If you consider how Fisher was viewed before the year started, it’s nothing short of amazing that his position in the world 2-5 in the 5000 is even up for discussion. Fisher certainly can lay claim to being the most consistent performer of the year, but when making a ranking, global medals, fastest times and DL victories trump consistency. He’s 0/3/0, so I agree, he’s 4th at best.
Track & Field on tracks/in stadiums has not changed in forever. Every other sport has.
And track & field is dying. You think the casual fan will point to Farah diving six years ago, over a quirky 'city' meet open to all? Okay, then. Keep away from the sharp scissors.
That sort of stuff is interesting to us, because we're the sort of people who hang out on a distance running message board. And watch these meets. Everyone else watches America Ninja Warrior. Which changes over time, incidentally.
I get all this (it's pretty common sensical isn't it), but then if we are assuming that the fans don't know or don't care, then by the same logic why does the "quirky city meet" matter as well?
So if we get to this point then surely it's spectacle that matters. Getting back to the "non-follower" who the sport is trying to recruit, a large crowd in a large stadium making a lot of noise is exciting and adds legitimacy to the event. It's something they look at and say "oh, track is like soccer, or football, or the NBA - who ever knew".
If you want to compare track to American Ninja Warrior then we have some problems. Right now we are debating a venue difference which btw ANW basically uses the same venue for everything, their "evolution" happens with the types of stuff they make them run, jump and navigate over. So to be comparable track and field would have to change the format of events, not the venue. Incidentally.
We can agree to disagree on this. I think those street races look crappy and don't spark any greater interest in the sport except on a novelty value for those people in Zurich who couldn't get stadium tix for tomorrow.
Holy Sh*t. Fisher was awesome. He beat Kimeli by 4 seconds in brussels and Krop bombed out here. I got Fisher 2nd now in the world after Jakob. Wow! America is actually a 5000/10000 power now!
Nah. This was what I had for top-7 prior to today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Grant Fisher 4. Nicholas Kipkorir 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Berihu Aregawi 7. Dominic Lobalu
This is what I have after today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Nicholas Kipkorir 4. Grant Fisher 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Dominic Lobalu 7. Berihu Aregawi
Another strong showing by Fisher nonetheless. Excluding Jakob, whose racing schedule has been different from the rest, Fisher’s been the most consistent athlete in the event this year.
cheptegei is still minimum the second best in the world
Nah. This was what I had for top-7 prior to today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Grant Fisher 4. Nicholas Kipkorir 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Berihu Aregawi 7. Dominic Lobalu
This is what I have after today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Nicholas Kipkorir 4. Grant Fisher 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Dominic Lobalu 7. Berihu Aregawi
Another strong showing by Fisher nonetheless. Excluding Jakob, whose racing schedule has been different from the rest, Fisher’s been the most consistent athlete in the event this year.
cheptegei is still minimum the second best in the world
cheptegei is still minimum the second best in the world
Not based on results from this season.
well Jacob kiplimo was on that guys list and I don't think he's completed a 5000 this season. Cheptegei easily won the 10 at world closing in 1:53. He's the world record holder and olympic champion, and that should all be taken into consideration.
Giannis didn't win mvp last year but he's still almost unanimously the best player in the world going into this season.
If you want to specify "purely best on this seasons results only" do that, but that's dumb and who cares.
well Jacob kiplimo was on that guys list and I don't think he's completed a 5000 this season. Cheptegei easily won the 10 at world closing in 1:53. He's the world record holder and olympic champion, and that should all be taken into consideration.
Giannis didn't win mvp last year but he's still almost unanimously the best player in the world going into this season.
If you want to specify "purely best on this seasons results only" do that, but that's dumb and who cares.
Kiplimo smoked Krop and Kimeli in the 5000 at the CWGs
Holy Sh*t. Fisher was awesome. He beat Kimeli by 4 seconds in brussels and Krop bombed out here. I got Fisher 2nd now in the world after Jakob. Wow! America is actually a 5000/10000 power now!
Nah. This was what I had for top-7 prior to today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Grant Fisher 4. Nicholas Kipkorir 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Berihu Aregawi 7. Dominic Lobalu
This is what I have after today’s race:
1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2. Jacob Krop 3. Nicholas Kipkorir 4. Grant Fisher 5. Jacob Kiplimo 6. Dominic Lobalu 7. Berihu Aregawi
Another strong showing by Fisher nonetheless. Excluding Jakob, whose racing schedule has been different from the rest, Fisher’s been the most consistent athlete in the event this year.
So wait. If gold at the worlds is enough for you to rank Ingebrigtsen the #1 in the 5000m does that mean you think Jake Wightman is world #1 in the 1500m?
He's really not. Krop dropped him like a bad habit over the 100 last week, and left him flailing at the World Champs. Not saying it would always be this way, but Krop is better right now
Errr. So Krop was dropped like an even worse habit today. Obviously on the average Fisher is better. C'mon. We all know what happened to Fisher in the champs.
Krop has no result. He DNFed very early in the race. He wasn't dropped.
well Jacob kiplimo was on that guys list and I don't think he's completed a 5000 this season. Cheptegei easily won the 10 at world closing in 1:53. He's the world record holder and olympic champion, and that should all be taken into consideration.
Giannis didn't win mvp last year but he's still almost unanimously the best player in the world going into this season.
If you want to specify "purely best on this seasons results only" do that, but that's dumb and who cares.
Kiplimo smoked Krop and Kimeli in the 5000 at the CWGs
completely forgot about the fake British championships so that's my bad he did run well this season. however, I stand by cheptegei as being better than kiplimo and basically everyone except maybe jakob. better in 2022? of course not but this whole discussion has been worded poorly.
Back in the 70s they held a motocross event in the LA Coliseum and the traditionalists screamed. Today, these stadium races they call Supercross (and Arenacross) is a gigantic enterprise, which has boosted that sport tremendously. Both "stadium" races and traditional races at outdoor venues are more popular than ever.
The Diamond League track series has added a fireworks element near the finish line. Wow.
Kiplimo smoked Krop and Kimeli in the 5000 at the CWGs
completely forgot about the fake British championships so that's my bad he did run well this season. however, I stand by cheptegei as being better than kiplimo and basically everyone except maybe jakob. better in 2022? of course not but this whole discussion has been worded poorly.
Sure, my parameters weren’t really explained. I’m talking T&F news rankings style, where I’m only taking into account results at 3k/5k for the 2022 outdoor track season. As such, Cheptegei only has that 12:57.99 from PRE where we were critical of him running a separate “world record attempt” while Aregawi ran 12:50 in the real race, and his 9th place finish from worlds. Kiplimo only has 7:29.55 in Stockholm where Lobalu beat him by .07, and the CWG win over Krop and Kipkorir, which was one of the most impressive 5ks of the year.
As the WR holder and Olympic champion, of course Cheptegei is the “greater” 5k runner and still has more upside for the future than Fisher, IMO, but he wasn’t able to display that this season.
Back in the 70s they held a motocross event in the LA Coliseum and the traditionalists screamed. Today, these stadium races they call Supercross (and Arenacross) is a gigantic enterprise, which has boosted that sport tremendously. Both "stadium" races and traditional races at outdoor venues are more popular than ever.
The Diamond League track series has added a fireworks element near the finish line. Wow.
Those fireworks are a nuisance: they distract from the race, they pollute, and haven't there been enough tragedies involving pyrotechnic displays in theaters, stadiums, etc.?
So wait. If gold at the worlds is enough for you to rank Ingebrigtsen the #1 in the 5000m does that mean you think Jake Wightman is world #1 in the 1500m?
From Worlds Athletics ranking:
Krop is number 1 in the 5000m
Grant Fisher is number 3 in the 3000m
Jacob Ingerbrigsten is number 7 in the 5000m
but those are just stat numbers based formulas applied to data collected in the last 6 weeks.
However you can see here the category of runners that have more weight in the Overall World Ranking:
I sort of like it, basically a track / road race hybrid. Not for purists, but so what? What's wrong with a little novelty during our 4-5 year stretch of annual WC and Olympic Games meetings?
It is very cool that Zurich builds a bigger fan base. Not only will they fill their stadium tomorrow (right?), but also pulling a street crowd for this. Sure, the track is (kindly put) funky as hell, but they all have to run the same race.
Also, Zurich is a fantastic city: scenic, easy to get around, safe/clean everywhere, so a good venue for such an event. AND (are you listening LR?) ... direct flights just 7 hours from BOS, so maybe send J.Gault annually. You couldn't have an easier trip. Plus I visit occasionally, and would like a free beer on LR next year.