THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:
think first wrote:
Good question is what's better:
A) Go for safe silver in 1500m
B) Go for gold or nothing in 5000m
I'd say A. It's a 1500m final, you never know. Even if Tim leads it out (or gets pacing help from a teammate) and targets a 3:28-9 race, why can't Jakob be right there? Tim is great at saving for the homestretch and handling a blazing fast pace. But Jakob seems to be making improvements on the former. I'd still favor Tim to win, but he will likely have to be the hunted and not the hunter. In the 5,000, I think Wale and Kiplimo might in reality be some 5+ seconds faster than Jakob with a big strength advantage. There's more depth below them as well. So go with the 1500 in my view.
You're right, people today still remember Cram's silver in Los Angeles more than Aouita's 5000m gold. If Aouita had been a man, he could have ran the 1500 and likely would have finished between Cram and Coe.
Jakob said on social media yesterday that he prefers the 1500. Aouita preferred the 1500 too but he wasn't a man like Jakob is.
Jakob might finish second behind Tim, although Tim is having sleepless nights now and will probably skip any head to head with Jakob until Tokyo to plant potatoes instead. Even if Tim does win, the statistical liklihood is he'll get popped in the next few years. At Jakob's age and with the delay to Tokyo, he has a series shot at being the only 3 time Olympic 1500m champion. He'll still only be 31 in 2032.