Alan Webb 800m Fall Video, Results and Splits

I do not believe he faked it. I mean, maybe if it was the first lap of the race, yeah it would appear to be a fake to me. However, it was the last lap. I'm sure his legs were very tired at that point. He clipped the back of the mason guys foot, got a little tied up, lost his balance, and due to the fatigue in his legs, was unable to recover from it. Webb is a good guy. I mean, i'm sure he is trying his hardest to get back into shape. It's almost unamerican not to root for the guy...he went 3:53 in high school and now holds the american record in the mile. He may not have IT in him anymore, but I sure do hope it gets back into sub-4 shape at some point.

i kinda like running wrote: Find me the results of one elite 1500m guy on this planet who is running 1:53s right now and getting beat.

This is the part that is difficult to understand. If there are elite guys who could only run 1:53 right now for whatever reason, they're not racing because, well, they could only run 1:53.

Which brings me to the question: Why is Webb racing right now? He even predicted 1:55 before his 1:55 race a couple of weeks ago, so he knew what kind of racing shape he was in. What is he gaining, or what does he think he's gaining, by racing right now?

I was there and had a different (side) angle on it. He definitely didn't clip the heel of the GMU guy and did not fake the fall. He tried to make a big move on a flat track before the straight, popped himself up from the inertia, and could not recover. Spastic definitely, but not intentional.

Two other interesting things of note. The first was he clearly did not come there to dominate because he shied from contact at the start in order to maintain his position and did not do anything to improve his position when ample opportunities presented themselves. The other thing was that by the end of the race, it was apparent that the crowd was not pulling for Webb, but rather the underdog college kid to beat him.

gonchar wrote:

Agree Spyder. Exactly. Delusional is a kind word. As I've said, this is plain WEIRD and many of us are tired of the absurd excuses, rationales and pep rallies hoping for better results next time.

Again, do we know any other 3:47 milers in any part of the world who are mixing it up in middling college races????

I don't understand you guys. Webb is not a 3:47 miler so why are you criticizing him like one? Have you never been out of peak shape before?

I was there wrote:

I was there and had a different (side) angle on it. He definitely didn't clip the heel of the GMU guy and did not fake the fall. He tried to make a big move on a flat track before the straight, popped himself up from the inertia, and could not recover. Spastic definitely, but not intentional.

Possible, it just seems hard to believe that a guy with his level of racing experience would do that. I've never seen that happen at the high school level and can't recall another pro falling over themselves.

Not saying thats not what happened, it just seems puzzling that a guy that has been racing on indoor tracks for 14-15 years would make that kind of misjudgement when I can't recall a n00b freshman doing the same stuff. I don't know, its all very puzzling.

Yes, other super talented and great runners have run as badly in public races as Webb and come back. The answer is yes. In 1972 Jim Ryun ran a 4:13 mile at the LA Times Indoor meet. In March of 1972 he ran a 4:19.2 mile on national television and finished in dead last. I think Ryun running a 4:19 mile in an Olympic year when 25 years old in a major televised meet is more embarrassing than any race Webb has ever run. Ryun had no idea why he was racing so badly and though he training was going well. ("No, I don't know what is wrong.") Someone told his wife: "Why don't you give him a blindfold and a cigarette." A month later he ran a 3:57 at the Kansas Relay. The following week he raced to a dismal 4:09 mile while finishing 2nd to the last. The two weeks later at the King Games in Philly he raced to an even worse 4:14 mile.

Yet just months later he barely missed qualifying for the Olympic Games in the 800 when he raced to 1:45.2. Later in the week at the Eugene Olympic Trials meet Jim Ryun won the Olympic Trials 1,500 in 3:41.5 beating Dave Wottle. He was later tripped in the Olympic Trials. Although the IOC did not advance him to the next round they did acknowledge that he was tripped and fouled in the race. (Then he ran a whole bunch of really slow miles in the failed pro rack circuit, The Interational Track Associaition from 1973-1976.)

Never underestimate the ability of talented determined athletes to somehow find a way to get in shape and get it done. I would not bet on Webb at this point, but as I said earlier, I would not be surprised. I would be far more surprised if any of you I once ran a 4:03 mile in college runners did anything spectacular in the future.

G_D

i kinda like running wrote:

I don't know. I think it's hard to tell. Sure, the flailing looks kinda overdramatic and fake. But at the same time, I think it's quite possible that he was simply trying to regain his balance after catching his foot on something so he didn't get hurt when he hit the track. And the dramatic windmills were due to the fast pace they were running.

I agree. Just looking at the video from a non bias viewer, it's hard to tell from the angle if Web tripped, footed wrong or got clipped. First reaction, I would have thought he got clipped by the winner since the gap was close but the dramatic fall initially indicated otherwise. His wide stance "off balance" and his rate of speed could have definitely produce an awkward fall. However, reading his non-verbal cues after the fall and at the end did not indicate that he was too upset about it. Then again, what do I know? I'm just purely speculating from what I saw on the video. (which I rewinded several times to conclude my opinion).

Either way, it's interesting...

Is he coming back from injury. He looks somewhat out of shape. Last thing I remember reading about him is that he left Oregon project. Man, I wish he get his act together and put on one great season of racing soon.

has anyone suggested that he is not trying to go 100% to the well in these college races? That he is looking for a regular stairstep improvement each race? Say, a 2:00 in a time trial alone. A 1:57 at the armory or whatever he ran there. A 1:53 at George Mason. Next race maybe a 1:51. And so on.

That's not so crazy during a comeback - working on race strategy and racing but not going absolutely all out.

Anyone know when and where he will race next?

Someone once told me that it's not about the mistakes that you make, but what you do after you make them. I'm really interested to see how he bounces back from this. Will he race turn into motivation, or will it just add onto his baggage?

alls we have is Julia's blog, which is rarely about running.

joalturn wrote:

Anyone know when and where he will race next?

Virginia Tech this weekend.

hokie leaks is on point.

Alan Webb should rabbit Millrose

Why not? His agent is running the meet so he could get him in.

He'll still have his 1:53-1:55 effort that he wants pacing them, he'll be running with a very fast field, and he can either finish the mile or drop out after 800m or anything in between.

Just speculation here, but maybe he was trying a little too hard to implement the chi-running technique of using forward lean to gain speed.

1:52 some college girl says 'GET UP!'. Made my day.