The stats don't lie: Lieke Klaver is in the wrong event

More Lieke and Natalia...the better.

Ha, that was ME that tweeted Laurent! So I am going to agree with most of what you have posted above. However there are two other women missing from your list, because they didn't perform (for different reasons) in Tokyo, that are relevant too

Rhasidat Adeleke PBs 11.13/ 22.34/ 49.07

Miller-Uibo PBs 10.98/ 21.74/ 48.36

Both faster at all 3 distances, but the other significance is that they are of similar height to Klaver (all between 1.83 & 1.85) albeit Adeleke & Miller-Uibo's physiques are more similar whilst Klaver is more powerful and shorter-legged.

But Adeleke & Miller-Uibo in particular have shown what they can do when they run more 200s.

Klaver nearly left the Meuwly group after not making the Tokyo final. I would LOVE her to be coached by Bart Bennema, who was Schipper's main coach, as he was able to really refine Schipper's technique. At present Klaver doesn't run like a 100m/200m sprinter. I actually think she could be European number 1 over 200m if she switched now, before it's too late. Alas I fear that will just never happen.

This is an interesting argument. Maybe Klaver has considered it, if the info above is accurate.

However even if she switched and improved to ~22.0 which I agree is feasible, she won't be Euro #1.

AMY HUNT!!

She would be number 2 behind Amy hunt

Ha, well yes at the moment Hunt is Europe's number 1. But who knows what Klaver could do if she ran 100s & 200s.

Remember in 2022 she did the 200m after the 400m at the Europeans, and came 5th, missing bronze by 0.16. Kambundji & DAS had doubled up over 100/200, whilst Karstoft & Williams only ran the 200m. Without those two 400s in her legs, Klaver would probably have won bronze I think.

This place is wild. A bunch of basement dwellers who think they know better than professional athletes and their coaches.

You got my upvote just for "KlaverPalaver."

Have you considered...it's because...the basement dwellers DO know better than the professional coaches esp. Meuwly...

Exactly. I trust the so-called "basement dwellers" who have actually studied the sport with an autistic degree of detail over the normie coaches who probably got their position due to seniority and connections.

Hilarious. The basement dwellers should start a consulting service for professional athletes to tell them what events they should do and how to train for them.

Klaver has been a known quantity for a long time. Nothing is going to change. On swimming sites nobody is projecting a 27 year old who is 8th or 10th best in the world to suddenly vault toward the top. Why does it happen in track?

At 400 Klaver needs everything to unfold her way to get a minor medal. That can happen indoors due to absences and some good fortune, like Jaeger stumbling into the infield.

It's not going to happen outdoors. The 4th place in 2022 gave her a false sense of being close to the medals. It may have been 4th but 50.33 was not a good time, more than a half second slower than the bronze. Naser was absent, Adeleke still too young and Kaczmarek had a poor meet. Nowadays it's even worse, with Sydney in that event and the emergence of others like Jaeger and Bella Whitaker.

If Klaver ran 200 on the Diamond League circuit she would be outclassed around the bend. It would look far worse than 400, where she is in contention midway. Klaver is overly muscle bound and simply not as good of an athlete as others in these events, including the young Lurdes Manuel now part of her training group. Sometimes it's as simple as that. Training is not going to overcome an ability deficit.

However, Klaver can be unusually good on relays. She looks great on the second leg of the 4 x 100. Excellent timing on the exchanges. There's no question Meuwly should give her more sprint work, toward those relays. There will be a 4 x 100 mixed relay in 2028 and beyond. Klaver can factor there and also in the women's 4 x 100. The Dutch can be a contender for women's bronze with Visser/Klaver/Bisschops/Jiya. But only that lineup. If anyone is absent they fall way off.

You say Klaver would be outclassed on the bend of a DL 200m, but that's based on your opinion of her now, which is her training for the 400m. The whole point is, if she switched to 100/200 training, she wouldn't be so behind on the bend of a 200m!

Clearly if she specialised in the shorter sprints she would get better at them. As the OP says, she's run 11.33/ 22.46 as a 400m runner. That 10.07 leg was pretty fantastic for a 400m runner.

I agree that others, such as Manuel, have caught up. And your point is she won't get any better or medal at 400m. And that is precisely the reason why she needs to consider changing events: she hasn't progressed in the last couple of seasons, and she has been frustrated herself. Age 27 is not too late at all to change events, especually considering she was a fairly late developer & not a teen sensation.

Now Meuwly's time is spread too thinly over multiple runners, and Klaver has spoken how she didn't get as much time with him as she would like. Ramsey Angela left the Meuwly group last autumn. Others such as Peeters as excelling with other coaches. If she was coached by Bennema, and his priority athlete, and did the 100/200, I am sure he could get her to finals for sure.

I forgot to add, I interviewed Klaver back in 2020 for European Athletics, and asked her which event she preferred. She said it was like choosing your favourite parent, but ultimately the 200m remained her first love. She has been guided toward the 400m to satisfy the 4x4 aspirations, for the sake of the evet she actually loves the most.

NL has better relay prospects in the 4x4 and without that relay Klaver has no medal prospects at all.

Agreed. But why not the 200m & the 4x400m?

Henrietta Jaeger is now training with the group. She still has her own coach, but as with her other overseas training camps in RSA recently, she has joined the same group under Laurent Meuwly in Potchefstroom.

Today they posted stories on Instagram. Klaver was paired with Eveline Saalberg & Myrte van der Schoot. Jaeger was paired with Czechia athlete's Vondrova and Manuel.

Klaver now has two of her biggest competitors at a European level in her training group, getting the same attention from Laurent Meuwly. If I were her, I'd be pissed. She isn't getting the valuable 1-on-1 time Femke Bol is getting from him.

Maybe she does need to leave the Group & find another coach who will give her more attention. Maybe she could go and train under Bobby Kersee :-P

If she trained under Bobby Kersee she'd be running 21.6 LOL

Muscle bound? What is this 1980? She is no more "muscle bound" than ay other sprinter. Maybe more muscular than the average 400m. Would you suggest she get less strong?