Nuguse has also been announced for Brussels, which I think was made before he missed out on the Team USA.
Regarding Jakob, I'm guessing the announcement is putting a line through the sand to indicate he will be 100% ready for Brussels and running at 1500m speed is a priority to prepare himself for what he will face at World Champs. However, hopefully Silesia is still being considered depending how training goes through to the end of this week.
Lausanne is an option too, with a 5000m. Will be interesting to see if he runs this, but I'm guessing he won't as per my comment above.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
I assumed Jakob would want to run Silesia as well to have a chance to qualify for Zurich, but the more I think about it the more I’m convinced the DL will let him race the Final regardless of whether he qualifies. They let him do the 3k in 2023 in spite of having zero points, but iirc he wasn’t eligible for the prize money. If he ends up winning Zurich without getting enough points to qualify, is it possible they’d give the Tokyo wild card to whoever finishes 2nd?
I assumed Jakob would want to run Silesia as well to have a chance to qualify for Zurich, but the more I think about it the more I’m convinced the DL will let him race the Final regardless of whether he qualifies. They let him do the 3k in 2023 in spite of having zero points, but iirc he wasn’t eligible for the prize money. If he ends up winning Zurich without getting enough points to qualify, is it possible they’d give the Tokyo wild card to whoever finishes 2nd?
I actually thinks there might be a small chance Jakob gives Nuguse a chance here. Not that likely, but perhaps if he is ineligible for prize money. They are on quite good terms.
Maybe he'll set a good pace and let Nuguse pass him on the home stretch? And maybe Nuguse will agree to set the pace for the first 700m in the 1500m final in Tokyo in return?
I think the chances of this is low, but non-zero. It would actually be a somewhat viable tactic for both.
There are some strong runners in the field now for Tokyo, but Jakob and Nuguse are the ones that have shown the most consistent strength over the last 2-3 years. After his 3:43 mile in 2023, Nuguse is the second athlete after Jakob that I would bet on surviving 3:26 pace in Tokyo.
Oh well, this might be idealistic thinking because I really like Nuguse, even though I'm a Norwegian. The most likable 1500m guy out there currently, in my opinion.
I actually thinks there might be a small chance Jakob gives Nuguse a chance here. Not that likely, but perhaps if he is ineligible for prize money. They are on quite good terms.
Maybe he'll set a good pace and let Nuguse pass him on the home stretch? And maybe Nuguse will agree to set the pace for the first 700m in the 1500m final in Tokyo in return?
I think the chances of this is low, but non-zero. It would actually be a somewhat viable tactic for both.
There are some strong runners in the field now for Tokyo, but Jakob and Nuguse are the ones that have shown the most consistent strength over the last 2-3 years. After his 3:43 mile in 2023, Nuguse is the second athlete after Jakob that I would bet on surviving 3:26 pace in Tokyo.
Oh well, this might be idealistic thinking because I really like Nuguse, even though I'm a Norwegian. The most likable 1500m guy out there currently, in my opinion.
There is no way Jakob ever allows Nuguse to win and doesn’t give full effort in a race.
However, I agree best case for Nuguse would be if Jakob runs the DL final but isn’t qualified. I believe the “wild card” runners aren’t eligible for the auto spot. Nuguse has been the best in the world at following Jakob in DL races over the years, though it may be tough to beat P. Koech this year.