Why don't 800 meter runners ever try to negative split the race. Is it physiologically impossible to run in the 1:42 - 1:45 range using this strategy?
Why don't 800 meter runners ever try to negative split the race. Is it physiologically impossible to run in the 1:42 - 1:45 range using this strategy?
No More Fly and Die wrote:
Why don't 800 meter runners ever try to negative split the race. Is it physiologically impossible to run in the 1:42 - 1:45 range using this strategy?
David Rudisha recently ran a 1:42 with negative splits, Ovett won the '80 Olympic final with 54xx and 50xx splits...however running the first lap slightly faster yields faster times...
It's not that it can't be done more often, it's just that the structure of the 800 doesn't avail itself to negative split tactics. It's too short to allow the pack to become stretched out. If an 800 runner tries to go out 1 or 2 seconds slower than the field in that first lap then tries kicking it in, you end up having to run out in lane 2 or even lane 3 to get around the pack. Ask Sebastian Coe how he knows this - he too ran negative splits at Moscow, Ovett was just more experienced enough to bully his way with the lead runners. And as has been pointed out, if a runner tries to "pull an Ovett" in an 800 race today he'd get DQ'ed.
Look back to last year's NCAA 800 where Jock went out hard and Andrews came through the 400 in last place but came back to win.
Andrews still had a positive split (went out in about 51 flat, came back in 53.7).
If tried to negative split and went out in 52.5, you're looking at being another 1.5s back from the pack.
This was not going to make it easier to win.
for the most part, it is physiologically impossible to negative split in an 800 if you are running it as a true 800m. as stated previously, a positive split usually yields a faster time whereas a negative split, while able to yield a fast time in general, is done more in tactical/championship settings that are not near the athletes true 800 capablities.
rudisha's 1:42 negative split is an example. he is in shape to run under 1:41 in a perfect race and 2 seconds at that range is more like 3-4 when your talking about a 1:43 guy negative splitting a 1:45-6 race. ovett's is another example, while having a listed pr of 1:44 was definitely at least a low 1:43 man who negative split his moscow gold in a 1:45 race.
it can be done but if the goal is to run a fast time (i.e. rudisha running sub 1:41), it is impossible. and even during negative splits, most of the time the athletes still experience speed decay at some point in the race ( usually the last 100m) even if the clock registers an overall last lap negative split.
peter coe said in one of his books that the ability to use a "true kick" in an 800m race is gone in races faster than 1:45. granted, he was most likely thinking along the lines of athletes such as seb with 1:41-1:43 low speed, but the point still stands.