(Live thread) Mouth-watering CG 1500 final is set - Wightman, Kerr, Cheruiyot, Kipsang, Hoare - Who you got?

Healthier? Surely, it was the conditions. I bet she was training in minus 20C until flying out to Eugene.

Kerr doesn't beat Wightman, and certainly in what amounts to one off race.

Wightman, Kerr, Tim. I really want to include Hoare but after looking at his season best and his PB, I'm going to just hope he proves me wrong. I thought he ran some faster times earlier this year but he did not.

A very valid question. It’s a bit of a gut feeling. I think Kerr was nowhere near his peak during the trials, which seems to come later in the outdoor season for him. Going off his early season races, one might even be shocked that he placed as well as he did in Eugene.

he caught a flu bug directly after Eugene, and has been unable to shake it.

The Men's 1500 Final is at 7:10 Central time Saturday morning. It's the last race of the morning session in Birmingham. Then the Poland Diamond League comes on shortly after it. Good little track Saturday morning in my time zone.

Like to see Tim C bounce back with a win

That would not hurt my feelings either. I had a lot of fun watching Tim the last several years.

Wightman's final gear has been phenomenal. Going to be tough to beat.

He’s not had the best of year this outdoor season.

If a fast race then between Wightman, Kerr, Hoare and Tim for the medals.

If slow then Wightman, Kerr, Gourley.

Stonier a dark horse for Bronze in a slow one.

GOURLEY

We're just done with Kipsang I guess lol? Granted, he ran a dumb final in Eugene. Still, on talent I think he's right in the mix with Wightman, Kerr and Tim with a slight edge over Olli.

My prediction is it's a 3:32 winning time:
1) Wightman 2) Tim 3) Kerr 4) Kipsang 5) Hoare 6) Heyward

Can Wightman prove that worlds was not a fluke?

Hoare takes this in 3:29.53

Wightman's win was no fluke. He's a 1:44 guy with more aerobic strength than before. He handed Jakob a new one in 3:29.23. His confidence is better than before now. But Hoare had an off world's after running 3:47 behind Jakob. I see him as a threat, as are Kipsang and Cheruiyot if they are better rested--unlikely. Kipsang shouldn't have been flying all over the world racing after his breakthrough 3:31 at altitude earlier this season. Stonier, whom I'd never heard of, is an interesting prospect. He's just 20, turning 21 in September, and has pr's of 1:46.9/3:35.9. You wouldn't think those were that great. They are solid for his age and nationality (English). But the improvement he has made is spectacular. Just last year he dropped his 1500m pr by 11 seconds from 3:50 to 3:39, and it's dropped another 4 seconds prior to the final, which will probably be in the upper 3:20s or low 3:30s for the winner even without Stewy in the race. His 800m pr was 1:59 from four years ago, at 16, almost 17. He dropped that by 13 seconds this year. Hard not to think that he is going to be a legitimate contender for the podium at Olympics and World's in the next few years with a rate of improvement that is not exactly on the verge of levelling off. No reason to think at his age and improvement curve that he won't still drop a couple seconds in the 800m and 4-6 in the 1500m, depending on his basic speed.

"Just last year he dropped his 1500m pr by 11 seconds from 3:50 to 3:39"

Holy cow! That is crazy.

Jake is a great story and I loved that his dad called his Gold medal race. I would like to see Josh Kerr bounce back also.

Did anyone check their instagram recently? While all the big names were running in the CG, Cole Hocker decided to livestream his own 1500 WR on a treadmill in his basement. About 700 meters in, his hair got caught in the belt and caused a fire. Still waiting to hear about the condition of his hair, but it's not looking good.

I thought Jake announced he was doing the 800 at the CG? Or is that for Euros?

Wightman catches Yak on a bad day and suddenly it sounds like the mid-80s around here. The Brits are just lining up to set the world ablaze.

Okay, then.