Is Jake Whightman going to be "the next guy" again?

In his age class - completely obvious this was meant.

It is rather: Jakob only loses (gets silver) when he is sick which makes him run about 2.5 seconds away from his SB as in the indoor WC in 2022 and in Budapest 2023.

"One of the slowest elite runners" . This is complete nonsense. Can you provide just a single race to prove your claim?

Jakob had some injuries and sickness problems both in 2021 and 2022 -therefore his progress wasn’t linear. But in late fall 2022 Jakob was reported to be in “monster shape” (but a new period with sickness then set in). He himself said he had a potential he didn’t get out in the track season 2022, but maybe one could say that he wasn’t so good that season, before it really came loose in the late fall, and eventually in 2023.? Pretty much like Kerr, who wasn’t good in 2023, but quite “suddenly” found top shape in the indoor season..?

I’m pretty sure Jake doesn’t relay (solely) on his 800m speed. Even if the final turn out to be a slow one decided by kickers it’s dangerous to be without strength -one could be spent after heat and semis in hot weather.

I think Wightman learned something important in last Olympics; the need of both strength and speed. So even being injured for such a long period I think he (also) has prioritised endurance work in some fashion even from the gecko of his rehabilitation…

Jakob didn´t grossly underperform?! He was 2.51 sec from his SB.

Silesia DL: Have you even watched the race? Jakob hadn´t really contact with the pacemakers for most of the time.

So you think Kerr could have run 3:27 if he had pacemakers for 1200m? But why didn´t he then run a monster time in the DL Lausanne 1500m where Jakob gave him excellent pace for the whole race?

I was an elite VETERAN runner. Qualifying to the finals in European champs and WC in the 800m and the 1500m. Isn´t that elite.

And what do you know of my background when you don´t know my name?

Who is the ignorant here?

What are Jakobs PRs in 400m? 800m? 1000m? Therefore one of the slowest elite runners.

I say, whenever Jakob loses, he says he's sick. Let him call it beforehand, not after the fact. The guy has such an ego that he can never admit he was beaten fare and square.

Well, not really. As we can clearly see that 5k, 10k and Marathon specialists have much less speed than, let's say, 800m runners.

Aerobic training does nothing for speed. Either you're fast, or you're not. And if you train specifically for speed, your speed improves.

Fair points all. That being said, it is a more abbreviated buildup. The positive he is clearly sharp from a speed standpoint, and doing well in training. The unknown is whether he hits the peak and carries over the strength as well as in 2022. You could put a little bit of the same concern about Jakob though with his injury. But of course, we know his mileage is higher and his lifetime base is somewhat ridiculous. These two's 2024 ceilings are the biggest unanswered Qs of the season. I would've said Niels Laros, but unfortunately it seems like injury is going to take him out of contention unless there's something we don't know. Josh Kerr had definitely answered the question of whether he is at a different level resoundingly.

Your narrative here could be true, but it just collides with reality (except the things you write about Jakob’s 5000m): It wasn’t a long season that left Jakob spent - Worlds wasn’t in late October (as in Doha 2019) but around 20th of August. And it wasn’t a cascade of heats and semis that spent Jakob -it was one heat (3.33 high) and one semis (3.34 high): piece of cake for Jakob compared with what he has done in other champs (Nationals in 2017 being the most extreme).

Jakob started his indoor season that year a little later than planned, and he skipped his planned 3000m WR try (indoors) as well as a WR attempt on his own 1500m WR (indoors). -This was because he had been sick earlier that winter. And then he had a controlled 1500m win (indoors) and quite easy wins in Euros 1500m and 3000m. -He looked relaxed after an indoor season that was less demanding than planned (because of the cancelling of the two WR attempts). So when he opens outdoors with an easy Diamond League win in Rabat he looked good. So good that he went for the two mile WR, and got it in 7.54.1. And then 1500m pb in Oslo despite being a little leggy after the two mile. Jakob then ran a down prioritised 3.28 win in Lausanne, followed by 3.27.14 in Silesia.

A hard program? Yes, maybe. But Jakob even rested a little in an effort to run fast in Silesia, so one could think he had control on his effort / rest balance… But this is important: Jakob isn’t like you or me, nor like most elite athletes. Because he is extremely concentrated on balance in his training (and one would think in competition efforts as well) -whenever Jakob talks about training he stresses that the core in his philosophy is this: Never train too hard! And think long term. But here comes the fun thing: Jakob also stresses that for him it’s neither right to ease up the training (volume) too much, or rest him self to shape. Narve Nordås by the way says the same…

We are in August 2023, and some would say that a program like the mentioned could make an athlete “spent”, but Jakob has the experience, and knows what gives him his needed form. So could he miscalculate? Sure. But to judge that we have to analyse context: Jakob looks marvellous in the heat and especially in the semis. And then he gets two resting days. -Spent? Why would he be that..!? (He hasn’t even started the doubling he is used to).

But lastly: Yes, he could be “spent”. -Everything is theoretically possible… But if he is spent after a long season and a hard champs, how on earth can he set a 2000m WR just a couple of weeks after WC. And go on with a 3.43 and a 7.23!!!? Can you see that your logic is a little flawed here..?

This is what most surprises me. He was sick in budapest and still got 2nd with 3:29 mid, but then goes on to run the 2000m wr and a 343 mile plus 723 3k. Incredible how he is able to bounce back like that. If he had won that 1500m, it would have been probably top 3 or number 1 distance runner seasons of all time easily.

Jakob has been a sore loser more than once. But he has also been a good loser more than once. (Yes, more often than not -do you really want me to bother you with a lot of examples..?) -You are bias; you just cherry pick what suits your narrative. And yes, we could discuss Jakob’s speed, but when you come dragging with some super old pb’s as if they are the fact (has he even one in the 1000m?) then you lose some credibility…

There is no need to come up with intricate excuses, it's as simple as this: fast milers race 800m / 1000m (see Wightman, Kerr, Cheruyiot, Kessler) and slow milers don't (see JI, McSweyn, Nordas, Hoare).

Also let's settle on this: it's every professional's responsibility to stay healthy for important races. Nobody cares what's the reason you lost, if someone sneezed on you or you forgot to wash your hands before sucking on your thumb. It's super convenient for JI to belittle his competition and their achievements saying that he was sick. In his workout video in Flagstaff he is already sniffling and complaining about the wind. Wouldn't be surprized, if Jakob loses and then says he wasn't healthy.

It’s nothing to refute but you still offer a rebuttal. He PRed in 2021 and won the Olympics. He ran slower the next year and lost. There is no evidence of Jakob “leveling up every year” as was suggested.

I think Kerr could’ve run 3:27 on the day of the world championships. Because he peaked correctly. He ran 3:29.x with a 52 last lap. Obviously indicative of much better fitness.

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