Track and Field News says that Solinsky ran his final 100m in 12.1?

Why is that hard to believe?

His pentultimate lap was a 60, an average of 15 seconds per 100. So he came through the 300 in about 45.

His last lap was a 56.1. So if you subtract the 12.1 from 56.1, you see he came through the 300 in about 44. Then he sped up. Very reasonable.

He was cooking the last 100. It's not like he maintained that pace for a whole lap.

How Chris Solsinsky ran 26:59.60:

by lap

65.1

68.4 [2:13.5]

67.2 [3:20.7]

65.5 [4:26.2]

65.3 [5:31.5]

65.1 [6:36.6]

65.9 [7:42.5]

64.3 [8:46.8]

64.3 [9:51.1]

64.6 [10:55.7]

64.0 [11:59.7]

63.5 [13:03.2]

64.5 [14:07.7]

65.3 [15:13.0]

65.8 [16:18.8]

66.2 [17:25.0]

64.2 [18:29.2]

64.8 [19:34.0]

65.9 [20:39.9]

65.7 [21:45.6]

66.2 [22:51.8]

66.7 [23:58.5]

65.0 [25:03.5]

60.0 [26:03.5]

56.1

by kilo

2:47.6

2:43.9 [5:31.5]

2:42.9 [8:14.4]

2:41.3 [10:55.7]

2:39.8 [13:35.5]

2:43.3 [16:18.8]

2:42.9 [19:01.7]

2:43.9 [21:45.6]

2:46.0 [24:31.6]

2:28.0

by halves

13:35.5/13:24.1

finish

12.1

27.4

56.1

1:56.1

3:01.1

4:07.8

5:14.0

That doesn't look right.

brooks launch wearer wrote:

Why is that hard to believe?.

I want to say "go back to Dyestat" except that Dyestat is dead.

On second thought, GO BACK TO DYESTAT!

finish

12.1

27.4 [15.3 for 200 to 300]

56.1 [28.7 for 0 to 200]

1:56.1 [60] I suspect that the last part of this was faster because Rupp made a move to catch him, did not look like he was slowing down and suddenly the gap was growing.

3:01.1

4:07.8

5:14.0

That doesn't look right.

1:56.1 [60] I suspect that the last part of this was faster because Rupp made a move to catch him, did not look like he was slowing down and suddenly the gap was growing.

If you move the 12.1 to 12.6, then he does 24.8 for 200 to 300, which is still slower than his pace 0 to 200 of the last lap.

His speed is deceptive because he is a big guy and he takes long strides, so it is hard to see a lengthening of stride or a slightly faster turnover.

I think that he has said (like Teg) it takes him a while to get rolling, which might be the 'big guy effect (the Big M fits this mold also, I think -- anyone know more specifically?). I am guessing that one of the things that they are working on this year is to increase the response rate. Compare them with Lagat.

k-12 wrote:

I want to say "go back to Dyestat" except that Dyestat is dead.

On second thought, GO BACK TO DYESTAT!

What are you talking about?

Especially a flying start 100m. Not hard to believe. Elites are elites because they can run near top end speed at the end of races. If he ran as fast as he could in an OPEN 100m with a flying start he probably wouldn't run much faster. It's called ENDURANCE!...;)

Alan

Especially a flying start 100m. Not hard to believe. Elites are elites because they can run near top end speed at the end of races. If he ran as fast as he could in an OPEN 100m with a flying start he probably wouldn't run much faster. It's called ENDURANCE!...;)

Alan

---well said Alan. have you guys ever seen Bekele's last 100 in 10ks or 5ks? he runs them in 11 or 12 seconds. and he's 5 feet tall!

Solinsky did NOT run his last 100 in 12.1 seconds. It is OBVIOUS to anybody who looks at a video of the finish. Furthermore, he moved from lane 1 to lane 2 in the final 100 meters, meaning that he ran more than 100 meters in the distance between the mark indicating 100 to go and the finish. (OK, admittedly this is a miniscule difference).

Any chance it was his last 90? It didn't appear he had a major shift in the last 110-90 meters or really even the last 200. Nothing that drastic.

Would have gone faster nut his doped gills increases the wind resistance.

didnt look so wrote:

Any chance it was his last 90? It didn't appear he had a major shift in the last 110-90 meters or really even the last 200. Nothing that drastic.

T&FN has a history of confusing 90 with 100 meters, hand timed from up in the stands.

A few years ago they reported that Khalid Skah did a last 100 meters in 11 seconds.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Especially a flying start 100m. Not hard to believe. Elites are elites because they can run near top end speed at the end of races. If he ran as fast as he could in an OPEN 100m with a flying start he probably wouldn't run much faster. It's called ENDURANCE!...;)

Alan

Alan, your cold streak continues. 12.1 would be one of the fastest finishes of any race 1500 and above in the history of the sport.

Track & Field News is notoriously unreliable. Mistakes happen and that's understandable. But once the splits were posted, anyone past the age of puberty and sober should immediately see something was WAY off.

To buy into the accuracy of those splits, you would first have to be completely ignorant about the sport. Once a certifiable ignoramus, you'd now have to buy into the idea that on that last lap (56.1, preceded by a 60.0) he ran the next 200 in 28.7, the slowed down to 15.3 the next 100m, then suddenly jetted away to 12.1.

56.1 (28.7, 27.4)

28.7

27.4 (15.3, 12.1)

My guess was that he went 28.7, 13.7, 13.7

But if you go to the video it's clear he was past the end of the exchange zone by about a stride at 26:47.0. This means he covered less than 90 meters in 12.6 and probably ran the last 100m in about 13.8 or 13.9, just about what I guessed.

John Shiefer's motto on the old Track & Field Media's website was "Don't believe everything you read." This is a perfect illustration on how Urban Legends get started. An entire generation mindlessly regurgitates everything they read on the internet as Gospel without bothering to verify or apply even a smidgen of common sense. Without applying common sense or bothering to lift an eyebrow to Track and Fields numbers, five years down the road Solinsky's 12.1 would become fact via conventional idiocy.

Gebrselassie ran 1:46.0 in practice. I read it on Dyestat.

didnt look so wrote:

Any chance it was his last 90? It didn't appear he had a major shift in the last 110-90 meters or really even the last 200. Nothing that drastic.

No. Consider the source of the splits, it says it all.

electron1661 wrote:

---well said Alan. have you guys ever seen Bekele's last 100 in 10ks or 5ks? he runs them in 11 or 12 seconds. and he's 5 feet tall!

Find me one example. Just one.

final laps and final 100m are often faster in the long distances like the 10k and 5k because the kick is such a dramatic change in pace rather than a kick in an 800 or 1500. Plus when the an athlete knows he has a chance to break a record adrenaline kicks in. I remember seeing a 5k race i believe with bekele and mottram and they clocked a 52-53 second last lap...but ive never seen that in a mile/1500

I say maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Who are we to set limits on human accomplishment?

There was a semi-famous runner from the 60's named Gerry. A few years ago he made a claim that he was on sub-2 hour marathon pace through 26 miles and then collapsed before the finish. People on this site immediately discredited this without any evidence to the contrary. We are in no position to say that it did not happen.

i guess you have never watched a world champs or olympics 1500m race then because last laps in the 50-53 second range have happened many times in olympic and world champs final since 1980just off of memory1980 coe 52 last lap1983 cram 51 last lap1984 coe 53 last lap1987 bile 53 last lap1991 morceli 51 last lap1992 cacho 50 last lap1993 morceli 50 last lap1995 morceli 51 last lap1996 morceli 52 last lap1997 el g 52 last lap2004 el g 51 last lapi'm sure there are others....

DBI wrote:

final laps and final 100m are often faster in the long distances like the 10k and 5k because the kick is such a dramatic change in pace rather than a kick in an 800 or 1500. Plus when the an athlete knows he has a chance to break a record adrenaline kicks in. I remember seeing a 5k race i believe with bekele and mottram and they clocked a 52-53 second last lap...but ive never seen that in a mile/1500

Make sure you verify the info from the little rags with major media sources since they fact check before publishing. At least most of the times.

i think he meant record attempts in the middle distances not championship races.