In hindsight, was there any realistic way for Ingebrigtsen to win?

No. With several in the field having faster kicks even at 328 pace he'd need to solo a WR. He's done in this event unless some of the competitors become slower.

I think he definitely should have been more patient and seen if someone else would have taken it out in 56. Maybe Kerr (who led initially) or Komen might have done it.

Think of it this way - Kerr and Hocker ran 3:27 mid-high while being paced for the entire race, this is the absolute fastest time they could have ran. Jakob can run a full second faster while being paced so he had to use that to his advantage.

But yeah he's caught in a bind.

Go out in the middle of the pack like Cole did.

Everyone talks about Cole's kick, but rarely does anyone mention how brilliant Cole's positioning was during each stage of the race. It was Cole's careful positioning throughout the race that set him up for that big kick at the end. Cole didn't even seem like a factor through 800m (7th place).

he should have watched centros gold medal run about 1000 more times than he prob has

that is all he had to do: get to the front and then run just fast enough to hold the lead on the rail, while making competitors who try to pass pay the price of accelerating and running wide on the turns but feeling stuck in lane 2

jakob and kerr got so caught up in their little bromance that they were bound to race emotionally, trying to dunk on one another

ultimately jakob has the bigger ego and that's why he thought he could run everyone off his heels on fitness alone

He could've won, narrowly, if his adrenaline rush hadn't misled him in the opening 400. He said it himself: he felt too good and didn't realize how hard he was going -- exactly what an adrenaline spike would suggest. I presume he planned a 55mid opening, but it went sub-55. The next 400 was 56mid allowing the others to stick with him, which cemented his undoing.

Had he kept the firs two 400s around 55mid, and the third sub-55 he'd have won.

He'd have better chance to win if the first two laps were 56-54 instead of 54-56. Just sit on Kerr in the first lap as Kerr was already leading with a not so slow pace.

I think his biggest error was at about 800m in (I think?) when he suddenly had a burst of speed and dropped everyone but Tim and Kerr. Then he slowed down again and everyone caught up. I think the adrenaline got the better of him and he wasted a significant amount of energy there. It probably wasted Kerr's energy catching up quicker than Hocker and Nuguse did too.

Cram, on the BBC commentary, made a brief remark that Kerr and Jakob possibly 'destroyed each other'.

Ingebrigtsen is the new Farah. He was 3,28 1500 runner who knew he couldn't beat the best. Instead he used that speed to dominate 5/10000. Jacob should do the same. If Andreas Almgren could go from being a 1,45 800 runner to a 26,52 10000 runner I see no reason why Jacob shouldn't be able to run 26,30.

That is not correct. Look at their splits. They too cooked themselves with the blazing fast first lap. These guys can all run faster. Jakob femboys have been brainwashed by paced DL meet results.

i swear runners are some of the dumbest racers alive

you guys are still thinking his tactics were correct he just took it out barely too hot

no, he raced like an absolute fool, period

he tried to run everyone off his heels at a blistering pace

nobody else wanted to lead, there was no reason for him to run a 55mid opening or 54 or 56 or whatever

RUN JUST FAST ENOUGH TO STAY IN THE LEAD!

it's a championship race ffs, you're playing chess at that point not checkers, as is the case with a pacer in a diamond league event

maybe this is part of the problem of having pacers in the first place; many of the best competitors have stunted development in terms of tactics when the pacer is no longer there

Except one of them went home with upgraded hardware and the other empty handed.

We will never know, but one thing is certain:

If you run Stewie McSweyn tactics you'll get Stewie McSweyn results. No dig against Stewie, but he isn't a championship 1500 runner.

- Everyone in that final can follow a 54.8 FIRST lap. You risk a lot and likely gain nothing by running lap 1 too fast in a championship race. I suspect that Komen would have taken it out in like 57.5 if Jakob didn't take the front.

- So Komen leads the first lap. Jakob passes 400m in 57.7 and takes the front on the back straight. Lap 2 should be a 55.8 for 800m in 1:53.5.

- Lap 3: 55.0, 1200m in 2:48.5.

- Lap 3 end / Lap 4 part 1: Keep the pace around the bend, force people wide. Accelerate into the back straight to gain an extra meter. Kerr is going to be right there on his shoulder. The question is how far back the rest are, because someone in the mix will start having trouble keeping up with the pace, and the others have to go around to close the small gaps.

- Lap 4 part 2: Going into the final bend with Jakob in front and Kerr on his shoulder. Kerr tries to cut in front but Jakob fends off his attack by making him go wide, just like in the actual final. The inside opens up. How far back are Hocker and co? The investment from a slower lap 1 means Jakob and Kerr both have faster finishes this time. The final 200 likely goes 0.4-0.5s faster. The positioning becomes more important in this scenario.

- Lap 4 part 3: Final 100: Kerr 60%, Jakob 40%. The rest run for bronze.

Congrats to Hocker and Nuguse for perfectly executed races. Kerr could've done better. Hocker will forever be an Olympic champion, and his 1500 PB will forever remain 3:27.65. It was the perfect race for him to realize his full potential.

No he's not done

It's possible but I'd be much more inclined to agree if the race ended in 3:29 after the battle midway. The fact that Hocker and Nuguse both ran 3:27 means they were operating at a level that noone even suspected going in. To say that Jakob destroyed Kerr with that midway chase you'd have to think Kerr was capable of 3:25/26 on the day? Which is a bold prediction for a championship race.

Yes, driving from 700-800 out would be better than going to the front from the gun. Regardless of the opening 800.

He closed in 40. while the others closed a full second faster.
If he left a 38.5 in the tank after a 55.0 third lap, it would have been very hard to pass him.

But the 56.5 and 40.5 with the others drafting was a set up for failure.

He should have built his entire strategy around the same approach - and literally same person - that got him his only other 1500 medal. It's been increasingly clear that Cheriyot was fit and going to be a banker to take it out 'hard enough'. Sit on him for 600 and then take over and drive it home from there.

Taking out the opening 400 alone - including a surge - was utterly suicidal.

He had one path to victory, and he didn't take it.

He needs to take a shot at the WR.

3:28.2 front run.

Give him a pacer for 1k and he has a decent shot

Distance races are interesting because they are strategic and one's strategy will not work every time. Jacob lost this time because he tried to run the legs out from everybody else on the first lap. A strategy that worked for him in the past. Since all of his competitors had gotten stronger and were prepared for this, they simply allowed him to be the rabbit and waited. You can't fault him, because it did work before, but his closest competitors are all pretty young as well and have targeted their training to compete with him. This is good for the sport.