Men's 1500m DL Finale in Zurich Preview

Imagine the cash JI has made this year in appearance fees, Olympic bonus, and record bonuses:

1500 Metres 09 FEB 2021 Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais, Arena Stade Couvert, Liévin

FRA

A F 1. 3:31.80 1274 ARNR

1500 Metres 07 AUG 2021 The XXXII Olympic Games, Olympic Stadium, Tokyo

JPN

OW F1 1. 3:28.32 1269 AR(p)NR

1500 Metres 14 AUG 2020 Herculis, Stade Louis II, Monaco

MON

GW F 2. 3:28.68 1264 AR

3000 Metres 17 SEP 2020 Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, Stadio Olimpico, Roma

ITA

GW F 2. 7:27.05 1258 NR

1500 Metres 09 JUL 2021 Herculis, Stade Louis II, Monaco

MON

GW F 3. 3:29.25 1255

5000 Metres 10 JUN 2021 Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, Stadio Luigi Ridolfi, Firenze

ITA

GW F 1. 12:48.45 1252 ARNR

1500 Metres 05 JUL 2019 Athletissima, Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne

SUI

GW F 2. 3:30.16 1242 AU20RNU20R

1500 Metres 12 JUL 2019 Herculis, Stade Louis II, Monaco

MON

A F 2. 3:30.47 1238

One Mile 21 AUG 2021 Prefontaine Classic, Hayward Field, Eugene, OR

USA

GW F 1. 3:47.24 1237 NR

2000 Metres 11 JUN 2020 Impossible Games, Bislett Stadion, Oslo

$2 million? $3 million?

That 5000m field looks disappointing without the Ugandans.

Yakob heavy favorite to win his double. He has yet to show a chink in the armor, looks like the most resilient person out there conpared to his competitors which are clearlypast their season peak. Tho I guess Barega could give Yakob some challenge.

Womens 5000m also sadly doesnt have Hassan or Gidey. It's just gonna be a repeat of last race with Taye Obiri and Niyonsaba.

Wow, what a year he has had!

But to answer your question, I am not excited and anticipate 3:29 at best.

JI will lose the 1500m due to a hard 5000m the evening b4. Kejelcha is in great shape, Barega is on a downward spiral. McSweyn is my hero but has been competing too much recently.

Katir will come last in 3:38 (which was his pb 12 months ago) and make some excuse about having 'nothing to prove' and running in borrowed spikes. ThoughtsLeader will describe it as another 'solid run' from him.

If Kiplimo were at Zurich he'd smoke Yakob

Breaking: JI is skipping 5000m according to national TV

I'm keeping quite while hoping to attest the day of "EPO era crumble".

Passant wrote:

I'm keeping quiet while hoping to attest the day of "EPO era theory crumble".

Sorry because the site dont allow editing posts.

OozmaKappa wrote:

Womens 5000m also sadly doesnt have Hassan or Gidey. It's just gonna be a repeat of last race with Taye Obiri and Niyonsaba.

Hassan isn't stupid enough to race against Niyonsaba. The 1500 is a vastly superior option for her because other than Kipyegon it's a weak field, and without a pacer or obvious frontrunner it could easily turn into a cat and mouse race.

Hassan during the past three meetings with Kipyegon has gotten scared and abandoned her typical strategy of lingering near the back. Pushing the pace early was her optimum strategy in Doha, as several of us here insisted before it happened. Kipyegon wasn't in shape to keep up after maternity leave. But somehow Hassan didn't grasp that it was absolutely the worst possible tactic in 2021 with Kipyegon in peak condition.

Instead of going to the front and allowing Kipyegon to stalk her, Hassan this time should race normally and force Kipyegon to make decisions at or near the front. Then it's a stride for stride sprint finish and either can prevail. It's gone both ways in lots of classic races the past 6-7 years. Kipyegon hasn't raced since Eugene and already has the prize she coveted.

Passant wrote:

Passant wrote:

I'm keeping quiet while hoping to attest the day of "EPO era theory crumble".

Sorry because the site dont allow editing posts.

Don't worry, it hardly makes any more sense corrected.

Why is Kerr not racing? Really surprising not to see him after the Olympics. He's certainly top three on the planet

kerrbronze wrote:

Why is Kerr not racing? Really surprising not to see him after the Olympics. He's certainly top three on the planet

He's on vacation. He did have a very long season, remember he ran that 3:33 in May I think. Still, it would have been nice to have seen him close out the season. I think Tim has been/is there for the taking and Kerr could have established himself a little as the main challenger to Jakob.

Passant wrote:

I'm keeping quite while hoping to attest the day of "EPO era crumble".

1990’s was the open epo era.

2000’s was the microdose epo at altitude era

2010’s is the transfusion era

quark wrote:

"Breaking: JI is skipping 5000m according to national TV"

------------

I am happy to see that! I feared it would be too heavy to run both, especially when the 5000m is the first to be run.

He must wait until next year in Eugene to do the double.

If Jakob is bringing his A game (he has been quite tired after Tokyo) he will win.

And McSweyn will be my favorite for the runner up. Stewie has already run a lot after Tokyo but he seems to keep up the steam well.

Guessing Tim, Katir, Hoare, Kipsang anfd Kwemoi will be competing for the next places.

objectiveobserver wrote:

If Jakob is bringing his A game (he has been quite tired after Tokyo) he will win.

And McSweyn will be my favorite for the runner up. Stewie has already run a lot after Tokyo but he seems to keep up the steam well.

Guessing Tim, Katir, Hoare, Kipsang anfd Kwemoi will be competing for the next places.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Stewie’s consistency this season and willingness to take on a race…?

I think Stewie McSweyn is a pretty cool guy. Eh runs raecs and doesnt afraid of anything.

OozmaKappa wrote:

If Kiplimo were at Zurich he'd smoke Yakob

Why on earth do you call him Yakob, Osama?