Absa wrote:
The point is he ran poor tactically. What the other guys did is inconsequential.
You can only control what you can control. If someone does something stupid in front of you there’s only so much you can do. Hocker beat all but one guy. It happened to be the one guy who gambled that he’d be in striking distance due to all the chaos of a big field.
actinium wrote:
"Good tactics and bad tactics can always have different outcomes. If you do something well, I think it is considered a good tactic. And if you don't do something well, it is considered the opposite. So it definitely comes down to execution of whoever is doing anything."
Jakob Ingebrigsten
Hocker wins one big race and now he is the "greatest tactician of this era". I think you need more data points to make this pronouncement. Unfortunately, championship level racing doesn't provide a lot of data points! His execution in the Paris final was superb. But Hocker was 6th in Tokyo and 7th in Budapest. Why did he finish so low in these events if he is such a good tactician?
I think Grant Fisher (different events I know) displayed better tactics throughout his Paris campaign. In both the 5K/10K, he stayed near the front of the pack--always in contact with the leaders. He never led the race, rather he conserved his energy. When it was time to ramp up for the final 800 m or so, he was in position to strike. He didn't have to move up through the whole pack to position himself for the final lap (like Gebrhiwet in the 5K). Fisher only came away with bronze (twice!), but I think his tactics maximized his performance.
Hocker made his way into finals easily with PBs that had him ranked pretty far down in the field while 3:29-3:30 guys gout bounced in the heats and the semis. In the finals, he wasn’t fit enough to contend those years but pretty much maximized his fitness. So if you want more data points consider his prowess in the qualifying rounds and making US teams.
completely disagree he had enough energy to win regardless.
THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:
Hocker made his way into finals easily with PBs that had him ranked pretty far down in the field while 3:29-3:30 guys gout bounced in the heats and the semis. In the finals, he wasn’t fit enough to contend those years but pretty much maximized his fitness. So if you want more data points consider his prowess in the qualifying rounds and making US teams.
Hockers tactic was greater fitness! He can kick off of 3:27 now when once he could only kick off of 3:30/31!
Jakob thought by front running he could make it a two-person race—or even run away with it! But his misjudged the fitness of Hocker/Nuguse/Kerr and ran a bit too hard first lap.
Betterthancentro wrote:
I think he’s the best tactician of this era. Watching his Olympic gold race, he started in 9th place, made the decision to get up behind Yared in 7th place with a surge before 300m. After 800m, saw komen was slowing down and immediately responded by passing Hobbs. Waited to make his move to get to the top 2 with 300m to go and then almost got a golden opportunity with 120 to go to pass on the inside but the door closed. Somehow stayed patient and the inside opened up again for him to immediately react and blast through Jakob and ultimately snatch the gold from Kerr. Hocker’s patience and composure is what makes him an excellent championship racer. He had a lot more decisions to make during the race than Jakob and Kerr for sure. His strength is his kick and he conserved a lot of energy by starting in the back and moving up gradually. Excellent tactics by Cole Hocker.
With respect to Olympic gold medalist Cole 2016 Centro would have dogwalked him
bump
0 wins in 13 diamond league races but he's the greatest tactician of all time lmao
Embiid21 wrote:
I feel like Josh Kerr is just screwed at this point. He's the oldest among the top4 finishers. Jakob redeemed himself with gold at the 5000. Cole Hocker has a better kick than Kerr. Hocker is the youngest and will only get better.
It's going to be hellishly tough for Kerr to come back in LA and win. Before this Olys he was saying this was the race he targetted for his whole career.
That said I wonder if he would have won if he didn't follow Jakob. Most people, and likely Kerr himself, thought he had to shadow Ingebrigtsen and if he was on his shoulder at 200 to go in a 3:27-3:29 race then Kerr would win because nobody else could truly kick off that pace.
Cram said in the BBC commentary that "they destroyed each other" in that Jakob went off too fast and Kerr only really focused on what he regarded as his main medal threat. Would I make Kerrr the #1 favourite for Toyko? No. But he won't be taken by surprise by Hocker (or Nuguse) again this time and nobody should write him off.
I would say Faith Kipyegon is at better tactician at 1500.
cmon man wrote:
0 wins in 13 diamond league races but he's the greatest tactician of all time lmao
proof that DL "races" mean nothing. Actually they aren't even races, just contrived TTs.
It's also proof that he's the greatest tactician in peaking sense, where Jakob has been struggling for the past 3 championship finals.
A Warning to All HS/Collegiate Athletes: Go All In, But Have An Exit Strategy
Connor Mantz and Clayton Young should've run Valencia instead of New York
Is it realistic to get much faster just by dropping weight as a masters runner?
Allie Ostrander to have surgery tomorrow to remove a growth from her throat