Is Lewandowski underrated?

I really don’t think he fits the term underrated. He’s been on the elite scene for what, a decade now? He’s transitioned from 800 to 1500 and excelled at both. How can a guy with his resume and medaled at worlds possibly be underrated?

You can barely the word underrated in track and field the way you can use it in team sports.

I think he's a threat for a medal in any 1500m, regardless of how it's run. He's an exceptional championship runner- I think him and Centro have the most experience in championship finals (correct me if I'm wrong), and that experience can't be understated. I think this field is just so stacked, that he ends up getting looked over in favor of men with faster PBs. You also have to consider that there are quite a few younger athletes (who maybe have only been following the sport for a few years) who use these boards who may not be familiar with his championship prowess.

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

career wrote:

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

That was an incredibly ignorant post! Go do some research on Leeandowski, and then report back to all of us what you find!

career wrote:

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

He won the Euro 2019 indoors 1500m over Jakob pretty convincingly. And it's not like Jakob was a slouch at that point - he had run 3:31 in summer 2018 and would go on to run 3:30 just a few months later. I wouldn't call him underrated, but he does fly under the radar compared to some of the other athletes who don't really have the same kind of resume as Lewandowski. Call me crazy, but I would put money on Lewandowski grabbing a medal over Jakob based on what I've seen in championship finals.

TMW wrote:

career wrote:

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

That was an incredibly ignorant post! Go do some research on Leeandowski, and then report back to all of us what you find!

Okay, 2nd indoors and 3rd outdoors WC. Good results.

People do bring him up as a contender all the time. He's 34 and unlikely to do more than scrape the back like this, if even, anymore. I think he is overrated, if anything.

TMW wrote:

career wrote:

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

That was an incredibly ignorant post! Go do some research on Leeandowski, and then report back to all of us what you find!

I think what they meant is that if anything he is overrated. Every single championship that rolls around he is in most peoples predictions, even though he is nowhere near as good as a lot of his competition. Tactically he is like an off brand centro, pretty good but not the master, although some will claim he makes up for it with minutely faster PRs

Okay, I don't even know what we are arguing about at this point. From what I have witnessed the last decade, Lewandowski is often not in these types of medal threat conversations, and when he is brought up, he is often dismissed like an "off-brand" Centro like we witnessed just now. Guess who finished right behind him in a 3:30-3:32 race (which a lot of people are speculating we will see again)? The exact person everyone is saying will run away with it from the "has-beens" with Tim C. Now, that very well could happen, but it's absurd to think he's a non-factor given his resume and recent results. I don't know if underrated is the right term, but if there is any 1500m runner who fits the bill, it's him.

I wouldn’t say underrated but I would say he’s overlooked

adfgadfsda wrote:

career wrote:

No. People always bring him up as in the mix, and he has never won anything.

He won the Euro 2019 indoors 1500m over Jakob pretty convincingly. And it's not like Jakob was a slouch at that point - he had run 3:31 in summer 2018 and would go on to run 3:30 just a few months later. I wouldn't call him underrated, but he does fly under the radar compared to some of the other athletes who don't really have the same kind of resume as Lewandowski. Call me crazy, but I would put money on Lewandowski grabbing a medal over Jakob based on what I've seen in championship finals.

And Jakob won pretty convincingly over Marcin in Euro 2021 indoors. Jakob in the front the whole run. But he is in extremely good shape now, and is ready for a sub 3:30 run. NRs this year: 1500 3.30.42 Mile 3.49.11 2000: 4.57.09. One can never ever leave Lewandowski out. But whether he can follow the three forntrunners; Cheruiyot, Ingebrigtsen and McSweyn, I doubt it.

Lewandowski's a grafter, with times within the range of his best competitors (range ≠ absolute bests), he will be in the mix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs6FxLa6oj4

I agree with the premise that he is underrated.

You look at his accomplishments and running style and you would think he would be in more people’s list as a medal favorite than he is.

It's a mystery to me why people think McSweyn will do well. Ran worse than a not fit Jakob in Monaco and doesn't have anything close to Lewandowski's championship resume. His marginally better times will be meaningless in a championship race.

Prediction:

1. Timothy

2. Jakob

3. Lewandowski

4. Centro

Wildcard: Tefera

Lewandowski is a strong contender. While he is not gonna medal in a fast race, he surely would be super dangerous in a sit and kick style final. Interestingly, while he has insane wheels for the last 100-150m, he has never delivered a 52s last lap, which might be the reason behind the lack of his medals. Awesome kick for a 5-6th place catching fading runners is nice, but it doesn't get you hardware. Prolonged kick 300-400m is where it's at when it comes to world class championships.

Sifansshass wrote:

It's a mystery to me why people think McSweyn will do well. Ran worse than a not fit Jakob in Monaco and doesn't have anything close to Lewandowski's championship resume. His marginally better times will be meaningless in a championship race.

Prediction:

1. Timothy

2. Jakob

3. Lewandowski

4. Centro

Wildcard: Tefera

McSweyn could do well in a fast final, if he makes it that far. I believe he’s one of the 5 fastest 1500 runners in the world right now from gun to tape, but his last lap kick and acceleration are seriously lacking at the Olympic level.

In the last 3 seasons, McSweyn has laid down:

3:29.51

3:30.51

3:31.48

3:31.57

3:31.81

3:31.81 (yes, twice)

Centro by comparison hasn’t broken 3:32.0 at all during this time. It took 3:31.46 to medal in Doha—in Doha, though, McSweyn got booted in the semis. If he wants to medal in Tokyo, he should stay at the front of his heats and help wind them up from ~700 out instead of leaving it to a 200m sprint, and once in the final set his mind on going out and running 3:31 or better no matter what.

Sopa de SabadelI wrote:

Lewandowski is a strong contender. While he is not gonna medal in a fast race, he surely would be super dangerous in a sit and kick style final. Interestingly, while he has insane wheels for the last 100-150m, he has never delivered a 52s last lap, which might be the reason behind the lack of his medals. Awesome kick for a 5-6th place catching fading runners is nice, but it doesn't get you hardware. Prolonged kick 300-400m is where it's at when it comes to world class championships.

I mean, he did win a medal in the most recent global 1500 championship...

He’s as much a contender as anyone besides Cheruiyot and Jakob, in the same tier as Kerr, Centrowitz, and McSweyn.

Sopa de SabadelI wrote:

Lewandowski is a strong contender. While he is not gonna medal in a fast race, he surely would be super dangerous in a sit and kick style final. Interestingly, while he has insane wheels for the last 100-150m, he has never delivered a 52s last lap, which might be the reason behind the lack of his medals. Awesome kick for a 5-6th place catching fading runners is nice, but it doesn't get you hardware. Prolonged kick 300-400m is where it's at when it comes to world class championships.

He did medal in a fast race last time around, beating Jakob for instance. Obviously he's better in a slower race but he still has a 3:30 PB. He delivered a 51,6 last lap easing off in the end in the video above but off a slow pace. And he has a ton of medals:

8x European medalist and 4x champ

World Indoor Silver medalist

World outdoor bronze

Imo that's a very good resume. I have Jakob and Tim in a class for themselves but Marcin is in the group that could very well snatch a medal of some kind.

He is probably second to messi and just ahead of ronaldo right now in terms of form.

Sorry, one more thing. If anyone among this field is being overlooked/underrated, it’s Jake Wightman. It’s possible to imagine a scenario in which Cheruiyot and Ingebrigtsen go out fast as expected, but a few guys tail them and the two favorites prove to have “off-days,” leaving little old 1:44.18/3:29.47 Jake Wightman to kick past for gold in the last 100. He has the 3rd fastest PB of the field if I’m not mistaken, as well as respectable closing speed.