to win a 400/800 double is one of the few feats that could surpass Bolt's level of greatness.

I love how every time a guy like this comes along, speculation explodes on what his times will be for other distances, and how those records will go down. Except it almost always never happens. And that's because the evidence suggests that most performers are distance/event specific. A good example being Johnny Gray, who seems to have been the perfect 600 runner- Note that Rudisha again came up short this year in trying to break what is now a 30 years old record. But more pertinent here, the speculators need to keep in mind that Van Niekirk was a 200/400 /jumper. He's not geared to a much longer distance like the 800.

MarathonMind wrote:

I love how every time a guy like this comes along, speculation explodes on what his times will be for other distances, and how those records will go down. Except it almost always never happens. And that's because the evidence suggests that most performers are distance/event specific. A good example being Johnny Gray, who seems to have been the perfect 600 runner- Note that Rudisha again came up short this year in trying to break what is now a 30 years old record. But more pertinent here, the speculators need to keep in mind that Van Niekirk was a 200/400 /jumper. He's not geared to a much longer distance like the 800.

Stick to the marathon. Rudisha was not going for the 600 WR.