Can we debunk this myth that 800PRs are the end-all-be-all for winning tactical 1500s

USAs 2019: 7/28/19
Winning time: 3:44.93

1 - C. Engels - 1:46.03 - 2
2 - M. Centrowitz - 1:44.62 - 1
3 - J. Thompson - 1:49.97 - 10
4 - B. Blakenship - 1:48.40 - 9
5 - E. Avila - 1:47.90 - 8
6 - S. Prakel - 1:46.75 - 3
7 - I. Yorks - 1:47.59 - 5
8 - H. Wynne - 1:47.64 - 6
9 - P. Casey - 1:47.65 - 7
10 - J. Gregorek - 1:47.12 - 4
11 - J. Randon - 1:50.40 - 11
12 - T. Gorman - 1:54.97 -

So you’re saying that the two with the fastest 800 PRs finished top-2 and the two with the slowest 800 PRs finished last?

Engels ran 1:44.68 that year btw.

You will have to do some digging to find the last 1500m international medalists without a sub-1:48 800m personal best.

Sure, but that's a lot different from saying the guy with a 1:43/1:44 PB is automatically in an advantageous position in a slower 1500. It's one thing to have 1:43 speed when fresh, quite another to be able to access it when already running sub-3:35 pace for 700m - and let's face it, 3:35 would be considered a mediocre pace at elite level these days.

While we're shooting dumb cliches, can we also get rid of the distinction between a fast race and a tactical race? The current 1500 races are both fast and tactical. Jakob lost in Eugene because he screwed up his tactics. Wightman won because he got his right. It wasn't a pure fitness test. I guess Oslo was a fitness test for Jakob but there were a lot of tactics behind him. I'm pretty sure this whole fast vs tactical distinction persists is because no one wants to tell Centro he won his gold in a slow race.

Slow races are where 800 speed matters. Tactical usually means everyone is in it with a lap to go, isn’t slow, but isn’t fast either and the kickers are 5 lanes wide down the homestretch

2022 - Mohamed Katir