Why did Gressier run the DL 1500?

I'll agree with ALL of the reasons you gave. FYI Jimmy Gressier's outdoor 1500m personal best is 3:32.71,

Speedwork in preparation for 5000m racing. He did it last summer too before winning two medals at the world championships.

The better question is why did he and Almgren run so poorly?

It’s not uncommon for athletes on the track to race under-distance of their main event to spin the legs and work on speed to make their main event pace feel more tolerable. Also, to be world-beaters in the 5K / 10K you have to be able to run a fast 1500m. Greasier and Almgren certainly were hoping to run faster. Wish we could’ve seen Blanks and Young race today.

Gressier didn't run poorly. 3:34.63 is perfect for him to run sub 13:00/27:00. Less than 2 seconds outside his best, 3:32.71 from last year.

Gressier, 1500 history.

2018 - 3:40.46

2019 - 3:37.83

2020 - 3:36.04

2021 - 3:35.97

2022 - 3:36.09

2023 - 3:33.90

2024 - 3:34.58

2025 - 3:32.71

2026 - 3:34.63

With regard to Almgren, 3:36+, I think it was slightly disappointing, but I think he's a road runner now and has lost some track speed. This is normal. 3:36 is still fine for a sub 60:00 half marathon runner.

Don’t they run parts of their workouts at faster than 5000m pace? Why would they need to race the distance 1500m? Aregawi and Gebrhiwet, have never run a 1500m. Many 1500/5000m guys rarely run an 800m.

Sorry Ghost he is a much better athlete from 2025 on. This would be like saying if Gressier ran 12:59 to finish 12th in a Diamond League that oh it's not far off his personal best/season best.

A better excuse is he is doing an hour run world record attempt in Paris, so perhaps he is basically running on limited taper with almost no speedwork. To the OP's point, that might make running a 1500 pretty silly. Typically I would agree with the other posters that it's not, but if his focus is an hour race, a 1500 isn't too relevant/helpful.

Racing is fun and runners like it. A lot of modern athletes have their seasons super calculated, never doing any more than they need to perform well and get paid. But some runners actually love the sport and choose to participate in it more often. If you aren’t good enough to get into a Diamond League, why not run it?

If you *are* good enough

The other poster claimed it’s beneficial to run shorter races as it makes their primary distance pace feel easier, but that’s not true.

There's no hard and fast rule. Some 800 runners open with a mile. (Brazier, Roesler, Whittaker) Some distance runners like to drop down to a mile/800. (Fisher)

I agree with the 'fun' poster. For me I loved to run 400 and 800m relay legs, especially as I would never have made the field in an open event.

It's hard to replicate racing in practice, so jumping in a meet is best option. This also of course gives you an official result for your pr list.

I also found after a couple 800s or miles, the pace of a 5000 did feel easier.

The hour is in Brussels in on 4 September. In Paris I think he's looking for a PB/French record in 5000. I thought his 1500 today was not amazing but fine, Almgren is more concerning with the dnf in China then this one, I start to wonder if he'll reconsider racing Oslo now

Good correction. Not sure I get his schedule at all tbh. He’s kinda jumping all over the place, and doing an hour run on September 4 when he could do World Ultimate/World Roads instead…

Good to see the full results, thanks. Couple meets in France - Marseilles and Nice with 1500s then Ostrava has a mile but maybe its just focus of national champs for them now. Have to think Noah Kibet's European tour has been disappointing so far especially after early promise at Kip Keino

This was Gressier's track season opener and his first race since the road 5k AR two months ago. He probably lacks sharpness and 1500 is way too short for him anyway. He's probably at his best in 10k and half. So I agree that his run was fine but clearly not great.

But Almgren was really bad compared to what was expected and it doesn't look promising for Oslo on Wednesday.

Gressier was disappointed with his time and his race.

And the 1 hour attempt will be in Brussels, not Paris where hé hé will run the 5000m.

You conveniently left out the main part of Jimmy's statement on Instagram where he stated "it's not the race I was hoping for, but we're only at the beginning of the season. I know my present form and that it will get better from now on. We have to believe in the process and the main objective - the European Championships in August. Now I'll start doing specific track sessions to prepare for meets in Montreuil, Paris and Monaco." (Ghost1 translation from French)

You see - if you cherry pick from a statement, as you did, you give a false rendition of what was said.