worst 800m Olympic final in a long time

Or tied for 5th.

Easily the worst track final of the olympics thus far. Completely forgettable race and uninspired performance by all. Murphy should have to pay for his own flight back home after that embarrassment, not sure why he even bothered to come to Tokyo.

Korir running 1:43 flat in Monaco I guess doesn’t matter.

There’re plenty of 800m finals like this you guys have been spoiled by Rudisha in the Olympics. Look at the 2009 finals or the 2015 one. Very similar races and the 2017 finals was way worse than this one.

It's too bad Jewett didn't make this final, he 100% would have kept that first 400 honest.

That just looked like a really tough tactical nut to crack. I often think a quick first 400 helps the strength guys a lot. It strings the field out, gives them a cleaner run back in the pack, and then they can pick up the pieces the last 200. I don't think he made any major mistakes, or looked bad, the race just didn't set up for him.

Toilet Poster wrote:

Donovan MF Brazier would’ve laid into this field with a 1:41 high

2019 Brazier maybe, but not 2021.

Disagree, I think this is an overreaction because Murphy went home DEVASTATED. Championship race without a Rudisha or Mu.

A healthy Brazier would have destroyed this field. Hopefully he will find a way back to top form next year.

The time isn’t the issue. I hate this gimmick that the 800 can be “tactical.” Not everyone will be Rudisha, but having no names win every few years is embarrassing. Rotich and Korir are excellent runners, but the rest of the field chose not to show up through that second half.

slowbro wrote:

The time isn’t the issue. I hate this gimmick that the 800 can be “tactical.” Not everyone will be Rudisha, but having no names win every few years is embarrassing. Rotich and Korir are excellent runners, but the rest of the field chose not to show up through that second half.

How much does saving 200-400m of wind resistance really matter for an 800?

Tell that to Rushida

Yeah Amos and Murphy were disappointing. The rest of the field wasn’t the best. Heat 1 draw for the semis killed off Lopez who was probably a top 5 guy. No Brazier obviously.

Tell them. It was about winning the gold. It was not about time...who has the last laugh 🤓🤓🤓🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪

Kenya my motherland. They even thought by adding nijel back to the start line he was the favourite. How wrong were they 😀😀😀

Most of the field should be disqualified for refusing to give a good faith effort.

Could you imagine if 400 meter runners jogged the first 200 in 25 and then ran the last 200 as fast as they could? That’s the next progression of this toxic behavior on the sport. There’s especially no excuse for this in an 800, which is far more of a sprint than anything else at the elite level.

If you don’t want to be there and you don’t want to push yourself, then give your spot to someone that actually wants to be an Olympian.

Murphy's 800m performances in Europe were very telling, he just doesn't know how or have the ability to compete a win against top international competition. His tactics are consistently poor going out near the back and relying on everyone tying up at the end so he can pass them. That works when you're racing 1:46 americans but not in international competition.

A big congratulations to my countrymen. Thank you for defending Rudisha's Rio Gold. Many people had the odds on Nijel. They even added him back to the start line. Too bad. The gold is back home.

Emmanuel korir 🔥🔥

Ferguson Rotich 🔥

Mliwaonyesha kivumbi 😀😀😀🤓🤓🤓🤓

Pwa ha ha haaaa haaaa haaaa

You'll wait for a very long time!!

It was a well run race by the two Kenyans who controlled things and negative split. Mission accomplished for the Kenyans - Goid and Silver. The times are unimportant as they were racing to win medals.

unreal tournament wrote:

Disagree, I think this is an overreaction because Murphy went home DEVASTATED. Championship race without a Rudisha or Mu.

I am not American and I don't care about Murphy.

But this was a bad race. It seemed everyone was concerned about a silver or bronze and not caring about the gold.

Of the last 9 Olympics, I won't describe Rudishas double gold as it is unecessary, this was the slowest finish and the slowest first lap.

2008 - faster with 1:44 finish time.

2004 - definitely a better race with 51 first lap and 1:44 finish time

2000 - very similar race but more exciting to watch in the last 100m meter

1996 - great race with Johnny Gray going for 49 again and 1:42 finish from Rohdal at the race of his life

1992 - Gray going for 49 again and 1:43 finish from Kenyans

1988 - very exciting, one of my favourite races all time with tactical race from the Brazilians and Ereng denying Cruz a second gold

1984 - Cruz 1:43 flat over Coe

Yep, Korir and Rotich gave that field a pounding like no other. Good job boys and congrats on the medals.