I'm a fan of the group but neither guy made the final - which wasn't really a shock to be honest.
What really bothers me is that Drew Hunter wasn't entered. He should have been entered as the alternate after USAs so he could have gotten the call up when Emmanuel Bor was scratched.
You forgot that Coleman was also DFL in his heat and did not advance. I wonder if Drew is a bit annoyed that his teammates (Parsons, Gusman) are able to represent other countries and have a very easy time of making world teams. I mean, how hard is it to make the Maltese team?
I agree this wasn't really a shock, but I don't think this is truly a devastating result for TME. Parsons, Coleman, and Gusman were not in the "top 4" in their heats in terms of SBs, so failing to advance was the expected outcome for all 3.
For Coleman, he did well just to make the event and I'm sure he thought he had an outside shot at finishing 4th (or a time qualifier) in his heat if it went fast. Thus, he tactically tried to stay up front and hold on to the lead group. Tactically sound choice, but he just didn't have the fitness and blew up. Oh well, good experience.
For Parsons, he was in a tough heat with three fitter runners (Barega, Mechaal, Beamish) who he KNEW had better closing speed than him. The race went out very slowly which I'm sure made Parsons worry about qualification through a kicker's race. He probably decided to take over the pace to keep it honest, with the hopes that he could break the field down. It didn't work, but I'm not sure what else he could have done at his current level of fitness to qualify for the final. *shrugs*
Same thing for Gusman. His SBs put him in the mix for potential qualification from his heat and he tried to run a smart race near the front. Unfortunately he didn't have the legs for the necessary kick....but did you expect that from him? It seemed like his 7:44 this season was a time trial race where he held on for dear life, suggesting his fitness may be lacking towards the end of a championship style race.
I was hoping to interview one of the Tinman guys as I try to interview as many as I can that I think will be interesting or informative and I really wanted to try to get to the bottom of why USATF and others didn't think ahead and enter Hunter as an alternate. I didn't see Parsons or Gusman come through the mixed zone but I must have just missed them while I was busy doing something else as Jonathan said he saw Gusman.
I'm a fan of the group but neither guy made the final - which wasn't really a shock to be honest.
What really bothers me is that Drew Hunter wasn't entered. He should have been entered as the alternate after USAs so he could have gotten the call up when Emmanuel Bor was scratched.
It was going to be a major uphill battle for any of them to make the final. They're PRing and improving, but none of them have dynamic racing abilities and their fitness isn't good enough on their best day to get them in. But is it the coaching/training? Maybe not, Hunter is really the only one that was a topnotch talent at the U20 level
I'm a fan of the group but neither guy made the final - which wasn't really a shock to be honest.
What really bothers me is that Drew Hunter wasn't entered. He should have been entered as the alternate after USAs so he could have gotten the call up when Emmanuel Bor was scratched.
It was going to be a major uphill battle for any of them to make the final. They're PRing and improving, but none of them have dynamic racing abilities and their fitness isn't good enough on their best day to get them in. But is it the coaching/training? Maybe not, Hunter is really the only one that was a topnotch talent at the U20 level
Making the final would have been huge for them. Sam Parson's heat was the only race I saw in the morning session and it showed the top guys are just a class above him.
Gun went off, he took the letiad and was pushing pace, whereas Barega was in dead last. I didn't have sound on and after a while thought "that can't be an Ethiopian as he's not moving up". Barega however wasn't worreid at all. Soon passed the entire field when it mattered and Parsons feel back when the big guns asserted themselves.
It's hard to go from being a decent international runner to World Class.
Making the final would have been huge for them. Sam Parson's heat was the only race I saw in the morning session and it showed the top guys are just a class above him.
Gun went off, he took the letiad and was pushing pace, whereas Barega was in dead last. I didn't have sound on and after a while thought "that can't be an Ethiopian as he's not moving up". Barega however wasn't worreid at all. Soon passed the entire field when it mattered and Parsons feel back when the big guns asserted themselves.
It's hard to go from being a decent international runner to World Class.
Yes, the talent gap can be outrageous. Barega is basically like Jakob except at 5K. To expect scrappy Tinman guys to be close to a guy who was running 12:43 in old-gen spikes at age 18 is unreasonable. The guys with the huge closing of the gap in their mid-20s like Marc Scott are the exception not the norm. Even then, Scott didn't make the 5k final last year even in a watered-down field
Guys, the bad results are not a problem at all since they're pushing great content on IG.
Are the bad results bad? Are we creating a dichotomy that shouldn’t exist? That is the purpose of the cycle. To loop between bad and good. To come and go. To sell merchandise to high schoolers.