high school xc coach wrote:
brazier is still a 46.x guy. he can't compete with real 400 runners when it counts. it is often the case that mid distance guys are competitive or even faster than sprinters over 400 meters in pre-season competition.
he really did look good yesterday. I don't want to under sell him. but it's not a level comparison to mu, who is world MEDAL class at 400 and 800.
Ehhh, agree and disagree. His major limitation as an open 400 runner is learning a proper block start. There’s a reason sprinters are always out getting in distance runners’ ways with those contraptions ;) If you get out to a bad start out of the blocks in the 400, you start to press way too early to try to catch up instead of locking into that more relaxed fluid style you need to maximize potential at the longer sprint. You could see that very easily with Brazier in his race yesterday as he was pressing right off the bat and for most all of the first lap (I have to imagine the nerves and emotions were sky high given the circumstances of his return and the pressure to perform.)
He did start to look more loose and fluid going into the second lap as you would expect given his 800 strength. But getting to the pole first is everything indoors and, by then, he was at the mercy of the two more seasoned vets.
Give him a single lane to run in and a couple steps to lock into relaxed form and he’s pretty damn fast and probably wins yesterday.
But, yes, not at the male equivalent level of Mu.