Just waking up, what happened to Katir today?

He sneezed 3 times this morning

I think he’s either not mentally strong in the big events or the AIU is tightening their grip.

Katir overslept and woke up late as well.

The juice wasn't concentrated as it ought have been ...

Mis-timed his cycle, just like in Tokyo. Needs to take the same approach like 2022 where he was bad all year and then medaled out of nowhere

Ran out of juice

Yep same thing with Tokyo he ran out of PED juice and/or got spooked by the testing.

Apparently his pharmacist went AWOL.

You might be on to something:

“Without a healthy mind, and without a healthy body, it is impossible to compete at a high level,” Katir adds.

“That’s why I try to take maximum care of myself, and from time to time isolate myself in the middle of the mountain to analyse myself and think about what I’m doing well, and what I’m not."

athleticsweekly.com

Mo Katir chasing historic 1500m/5000m double in Budapest - AW

European 5000m record-holder aiming to do both that and the 1500m at the World Championships Mo Katir is a man on a mission. The 25-year-old Spaniard, who is an ASICS athlete, is down to run both the 1500m and 5000m at the Wo...

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Mario Garcia peaked way better then Katir/Mechal

Thoughtleader will be here soon to make excuses for him.

He's just not good enough. couldn't even win his own nationals. is it a huge surprise when you let every country into the races, he is not in top 12 shape?

It is a surprise, yes, considering the rest of his resume.

He was asked to pee in a cup and promptly returned to Spain.

Katir had this year the second best results of milers after Jakob.
He is consistent (dont tell me something else): his ranking this year was 1 or 2.

With the second performance of the year in the mile and third better all time performance in the 3000m indoor.

We never saw something ile ranking 5 or 6.

Jacob fans try to ignore him because they know he is in the curve of progress as Jacob.

My theory is the following;

After the race 5000m (Eurpean record of the 5000m) I almost predicted he was doomed this year with the way he finished that race.

His problem is that he is relatively recent in the professional circuit. He dont have the same level of maturity and resistance that Jakob reached over the years.

(Jakob is running since aged 12)

Hopefully if he keep his optimism and dont take it on the moral, its likely we see in 2024 a Katir very close to the level of Jakob.

Shouldn’t be a surprise. He is much better if it’s at a fast pace. Like Jakob, but with less aerobic strength and a worse kick. He won’t win any 3:30+ races.

he has a better shot in the 5k, perhaps for a bronze

Or he could’ve just mistimed his peak? Or maybe just had a bad day? He’s never failed a drug test, and I don’t think he’s had any whereabout violations. It’s not fair to accuse him of doping without any evidence whatsoever. He’s medaled at world athletics before, so clearly if he is doping he’s comfortable doing it at the big meets. Also, he lost to Mechaal in the Spanish champs which pretty clearly shows he’s been having issues for a bit. Odds are he’s had a crappy end to the season, maybe burnt out, or a slight injury.

I think it was mis-timed peak. Too many banger results from June to mid july, culminating in a disappointing 2nd place finish and now bowing out in the semis.

just out of curiosity has anyone else noticed that athletes who have interviews written about how they want to win an upcoming important meet + include an interview usually end up doing awfully?

like i'm at the point where if I see one of these features I automatically count out the athlete and I haven't really been wrong so far