Did Mu cut off Hodgkinson? Grounds for DQ?

lol simp

That proves the exact opposite, they are knocking elbows already.

Keely has 15 to 20cm from her left foot to the rail. Plenty of room to try to squeeze through. She just didn't quite have it. Anyone strong/fast enough would have tried going through a gap like that in a final sprint or elsewhere throughout any mass start tract race. Rubbing is racing.

Both Gidey and Mu employed tactics which involved slightly obstructing their opponents for gold. Neither seem fully worthy of a DQ unless the rules are being applied very strictly. It doesn't really matter if the opponent has "room to pass" at certain points of the finishing strait - anything that knocks an athlete off balance or impedes their progress when they are giving their all at the end of a closely fought race will impede their effort and affect the finish.

Perhaps we should interpret the rules more seriously after all then - seeing finishes marred by athletes deliberately obstructing opponents spoils the race. Its certainly more serious than accidentally putting a foot off the track.

You have to be aware that in the case of Mu and Hodgkinson though that there is no way that Mu can be dq'd or even UKA object, because Mu is black and Hodgkinson is very, very white, and any objection will be interpreted by many as being a racist thing. If it had happened the other way around and Hodgkinson had somewhat moved in on Mu on the inside hampering her effort (unlikely because Mu is much taller and heavier), there would be cries that that white athlete had deliberately impeded a black athlete and wasn't being dq'd due to white privilege.

Not a great spectacle, not an entirely fair race and it might have affected the result if the other athlete in each case had been knocked off their stride even momentarily. I also think Obiri might have won against Gidey if she hadn't obstructed her somewhat. An athlete relying on those tactics demonstrates their weakness that they cannot rely on their running speed alone to win the race.

I don't believe she will ever run that fast again. That is just my personal opinion.

Did she not have Covid recently

I think this was Keely's big chance to beat her.

Still not see a front on video. Mu was on the line round the bend though and moved to the middle of lane one as soon as Keely appeared. Would need to see the front video but I don't think it was a DQ but it did affect the result.

Interestingly, I thought that Jakob Ingebrigtsen lost the 1500m because he ran the first lap or so, rather arrogantly in like lane 3.

The two runners were on line 1 at 200m but Keely was trying to stick to line 1 the whole race. I thinks these are tactics from her coach.

the performances in the last two years show that Mu is more consistent than Keely.
Keely out pass her performances only in the finals. As you can see in this race she was sticking to line the whole race while Athing was in line 2 most of the race.

Yes I agree that Mu has had better performances but I think that's key - has HAD.

I also think she may change to the 400m.

Who knows though.

It is just an opinion.

I trust Keely and her reaction and commentary.

Keely did not feel cut off in any sort of way. She's been interviewed right after and now a couple days after the race, just didn't have the power to pass Mu and wasn't impeded.

A feature of the nature of the finish that is being debated here is that, quite apart from the issue of obstruction, the margin between Mu and Hodgkinson is now at a whisker. Less than a tenth of a second. That augurs well for Hodgkinson. She is closer than last year and is now only a stride away from beating Mu. The next year will be interesting.

No, she didn't.

Aren't you happy that we finally have an "American Born" World Outdoors Champion in the woman's 800 and an American Gold Medalist in the event at this year's World Championships?

We are always talking about our US distance athletes not stepping up or choking but Athing Mu continues to produce even during a rough year.

The short answer is no. If Athing had stayed further out I agree Keely might have gotten even closer, but she wasn't getting past Athing on that day, but Athing wasn't obliged to stay so far out in the lane. In any event, great races from both.

As another poster asked, what the heck happened to Ajee????

Not really,

Mu's training for this year/season was truncated by many factors. She is nowhere near where she was last year, yet a "subpar" Athing still got the Gold. Yes, wait until next year when she is running in the 1:54s (low) and 48s (400).

Mu has said MANY times that she prefers the 800 over the 400.

That was only for one race. Mu had Covid twice in the last 5 months. If Mu stays healthy next year, Hodgkinson will be much more than .08 seconds behind.

100% DIRTY