guccislides wrote:
LateRunnerPhil wrote:
Lewandowski is gonna smoke him. It's a championship race, not some rabbited WR attempt. People here vastly overvalue Jakob's fitness because he has some good times and does well off good pacemakers leading him.
Fact is he couldn't break 1:46 last year in a perfectly paced time-trial last year and not a single of his performance showed that he got the speed to hold off someone like Lewandowski on the last 1-2 laps.
This will be a repeat of what happened 2019. The thing is there is not even one case of how the race is going to go that would favor Jakob:
1) He starts very fast from the get-go, Tim style. Lewandowski would just sit behind, take it easy and pass him at the end when Jakob is out of gas from all the frontrunning.
2) He starts a strong kick "600 left". He will bonk somewhere before the finish line and Lewandowski will be there to finish it.
3) He takes it easier and gets to 400 left with Lewandowski next to him. If Lewandowski is there with Jakob with 400 to go and it's not a crazy fast race, it's over at that point.
His best chances are if Lewandowski falls or if he gets DQed (many runners got DQed already due to stepping inside). But in a regular race, it does not look too good for him. He has to wait until Lewandowski retires before he has a chance for Gold.
Also funny that every major race LRC thinks Jakob will win. In 2019 Indoor EC, the forums were all about Jakob making the double. Then Lewandowski won. The same year, people thought he would medal for sure in Doha WC, some even thought he could challenge time. He couldn't even get top 3, once again behind Lewandowski. The mistake here is always thinking "better PR or better SB = wins", when it's actually a championship race.
aged well
Comparing Jakob and Lewandowski off past results was a little foolish. Teenage Jakob in 2018 and 2019 was worlds behind the current version. And Lewandowski is on the wrong side of 30. I think this was obvious to anyone who seriously follows the sport. (Sorry laterunnerphil)
Anyway, Jakob could be a smarter runner. I picture Gjert pacing near the exit, muttering to himself: what does he think he is doing, running in the midst of the chaos like that? Jakob knows better than to run like that.
Finally, letsrunners are the most self-hating sports fans on the planet. Is there a runner they LIKE? Alot of this comes from leadership, of course. Rojo is about as negative and TMZ-like as any. But it is wild to me how so many here CRAVE failure from our sport's stars. Wonder when the tides will turn against Cheptegai and Chelimo?