As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
It’s pretty hard to view winning multiple Olympic / World golds and setting WRs as “wasting her athletic peak”. That said, short of cracking 50 , she has accomplished about everything she can in the hurdles. I’d like to see her tackle the flat 400 for a full season.
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
It’s pretty hard to view winning multiple Olympic / World golds and setting WRs as “wasting her athletic peak”. That said, short of cracking 50 , she has accomplished about everything she can in the hurdles. I’d like to see her tackle the flat 400 for a full season.
It is when it's an event with a vastly diminished talent pool, especially one adjacent to several much bigger events that you have proven world-class talent in (and are practically guaranteed a medal in).
Nobody would say Bolt wasted his peak dominating in the 100m/200m because that's the pinnacle of competition available to him.
But Sydney is doing this in the 400m hurdles when there are much tougher challenges right next to her - I consider that a waste in a sense.
she has a great chance of beating world record with her 200m speed. A 21.7 200m is needed, like Koch did.
Exactly. It would be a damn shame if we never saw her try the 400m WR, or double/triple Olympics gold, because she wants to set her 12th WR in the hurdles and beat 2nd place by 2 seconds.
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
Yes. It would be like a guy running 7:35 in the steeple but never running the 5000 at a global championship. It really grinds my gears.
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
She'll be 28 when the next Olympics start, she turned 25 three days ago
I'm pretty sure she'll still be at an elite athletic level
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
She'll be 28 when the next Olympics start, she turned 25 three days ago
I'm pretty sure she'll still be at an elite athletic level
You're making it seem like late 20s is geriatric
Yeah but the window is closing, there are no guarantees, she may get injured, etc.
Objectively sprinters run their best times in their early-mid 20s.
If she did a complete 180 and said "tomorrow I will focus 100% of my efforts on breaking the 400m WR", yes there's time. But I doubt that's the case, and most likely her peak will have been spent on the 400m hurdles
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
Yes. The schedule let her down a bit because a double would have been very difficult and she will only run the open 4 if she is very certain she will win. Last year she didn't get enough reps in that event.
I have a feeling she may not even be around the next Olympics. Doesn't like to compete, definitely doesn't like to lose (which will happen once in a while if she switches to the open 4), and is super religious (could have a kid which makes it 10x harder).
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
Yes. The schedule let her down a bit because a double would have been very difficult and she will only run the open 4 if she is very certain she will win. Last year she didn't get enough reps in that event.
I have a feeling she may not even be around the next Olympics. Doesn't like to compete, definitely doesn't like to lose (which will happen once in a while if she switches to the open 4), and is super religious (could have a kid which makes it 10x harder).
Agree with all of you what you said.
More people need to acknowledge this imo instead of just fawning over her wins (as great as they are)
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
Yes. The schedule let her down a bit because a double would have been very difficult and she will only run the open 4 if she is very certain she will win. Last year she didn't get enough reps in that event.
I have a feeling she may not even be around the next Olympics. Doesn't like to compete, definitely doesn't like to lose (which will happen once in a while if she switches to the open 4), and is super religious (could have a kid which makes it 10x harder).
Even if she isn't around by the next Olympics, I would strongly disagree with the notion that she "wasted" her prime
She took her event to a place many people didn't think would be possible, no one was talking about a sub 50 time a few years ago
Also, like you said, the hurdles are a niche event, but she's so great she's been able to generate interest like it's one of the marquee events (Bol deserves credit for this too)
As cool as it is to see her set untouchable records in the 400m hurdles, anyone would admit that it's a niche event, participated in by 10x fewer athletes than the flat races.
It would have been much cooler to see her double in the 200/400, and see how her talent stacks up in a much bigger pond.
Sydney has had some excellent competition in her event though. Delilah Mohammad pushed her and beat her for years until she surpassed her and Femke Bol is excellent if outclassed by Sydney. If she was running the 200m she would have had to contend with doped out Jamaicans the whole time and a biological male one year. The open 400 should be a great challenge for her. Hopefully Naser gets popped again or has to lay of the sauce after her second whereabouts failure. Running the more prestigious events greatly increases the chances you have to deal with cheats.
The 4x400 relay legs run by Femke Bol and Shamier Little at these Olympics really destroy the notion that Sydney is beating up on lesser talents in the hurdles. Little didn’t make our hurdles team, but there she was whooping Klaver in the women’s 4x4.