I have no idea, but that is the important question for his chances at the olympics. The Olympic trials race is a good reminder of how different the race will be than what we have seen him in before. It will be interesting to see.
I have no idea, but that is the important question for his chances at the olympics. The Olympic trials race is a good reminder of how different the race will be than what we have seen him in before. It will be interesting to see.
Yes
What has he done to suggest he can handle those kinds of surges?
His 10K at Stanford was not much different pace wise than the trials race last night. He went through the 5k in 13:52 which was actually 4 seconds faster than Rupp and Ritz and he finished in 13:35 which was one secnod faster than Tegenkamp and 5 seconds faster than Ritz. Rupp might be better, but I don't think anyone else is ahead of Levins right now.
Hard to compare paces with Stanford: no pacemaker and pouring rain. I wouldn't be surprised if right now Levins is ahead of ritz and maybe teg. My guess is he won't be later, though, unless he is a whole lot better than anything he has done so far.
Other than the rain, I don't see much difference the pace was basically the same in each race, Rupp, Ritz, and Puskedra were trading setting the pace at 66's early on, pretty much exactly what happened at Stanford. Levins was in the lead pack the whole way it wasn't like someone led them through a pace he couldn't handle. With this long season maybe the Olympics are just too far out for Levin's to hold on, but I know he is excited to really push his limits on the International level. My only wish would be that he didn't try the double, the 10,000 is where he stands a chance to make the final.
Late race surges and uneven pace make the race very different, even if the times are similar. I hope Levins does well also, I just am not sure that his kick will still be there in a different kind of race.
No. He doesn't have a big enough base.