I have a hard time understanding why Jakob hasnt raced before Pre, if he really cares about winning the race. It is unlikely that he will be able to run really fast in his first race for the season. And with such a strong field, he might actually lose if he isnt in race shape.
Is he simply viewing it as a ”warm up” race before Oslo?
I assume he will lose. The fact he was injured, and still hasn't raced makes me think it significantly disrupted his preparation for this season. He's probably not sharp at all and behind where he normally would be. He needs to get some tough races in to be prepared for this summer, so he needs this race experience this weekend. On the flip side Kerr had a great indoor season, so did Nuguse. And others are coming into form nicely. It wouldn't be shocking to me if Jakob finished 3rd or 4th at Pre. But that doesn't mean I'd write him off for Paris.
I have a hard time understanding why Jakob hasnt raced before Pre, if he really cares about winning the race. It is unlikely that he will be able to run really fast in his first race for the season. And with such a strong field, he might actually lose if he isnt in race shape.
Is he simply viewing it as a ”warm up” race before Oslo?
How surprising. A Norwegian poster already making excuses for Jakob.
I have a hard time understanding why Jakob hasnt raced before Pre, if he really cares about winning the race. It is unlikely that he will be able to run really fast in his first race for the season. And with such a strong field, he might actually lose if he isnt in race shape.
Is he simply viewing it as a ”warm up” race before Oslo?
I assume he will lose. The fact he was injured, and still hasn't raced makes me think it significantly disrupted his preparation for this season. He's probably not sharp at all and behind where he normally would be. He needs to get some tough races in to be prepared for this summer, so he needs this race experience this weekend. On the flip side Kerr had a great indoor season, so did Nuguse. And others are coming into form nicely. It wouldn't be shocking to me if Jakob finished 3rd or 4th at Pre. But that doesn't mean I'd write him off for Paris.
I know Pre is mandatory and Jakob would never skip Oslo, but he seems to be really loading up his schedule heading into Paris. Could be trying to race himself into shape, and the fact he didn’t request a pace for the mile might indicate his fitness isn’t where it normally would be. With that in mind, a 3rd/4th place finish (or even worse) wouldn’t surprise me at all. At the same time, he could show up and dominate like usual and that wouldn’t be a shock either.
If he doesn’t win this weekend he’ll definitely be written off here, but as long as he shows some life I’m confident he will still be a threat in Paris. Kerr opened his season last year with 9th in Oslo and was declared “finished” by board experts, and we saw how that went. The main concern with Jakob is seeing how much damage the injury did. If he can come back like Wightman and Hoare, I think he’ll be ok.
He is an extremely competitive person. Did you see him murder his gym class in dodgeball on that documentary series? He cares, but he's realistic enough to know he's coming back from injury (as many others) and the Olympics is the goal.
Every runner wants to win every race but that never happens. The best guy is the one that wins most often and wins the most prestigious races. Winning or losing Pre Mile will not be the deciding factor.
I don't like Ingebrigsten's chances simply because he missed valuable time with injury. Is the most talented? Yes, but preparation is most important.
Last race I remember from Jacob was the 7:23pt run 24 hours after the 3:43pt mile.
How surprising. A Norwegian poster already making excuses for Jakob.
It's all one person. Nordic r = justanothercuriousdude = snowflakes = objectiveobserver. All will be revealed.
I thought I was “rekrunner”…? When it comes to Jakob I don’t need any excuses -I don’t know at all what his shape is like, or what he’s aiming for. But Bowerman will be fun anyway I think -looking forward to watch (almost) all the guys meeting again.
In 2022 he opened the mile in 3:49.76. Kerr hasn't run an outdoor mile since 2019 but his indoor mile PR (albeit from Boston, isn't that a supertrack?) is 3:48.87. Might expect him to run slightly quicker than that given outdoors + better shape + Eugene.
I don't doubt Jakob is prepared to run maybe 3:46 or better, otherwise he'd just delay his opener, even though he's a Nike athlete he can just cite his injury as they'd rather he medalled than ran at Pre.
Yes because the race is stacked. If he trains through and someone gets a world record, his legacy might be to just be a great miler, not the greatest. He has to care - he's not nearly undefeatable like El G.
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