Hocker/Kerr stock way down after GST. Not good for their brand.

BOP means something different these days

I was already out on Kerr, too close to 30 and the younger guys already started passing him by. But Wanyonyi is just a beast and Hocker has never focused on the 800 so I didn’t have super high expectations for that race.

I bet you also whine a lot when they decide not to race.

It's April 6. They still made a ton of money this weekend. They don't really care and shouldn't - WC's are in September. I'll give Hocker credit though - he at least put in full effort and ran his @ss off.

It’s April. They can’t be at or near their peaks year round like a drug loaded East African.

Too many athletes build a brand around invincibility that limits what they do. Hocker is out there and he’ll win some, lose some but he won’t be dodging any challenge or matchup. He got his butt kicked in the 5k the race before the Olympics.

That narrative only supports the fact they didn't perform. These guys skipped all or half an indoor season to be at GST. I can assure you, no one would be making the April 6 excuse for Jakob.

Yes.

They didn't perform - certainly not at the level you would want for the best of best in the premier track racing league in the world. This is the point - despite all the talk and fanfare they didn't even care to be in shape to really perform at their best. Hocker and Nuguse looked far more motivated in the indoor season they did this weekend.

I don't know what "their brand" means in this context. Their sponsors understand what GST is and are fine with it. The expectation from Brooks and Nike is to run well in September and if that happens, these early season races will be forgotten.

What I personally hate about GST is that it tried to claim "grand" status. You can't just declare yourself to be the Grand Slam of something. Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open, and the Australian Open didn't just pop up out of nowhere and claim to be the Grand Slam.

You have to earn your status as the greatest events in the world. And right now, the biggest four wins a runner is trying to get should be Olympic Gold, Worlds Gold, Diamond League Final (and series), as well as either World Cross Country, a Marathon Major, or World Indoors.

If you have those wins on your resume, that is a grand slam.

To be fair, I think Yared was pretty damn well-prepared. He’s a 1500/3000 guy, so the format does him no favors. Hocker prepared to be great at the 3000/5000 indoors, and he spent the weeks after it getting stronger but just hoping his natural speed would be good enough. Well not against Yared running high-level workouts closing in 51, nor a 1:41.0 guy who smoked Kenya’s best in 2K XC.
Hocker and Ben Thomas philosophically didn’t change things, so I’d agree it does pose a problem in some sense for the Grand Slam branding. Probably why a late indoor meeting will replace the early Slam and they’ll be less accommodating to the DL next year with one later date.

Those two should just hang it up and make one of those cup and goldfish videos.

Didn't care? How would you know that? By all accounts, including interviews and training vlogs, they cared a lot. Like I said, they skipped half or all of the indoor season to prepare for GST. Sounds like they cared a lot. They had an extra 2 months of training since their last race. Longer for Kerr.

More than anything, Nuguse and Hocker performance at BU/Millrose vs GST just highlights their inconsistency of performances and difference in conditions from indoor to outdoor.

So when you have Hocker coming out saying he is the best racer in the world and Kerr s**t talking JI about the 800m, then I think criticism and discussion about their prospects for the rest of the season is fair game.

They skipped half of indoor season? You mean the artificially late World Indoors in China. Indoors was 3 weeks later than usual and in reality they did Millrose and a time trial which is what you do if there’s no World Indoors or you’re not interested in the one on the calendar.
They cared about the GST in the sense of they know they can’t hole up for base training for April/half of May. So they got to that instead of the very late World Indoors and GST.

for sure

never fear, no matter what the loss is, except maybe your last OG final.

you are always one win away from redemption

and one loss away from ridicule.

so, in a way, it does not matter what happened yesterday when you hit the line.

regarding Hocker, Goose, they were 1 second back of a 141 guy, who ran 147 in the wind in April

Hocker was absolutely pathetic. He backed off on the backstretch so there wouldn't be a direct kick comparison against Wanyonyi, and then didn't get out of his comfort zone at all at 800.

It was impossible to ignore the aggressive 800 from the 1500 women compared to the 1500 men who risked nothing in either race.

When Jokic loses a game do you call him soft? If Randy Johnson pitches a bad game in April is his brand tarnished? Of course not. This type of reaction is exactly what keeps the studs from racing, but it shouldn't. They got paid to perform, and I was entertained watching them. Win win!

It's true. I was actually surprised Wanyonyi didn't win more easily. A guy who we expect to be in 1:40 shape this year (with EPO endurance) outkicks 1500m runners in a one off unrabbitted slow tactical race at the start of the season. It's not exactly shocking, is it? Plus, as you allude to he has probably been loading up all winter, especially with the long period when ADAK couldn't afford to test anybody in Kenya.

Then you take into account the prize money. Wanyonyi has just earned $100K, compared to $10K for a Diamond League win. The average yearly salary in Kenya is around $7K. And was there even any testing at this event? Did Wanyonyi's coach even have to use his private blood testing lab to check if Wanyonyi was glowing?

The real losers here are whoever is financing this ridiculous set of track dual meets.
Why on earth would you be paying out millions to these guys in early April so they can put up half-ass performances in front of a smattering of fans?

I’m all for innovation and creative thinking to improve the popularity of this sport. But if you/MJ splurge that much money for….this…then I don’t think we have the right people promoting this sport

I didn't see any signs about lack of motivation. Nuguse and Hocker both seemed to be excited and raced the best they could. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't.
The indoor races had pacers and were more about the time. This 1500m had a 51.5 close and is LITERALLY on par with the performances we have seen from the winners at world champ and olympic finals.

Comparison to some finals that had similar pace (from LRC article):

Year ; Athlete ; Winning time ; Final 300m
2009 ; Yusuf Saad Kamel ; 3:35.93 ; 38.5
2011 ; Asbel Kiprop ; 3:35.69 ; 38.5
2012 ; Taoufik Makhloufi ; 3:34.08 ; 39.4
2013 ; Asbel Kiprop ; 3:36.28 ; 39.0

GST
2025 ; Emmanuel Wanyonyi ; 3:35.18 ; 38.37

Of course they weren't fully peaked to their season opener but Nuguse and Hocker were objectively in a great shape. Both closing sub 52.