SML has raced way more this year than Femke

SML’s features seem to get a teeny bit more harsh, more severe each season, never mind the shredded manjaw.

“Why do people consider Letsrun to be toxic?”

Let's see how much they have raced by the end of the year :-)

But without all the trolling, it will be interesting to see whether their different approaches this season makes any difference to their form come Tokyo 25.

This will be the first time Bol has not done a full indoor season since she became elite. There has been a sense in prior years that an extensive indoor programme may have impacted her outdoor form. What's also a positive is she wont be at the World Relays, as the Dutch are not sending a mixed or women's 4x4 team, instead relying on their 2nd place in the World Lists to Q. Again, this will help her. Look back to 2024 when she ran, IMO, a stupid competition schedule: full indoor season & Champs; World Relays, European Championships, all before Paris. And then she ran that mixed 4x4 leg before the 400mh too. The one year she needed to focus on the main goal, she ends up running 3 'Championships' before that in the same season. It was the one time I thought coach Laurent Meuwly had made a big mistake. So.....I am hoping that we get to see the best Bol in Tokyo after this change in approach.

On the flip side, Sydney is also doing something different this year. She will have raced more come the US Champs this season than since 2019: that year she did 7 races over 7 meetings across 5 different countries before the US Champs. In 2025 we assume she will have done 8 races over 4 meetings in 2 different countries. The last GST meet being in LA helps her a lot, as between Philly and the US Champs she doesn't have to leave her home town.

The other interesting thing will be, as ever, which events SML will run at the US Champs. She has to run as she is not a defending World Champion in any event. So will she just run the 400mh, the 400m, or both? At what point does Kersee decide, if ever, whether he thinks she can win 400m flat gold? (coz Naser & Paulino are looking awesome this year already...) Does he hold off another season and just get her to run the 400mh? I think GST is going to help them make their decision. Especially when it comes to LA and a possible match up between Sydney, Paulino & Naser.

Either way, I hope to see both women at their best come Tokyo. It's never fun when any athlete underperforms for whatever reason, as Bol did in Tokyo. But it seems she may have learned her lesson.

I don't think Bol's pre-Olympic racing schedule caused her to underperform in the 400m hurdles final. She split 48.00 in the mixed relay. Then, after running three hurdles races, she came back and split 48.62 in the women's relay. Those bookend performances showed she was in peak condition in Paris.

I think the issue for Bol in the 400m hurdles final was her execution. She 1) ran too hard to try to match Sydney, and 2) seemed to lose focus during the last 100m after Sydney went by her. If you watch the video of the race, you'll notice Bol stutter stepped before the last hurdle, which allowed Cockrell to pass her.

If Sydney wasn't in that race and Bol didn't have to worry about trying to keep up with her, I think Bol would have executed her race much better from start to finish and would have probably run a PB. That's just my take though. I'm curious if you've seen any interviews with Bol or her coach in which they gave their insights into what went wrong for her in that final.

As for this year, yes, it's noteworthy that Bol and Sydney are taking different approaches to their respective racing schedules, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in Tokyo. That said, the reason that Bol gave for skipping most of the indoor season wasn't about anything physical pertaining to outdoor championship performance. She stated, "It gives me the opportunity to have some more time processing everything that has happened and prioritize more things outside of the sports that are important to me."

Re: Sydney's event selection at the U.S. Championships, there's no chance of her doubling there because it would require doing 6 races in 4 days in events that overlap in the schedule. My guess is she'll do the hurdles. I haven't seen any indication that she's thinking of not doing the hurdles in Tokyo.

I agree that it would be great to see both women racing each other at their best in Tokyo.

I have already seem them racing each other at their best in Paris. I want to see SML and Paulino racing the flat 400 while at their best.

Hmmm, perhaps SML will run the 200/400. Well within her wheelhouse.

ETH and Shericka will be back, but will either be in form to run 21.5 or 21.6 for the 200M? L SML should be able to handle 21.8 and 21.9 if she concentrates on the distance. Plus, a better 200M can only improve her 400M...

Sad but true. Funny how the wokesters live in denial and instantly swarm to downvote the truth.

The title is true. At this time Sydney ran 4 times, while Femke ran 2 times.
The post itself is also true. GST is the reason Sydney this rare phenomenon happened.

To post these 2 rather inconsequential factoids at the very beginning of May serves only one purpose: piss off people that are obsessed with defending Femke, no matter how stupid the "attack" is ...

I think we shall have to disagree re the racing schedule. I personally, firmly believe her pre-Paris schedule was not ideal. I think her peak for the indoors was unnecessary in an Olympic season, and then breaking training camp to fly out to the Bahamas for the World Relays was a further disruption (but understandable as they needed to Q...). However, to then run the mixed 4x4, 400mh AND 4x4 at the Europeans early season was just too much, when she already had a DL schedule. Not just physically, when not at her peak, but also mentally exhausting.

I also disagree re the mixed 4x4. If it had no impact then everyone would be running it, but instead they recognise it is detrimental. It's not just the physical exertion, but the mental side too. Then the late finish, impact to sleep & recovery, and then back on the track. She ran one of the fastest relay legs ever and then the next day was back on track running her individual event. Her La-Chaux-de-Fonds & London performances prior to Paris showed she was at her very best....but she didn't get within 0.8 of her London time for the rest of the season. None of the men's or women's medalists in the flat 400 or 400mh ran in the mixed 4x4 apart from Bol. Re her 48.6 in the women's 4x4, she was over half a second down on her mixed run a week earlier.

I have seen an interview with Laurent Meuwly and he does say what you suggest, which is she went out a bit too fast & ran to SML's race plan rather than her own strengths. But he admits this was intentional to try and keep pace. However, he also hinted at her racing schedule that year was not ideal in hindsight, and the mental exhaustion & pressure at carrying the last leg on relays. Bol herself also said she needed a rest from indoors from the mental exhaustion & pressure of competition, not just to do other things.

It worked out perfectly. The Paris mixed relay was always going to be the most important race of Bol's career. I emphasized that here and elsewhere for years. She never had any chance of defeating Sydney. Why place full emphasis on something when your absolute high water mark is to lose by 7 or 8 tenths?

Besides, while that is technically a relay gold it might as well be individual. Nobody is questioning who was responsible. Ato Boldon described it extremely well after the race, that it's the type of thing that books are written about.

I have a feeling that there are family matters going on right now that we'll learn about much later. That's what I took from Bol's phrasing of skipping indoors. She always gets a relatively late outdoor start because the weather is so bad in the Netherlands, along with the flat terrain, that it requires months of training at remote locations.

Many of the Dutch second tier women are beginning their season this weekend, either at world relays or a small meet in the Netherlands.

But did the mixed relay cost her a silver medal in the 400mh? Did it cost her running a PB in the 400mh? Did it stop her from running Sydney much closer? I believe yes. Of course, I agree that winning the mixed relay gold showed it was the right decision for her to run that event, but that doesn't also mean it didn't impact her individual as well, which it did.

However, I feel her season prior to Paris had just as much impact, as it did with Klaver, who looked very tired come the 4x4 final. Full indoor seasons, every year, are rarely run by the all-time greats, especially 400m runners. Then breaking training camp the following month for the World Relays, then 4 races over 5 days at the Europeans...Bol said herself that she found the Europeans extremely tough. That Champs in particular I believe took some toll. Again though, I understand why she ran the World Relays, as NED needed to Q, but she did not need to defend her European titles last year. But there is pressure to keep getting medals at every level...

I'm glad she skipped the main indoor season this year. She was at risk of burn out. Klaver has to be careful of that now though too: she has already raced 10 times indoors. Yes, she won the European title at home, something every athlete would love, but hopefully not to the detriment of her outdoor season now. We'll see. I would love for her to focus on the 200m for a season, especially as the 400m is such high standard now.

When somebody is doing something good for the first time, you don't get to do an I told you so as if they have been doing it the whole time.

That she is racing so much is something to be celebrated. Nobody's complaining about her this year, and for good reason.

Femke will be cut some slack but she's show up year after year. A break is understandable. And even with the break, she still showed up for indoors to be part of the National Relay.

Nice to see there is still some team pride out there in the professional track and field world.

It's cool that we see Bol's pre-Olympic racing schedule differently. I agree with you that it was a lot of racing, especially what she did at Euros. Tripling at Euros seemed really unnecessary. I just find it difficult to believe she arrived in Paris less than her best when she split 48.00 in the mixed relay. Has she ever run a faster split?

It's more believable that the mixed relay had an effect, but she did have a day off before her semifinal and another day off before the final. Even if she didn't run the relay, I think the race against Sydney would have played out similarly based on how hard she ran it, which you've confirmed was intentional according to her coach. Maybe she hangs with Sydney a little longer, but she still would have probably faded on the homestretch from running too hard. I don't see her running a PB in that scenario.

The only significant thing I imagine might have been different if Bol skipped the mixed relay is maybe she would have held off Cockrell for silver, but then she wouldn't have the mixed relay gold, as Awsi Dooger pointed out. Would you rather leave the Olympics with a gold, silver, and bronze, or with two silvers?

Re: post-Olympic performances, many of the stars who shined in Paris performed significantly worse in those post-Olympic Diamond League meets. Those meets had an anticlimactic feel because so many stars had come down from their Olympic peaks. Jakob was one of the few exceptions.

I think you raise a good point about the mental aspect of things, and I agree that was a factor in the Paris final, but for a different reason. I think the fact that Bol and Sydney hadn't raced each other in nearly two years had an adverse effect on Bol's confidence (that, plus Sydney dropping a 50.65 at the U.S. Olympic Trials). I think the familiarity that comes from racing someone regularly can make her seem less intimidating. I recall Bol didn't appear confident before the start of that final, and I wonder if not having recent reps racing Sydney was part of that.

Given how familiarity with racing someone can help with building confidence, I think Bol and her coach may have made a mistake by not racing against Sydney in the GST Miami meet. Sydney announced in Kingston that the Miami meet would probably be the last GST meet this year in which she does the long hurdles group. Knowing that Sydney doesn't like to travel to Europe for non-championship races, that means GST Miami was probably the last opportunity Bol had to race Sydney this year before Tokyo. That could have been a helpful experience for her mentally.

Femke has acne, a sign of PED use. Silent ban?

...and you are clearly JV league when it comes to intelligence. Femke is ONLY 0.6 seconds back of SML, and Femke is #2 all-time.

No such thing as a Femke hater.

When people clown on Syd it's usually garbage like "she doesn't race 20 times a season or she's not pleasant or she should switch to a real event".

People that "hate" on Femke are just stating the reality. Things like all of her gold medals are from racing C team mixed relays, her PR is from an altitude short track, without the 400m hurdles nobody would know she existed, she has no aura, etc.

Bol wasn't running a personal best in Paris. I doubt she'll ever match that 50.95 from altitude. I thought her best case scenario was to dip slightly below the other personal bests of 51.30 and 51.45 from London.

Bol is not as naturally fast as Sydney or Dalilah. And she doesn't like taking it out fast, either on relay legs or at 400 hurdles. That's the problem against Sydney. You can't sit back and essentially forfeit. But if you take it out faster than comfort zone there are inflated risks. Meuwly somehow believes that asking Bol to experiment once or twice with fast openings before the global final is plenty. That is patchwork at best.

IMO, Meuwly did a very poor job in preparing Bol for alternate scenarios. Instead he was ridiculously Bol seemed to have no comprehension whatsoever that Cockrell or Jasmine Jones were capable of being competitive with her. That was astonishing ignorance. Cockrell was right there at hurdle 8 in Budapest a year prior. Her switch to 14 steps already looked promising. I was emphasizing that at Track and Field News forum and elsewhere. Jasmine Jones is a great talent who is more natural than anyone except Sydney at alternating lead legs. Yet somehow Bol and her camp seemed to believe all you had to do was look at prior times.

Bol is at her absolute worst when someone is gaining on her late in a race. She tightens up. That's understandable because it happens so seldom. Witness the mixed relay final in Budapest against Alexis Holmes. Paris was worst case because she drew a lane outside Sydney. So not only is there a shock to her system when Sydney blew past her with ease, but also she senses

That comment got chopped up. I'm having trouble with my keyboard. I was trying to say that Meuwly spent too much time ridiculously claiming Bol had a chance to win. And he didn't prepare Bol for the possibility that the other Americans could be there late. Once Bol sensed the unexpected trouble from other parties she really tightened up and lost her stride pattern. Frankly she was extremely fortunate that Jasmine Jones wasn't quite ready to go under 52.

SML dors have an aura. The aura of PEDs courtesy of Kersee the Chemist.

The reasons I think it's plausible Bol could have run a PB with flawless execution are 1) she looked so fantastic in the mixed relay, 2) she's at an age where PBs can be expected, and 3) others in the final had big PBs on that fast track. Sydney lowered her PB/WR by 0.28, Cockrell improved by 0.77, and Jones took 0.48 off her best time. Is it really that difficult to imagine Bol similarly taking 0.3-0.5 off her sea level PB with Olympic adrenaline?

I'm not saying Bol would have run 50.5 or anything crazy like that. But I think she's capable of something like 50.88 on her best day.