If the 1200 meters was an event, what would the world record be and who would be the WR holder?

The 1200 is an anaerobic event still because it's closer to the 800m than it is with the 1500m so I think the 800/1500m types like Noah Ngeny, Seb Coe, Steve cram, Steve Ovett or Malkoufi would have the world record

I agree that Noah Ngeny would be the WR holder but the theoretical 1200 all-time list would definitely be biased towards 800 runners - I think whatever Coe ran, probably somewhere in the low 2:40s, would still be very high on the AT-list today.

Whether or not El G would still be the 1200 goat is up for debate. He was very strong and as a result some of his greatest championship moments were made in those last 300 meters of the 1500. However, he clearly had good 800 speed, as even ignoring his rumored and hotly debated 1:42.7 in training, he still consistently closed races in 1:46 or faster.

What is the 1200 equiv. of a sub 4 mile? ~2:53ish?

It depends on if it would be rarely contested like the 1000m or 2000m, or regularly part of the schedule, such as the 1500m, if so then it would be a bit faster. I'd reckon around 53s low would be possible, and the world record holder would be Wilson Kipketer.

Nah, even with his extreme drug ise Ngeny wouldn’t have the record.

The 2000m is rarely run, but I doubt anyone in distance running history, could beat Ingebrigtsen’s outstanding WR.

He's run it twice in his life, you don't think it would be a bit faster if he ran it regularly?

I don’t. He rarely runs the 3000m but his WR is probably the most impressive race of his career.

52/52.5/53.5- 2:38.

Someone like the 1:40.80 800m runner Wanyonyi. He'll break 800 WR in '25-'26

2:42

A 2:15 1k is 54s.

I think Jakob can improve both his 3000m and his 2000m WR but so far in history he is also the only one who can.

His 3000m WR equals around 4:42 flat in the 2000m.

+1

Jakob ran 3:27.14 and around a 7:19-20 equivalent in the 3k from the 2 mile. That’s the ability it takes to run 4:43.13. At the same time though, that was after Budapest so he may have been in worse shape. It’s hard to conceptualize how impressive 4:43 is relative to other distances.

It doesnt change the fact that the more an event is contested, the more probability we have of fast times. The one hour wr would for example be much lower if it was a regular part of the diamond league schedule.

The only correct answer to this question in Alan Webb.

And this garbage gets upvoted how? If that were true then Arop would beat Jakob over 1200

Just another stupid hypothetical, nothing remotely interesting. downvoted.

Considering the makeup of the 1000 all-time list, I disagree. 8 of the top 10 performances are from men with sub-3:30 PBs, and that kind of 1500 ability becomes even more important in a 1200. You’re right that Ngeny (and other strong 8/15 types like Coe, Cram, Makhloufi, Cheruiyot, etc.) would be at the top of the list, but I’d also expect the 3:26 guys to be a significant factor here.

Idk what the time would be, but the brazier would have the wr.

I remember Roger Bannister saying that he thought the 1200m was probably his truly natural “race.” He did some absurd time in training, can’t remember what it was but considerably faster than his mile world record pace. 2:53 or something.