Women’s Professional Athlete Field Ellie Baker GBR Lizzie Bird GBR Emma Coburn USA Melissa Courtney-Bryant GBR Susan Ejore KEN Eleanor Fulton USA Nikki Hiltz USA Sage Hurta USA Sinclaire Johnson USA Heather MacLean USA Ciara Mageean IRL Cory McGee USA Laura Muir GBR Hannah Nuttall GBR Marta Pen-Freitas POR Aisha Praught-Leer JAM Jemma Reekie GBR Helen Schlachtenhaufen USA Nozomi Tanaka JPN Adelle Tracey JAM Allie Wilson USA
Men’s Professional Athlete Field Eric Avila USA Geordie Beamish NZL Vincent Ciattei USA Andrew Coscoran IRL Jye Edwards AUS Craig Engels USA Johnny Gregorek USA Luis Grijalva GUA Jake Heyward GBR Eric Holt USA Cole Hocker USA Josh Kerr GBR Hobbs Kessler USA Joe Klecker USA Adel Mechaal ESP Sam Parsons GER Will Paulson CAN Charles Philibert-Thiboutot CAN Sam Prakel USA Paul Ryan USA Matt Stonier GBR Josh Thompson USA Jake Wightman GBR
Big favorites, but Ciara Mageean should deserves a mention considering she just beat Muir and ran 3:56. Sage Hurta and Heather MacLean are in the dark horse category with Hurta on fire at 800 and potentially having a breakthrough performance in the mile coming, and MacLean running really well (with a strong finish).
On the men's side, Wightman is a bigger favorite. Josh Kerr shouldn't be discounted even in merely OK form. Heyward and Stonier should be pretty competitive. Grijalva and Hocker are dark horses. Hocker did only run 1:47-mid in the aforementioned 800, though he basically ran the whole race by himself with no drafting help.
A run-down somewhere on the shoes selected by the top entrants might be interesting. I found it interesting that New Balance designed a shoe for Jenny Simpson back when she ruled this race.
Our sport is so obscure. At this point we don’t know what happened to him. Tripped? Injury? Bad day? There is no reporting. Even with social media, pro athletes don’t report anything to the “fan” base. We don’t know if he will be running again this summer. If he is, we don’t know where and when. If I was in Europe right now, I could not plan to see him run if I wanted to. I would find out too late or maybe even after it happens.
Same for Hocker. Cryptic Instagram post saying that he is in Hungary. Is he racing there? When? What about after?
It’s dumb.
I kind of know, but would be accused of being "too emotional" and excuse making.
On the one hand, it’s Kessler’s private business and really up to him to divulge. On the other, you seem to know a lot, and he did run 3:58 “easily” pacing Avila to a sub-4:00 mile right AFTER that 1:46 800. So, 3:44 for 1500 is pretty unexpected. What gives? Yes, I know long season, but it’s normal for fans to be curious.
Our sport is so obscure. At this point we don’t know what happened to him. Tripped? Injury? Bad day? There is no reporting. Even with social media, pro athletes don’t report anything to the “fan” base. We don’t know if he will be running again this summer. If he is, we don’t know where and when. If I was in Europe right now, I could not plan to see him run if I wanted to. I would find out too late or maybe even after it happens.
Same for Hocker. Cryptic Instagram post saying that he is in Hungary. Is he racing there? When? What about after?
It’s dumb.
I kind of know, but would be accused of being "too emotional" and excuse making.
This is why our sport is a joke.
Imagine if the date and location of real sports competitions like boxing matches were a matter of secrecy and insider knowledge like a local buzz band's next basement concert.
I kind of know, but would be accused of being "too emotional" and excuse making.
This is why our sport is a joke.
Imagine if the date and location of real sports competitions like boxing matches were a matter of secrecy and insider knowledge like a local buzz band's next basement concert.
Too funny.
The dates and locations are almost always known, there is no secrecy, not sure what you meant there. The issue seems to be know,ing where and when any given athlete is going to compete. I do not think that is a matter of secrecy or insider info at all, really. Most fields are up days in advance, but there are almost always issues that might precipitate a scratch here and there. In the Kessler case only, I am in the loop, only because I have been a friend of Ron's for a while. Even info known is subject to change at times. Not many on here care that much about PGA and other Golf, but those fields are rarely that public until Thursday starting times are posted.
Imagine if the date and location of real sports competitions like boxing matches were a matter of secrecy and insider knowledge like a local buzz band's next basement concert.
Too funny.
The dates and locations are almost always known, there is no secrecy, not sure what you meant there. The issue seems to be know,ing where and when any given athlete is going to compete. I do not think that is a matter of secrecy or insider info at all, really. Most fields are up days in advance, but there are almost always issues that might precipitate a scratch here and there. In the Kessler case only, I am in the loop, only because I have been a friend of Ron's for a while... Not many on here care that much about PGA and other Golf, but those fields are rarely that public until Thursday starting times are posted.
Let me help you if you're confused.
It would not be good for actually-popular racing sports such as NASCAR, equestrian, etc if the schedule were known but not the competitors. Get it?
If Hocker and Kessler are fully invested in races in NYC or Hungary but their plans are kept secret, that is as bad for the sport.
Your remark on golf, which I do follow, actually supports my point, because most golfers do talk about their competition plans -- obviously in the interest of their sponsors. It is only in athletics and other trivial sports that expectations are so incredibly low, and many athletes have no such need.
The dates and locations are almost always known, there is no secrecy, not sure what you meant there. The issue seems to be know,ing where and when any given athlete is going to compete. I do not think that is a matter of secrecy or insider info at all, really. Most fields are up days in advance, but there are almost always issues that might precipitate a scratch here and there. In the Kessler case only, I am in the loop, only because I have been a friend of Ron's for a while... Not many on here care that much about PGA and other Golf, but those fields are rarely that public until Thursday starting times are posted.
Let me help you if you're confused.
It would not be good for actually-popular racing sports such as NASCAR, equestrian, etc if the schedule were known but not the competitors. Get it?
If Hocker and Kessler are fully invested in races in NYC or Hungary but their plans are kept secret, that is as bad for the sport.
Your remark on golf, which I do follow, actually supports my point, because most golfers do talk about their competition plans -- obviously in the interest of their sponsors. It is only in athletics and other trivial sports that expectations are so incredibly low, and many athletes have no such need.
Not confused at all. But I get your point.
Hardly any meets are really on mainstream media , you have to search them out anyway
There is no widespread interest in it or it would be run and even marketed differently
Hardly any meets are really on mainstream media , you have to search them out anyway
There is no widespread interest in it or it would be run and even marketed differently
We probably agree more than we disagree.
There is a chicken-and-egg scenario when lack of interest is an excuse for proper promotion, and meanwhile lack of promotion (for the most part) leads to poor widespread interest.
Would it make athletics more popular for athletes like Kessler, Hocker, all of BTC etc (and their agents/coaches/meet promoters) to treat track like a serious sport? It certainly couldn't hurt!