Could Anna Hall medal at worlds in the 800??

Preface this by saying I'm a huge Anna Hall fan.

You need to be sub 1:58 capable just to make a final these days - the only woman who was in the final in Eugene without a sub 1:58 PR was Anita Horvat who is still sub 1:59, but she really only made it thanks to a time q getting dragged by Athing Mu I the semis.

There is a massive gap between 1:58.00 and 2:02.97. For context, 4 American women broke 1:58 last year while 2:02.97 would put you at 49th in the US. Even knocking 3s off for *freshness* (even though you're still going to be tired going into a third round at US trials to make an 800 team), a 1:59.9 barely gets you top 20 in the country and still fighting just to make US semis or finals.

If she were to hypothetically do any individual event it would surely be the 400mh. Her PR would have got her 6th in Eugene. It isn't unreasonable to think on fresh legs she could get into the 53s range which is very elite territory.

I agree with most that is said here.

I would add though I think if she focused on it she could medal.

1) She could probably lose 5-8 pounds of muscle (necessary for the multi but slows her down in the 800)

2) If she isn’t lying about her training she says she runs no mileage and only has 1 400 style workout a week and 1 800 style workout a week because the heptathlon is sprint based.

If she trained for it more and was lighter I think she could medal.

Would LOVE to see her fresh on the diamond league though. Wouldn’t put 1:59 past her right now as things are

Hall is entered for DL this week in 400m hurdles. I think that event would be her best bet to be a track star.

100% agreed. Her opportunity at 800 is absurdly overhyped, just like Sydney's chance at 47.60 is absurdly overhyped. You can't just chop 5 seconds because it sounds good. There is a brick wall there at slightly below 2 minutes. One elite runner after another threatens that territory but can go no further. And a freak young talent like Diribe Welteji has bailed on the 800 because the Mu/Hodgkinson/Moraa trio is more difficult to dislodge than the 1500 types.

Hall's best individual opportunity by far is 400 hurdles. Last year she was blatantly hamstrung by 15 steps all the way around. She was so cramped through hurdle 7 it was like she was tip toeing. I emphasized that on another track forum as soon as I saw her run that event one time.

This year she has learned to alternate leads and use 14 steps. In her first attempt she blundered all over the place coming home, just like Bol did a few days ago. The 14 is a jarring experience. I don't think the women are prepared for just how different those final hurdles can be when your knees have been punished via longer reaching strides.

But Anna Hall is a supreme athlete and she's hardly confined by normalcy. If she soars in confidence and runs her best career race she's not going to shave 2 or 3 tenths off her record. I won't be surprised by a full second.

yeah, pretty much this. the 400h could be for anna hall what the long jump was for JJK.

i just want to tack on some of the best written analysis i’ve read on this website:

“Her second best event is 400 hurdles, not 400 flat. She has emphasized as much in recent interviews. Last year she had no idea what she was doing at 400 hurdles yet was running 54s. Robert Griffin had no clue what she was doing either, as supposed expert commentator during those races. Everything he emphasized about Hall during those races had nothing to do with what actually was going on.
Hall was like a crude version of Femke Bol. She was going around all the way in 15 steps, always using her left lead. It was remarkable that an absolute newcomer had enough strength and stamina to not take one hurdle above 15 steps. Sydney didn't manage that until last year. Heck, even in her gold medal world record at Tokyo, Sydney chopped to 16 on hurdle 9. That's partially why it was so easy for her to take another chunk off the record last year.
Muhammad always is forced to use 16 late in the race. Bol didn't manage 15 all the way around early July 2021, during her third full season in the event. Yet here was Anna Hall doing it with virtually no practice whatsoever.
Hall understands her huge upside in the event. Last year it was blatantly obvious that her natural strides were very long, much longer than Bol's, for example. Consequently Hall was forced to slow down dramatically and chop steps over all the early hurdles to conform to 15 steps. That's because she had no clue how to alternate leads and use 14 strides while hurdling with her right lead. It wasn't until hurdle 7 and beyond that her stride length shortened naturally due to fatigue. Now the 15 steps was perfect. She could run full blast. That's why she looked so much better over the final barriers and was gaining on Britton Wilson.
I watched Hall run 400 hurdles one time last year and immediately emphasized all of the above on a different track forum. It was the clearest example I've ever seen of someone who was severely regulated by her stride pattern early in the race, but with massive upside if she could learn to use 14 steps.”

She could break 2 if she changed to focus on it but she would never make a US team in it. She's a strong 400m runner would be my best description. Her 200pr is higher scoring compared to her 800pr she set. If she wanted to she can just break 50 in the 400 outdoors. Her 51.03 indoors was after the pentathlon and you could see how much she was hurting the last 50m. It seems that being a good 400m hurdler is a byproduct of decathlon training. look at Ashton Eaton with a 48 in the 400mh and recently Owen-Delerme for Arkansas ran 48 in the 400mh.

If she focused on the 800 she could probably drop a few seconds. As someone who was an 800 runner with no mileage base I want to provide a word of caution regarding when someone in that situation decides to add it in to their program. It must be done gradually.

I was a high school basketball player who ran no distance in the off season. I just did basketball stuff June through January. I would finally start training for track at the end of January and ended up with a high school best of 1:56.3. I think my highest mileage week ever was 8.

I walked onto to a Pac-10 track team, was forced to run cross country, and it did not go well. Too much distance too soon led to injury after injury.

I love her

Anna Hall could DEFINITELY medal in the 800 if she trained for it. She doesn't do ANY endurance work right now and already runs 2:02. She's also 10-15 pounds heavier so she can do well in the hep.

Not even Athing Mu could run 2:02 at the end of a heptathlon. None of you realize how much the hep and dec take out of your legs.

Britton Wilson could easily be an 800m gold medalist with 1-2 years of training for it. She can also win the 400 and 400h.

Most of Mu's training is endurance oriented, even in college. She would not be able to run 2:02 with as little endurance work as Hall.

No

Yes, such a grueling Sunday:

- three long jumps

- three javelin throws

- 800m run

All jammed together in a hectic period of only five hours!

It's a wonder they're able to stay on their feet at all.

Athing Mu recently can't even stay healthy enough to run an 800m PERIOD. She hasn't raced in more than 10 months.

You are forgetting the first day. 100h, high jump, shot put, 200m then 2nd day long jump, jav, 800m

You can't just go run and long jump 3 times. You have to do countless approaches, run throughs and practice jumps. same with the other events, you are continuously warming up.

No, it's just not relevant from an mid distance running point of view. I'd expect the average 800m runner to do a lot more running the day before a race than a heptathlete does on the first day of a competition.

Having to train for so many different disciplines is obviously a big difference. And having to prepare mentally for each. But I don't buy that the work done during the competition will significantly affect the 800m potential for a motivated runner at the end of it. Certainly not to the tune of several seconds.

Wouldn't say the heptathlon is as grueling as you claim. But does require a lot of attention to form, speed and strength. There's actually some female athletes who want the decathlon to be more commonplace on the women's side. The heptathlon was originally designed since men believed woman couldn't handle the demands of a decathlon.

nytimes.com

An Olympic Hurdle: Why Is the Decathlon Only for Men? (Published 2021)

By Shauna Farnell

Chasing opportunity and equality, women are campaigning for their own 10-event competition, rather than just the heptathlon, at the Paris Games in 2024.

Open link

No! Not even close to qualifying for worlds. Might not make the finals of USA championships.

5th on the all time pentathlon list and you want her to change events? It's ok for fantasy track and field but this will never happen in reality.

But...you're forgetting that you get to thrash around on the track with all of the others after the 800. It is a tradition.

That said, lots of respect for these gals. I believe that Hall will win the Gold at Worlds, she's on such a roll.

I believe "she is great but no" gives a very solid and detailed answer. I agree with their response.

400mH will be harder to medal at with Syd, Bol, and Muhammad running 50-52. Hall is about 2 seconds off of a medal right now. That is a lot of time to drop through form improvements and steps. In the 800, fresh with pacers, she'd probably run 1:58 this year, putting her closer to a medal. 800 may be hard to medal in but right now we don't know whether Athing Mu is going to be at her best. She has a guaranteed entry to World's, as does Sydney McLaughlin in the 400mH, so there is an extra spot to be had on the U.S. team in each event.