Every one of the performances of the top decathletes compare favorably to the top US high school performances . . . except the 1,500, which wouldn't win a high school dual meet on a dirt track?
Why?
It can't just be that they are tired.
Every one of the performances of the top decathletes compare favorably to the top US high school performances . . . except the 1,500, which wouldn't win a high school dual meet on a dirt track?
Why?
It can't just be that they are tired.
All the other events are FT dominant so they are FT dominant athelets, its understandable that their 1500 distance will not be as good.
The same reason why you're no good at the 100.
You don't train for it.
If they trained for the 1500, their 400 and 100 and hurdles and jumps would suffer, or at least not not improve so much.
The deca is primarily an explosive event. It would be dumb to train for an aerobic event when the other 9 are non-aerobic.
The order of medals is often pretty much determined by the time they get to the 1500. Not always a need to run it fast.
9/10 events are speed/fast twitch events along with power explosiveness strength agility coordination
1,500 only endurance event
100m - 10.35
1500m - 4:15
Yeah that guy sucks.
BJ has broken 4:00 or close to it, which is mighty impressive for a strength guy.
I was disappointed to see Eaton not even TRY to beat 4:30 for the Olympic record. All he had to do was kick it in rather than slow down for a time 15 seconds slower than his PR and he would have had it. Soreness/injury or not, that didn't seem to be much in the Olympic spirit.
4:15 is only good compared to other decathletes.
They're 1500 times suck for obvious reasons.
#YoBro wrote:
100m - 10.35
1500m - 4:15
Yeah that guy sucks.
That is exactly what I was thinking. And actually Eaton has PR's of 10.21 & 4:14. To have that kind of range is incredible. 4:14 is nothing to laugh at, while 10.21 is smoking.
"their" not "they're"= "they are"
The decathlon 1500 should have a minimum time, and slower than that is equivalent to no heighting. Say, 4:40? Would make things interesting.
They're usually bigger guys being able to throw the disc and pole vault and shot put are basically the opposite of what a 1500 guy needs.
The same reason your skinny arse can't even lift a discus.
They should replace the 1500m with a marathon. That would make the entire decathlon event much more interesting.
Ghola wrote:
The decathlon 1500 should have a minimum time, and slower than that is equivalent to no heighting. Say, 4:40? Would make things interesting.
They *do* have a minimum time in the 1,500m: 7:54.11. That's the slowest you can run and still earn a point.
Actually, that's tougher than the vertical jumps IMHO. In the high jump, you can score if you clear 77cm (~2'6"), which most people can just step over (literally); and in the pole vault, if you clear 103cm (~ 3'4.5"), which most decathletes could clear from a stand, just holding on to a pole.
By contrast, to score in the 1,500 you have to at least be able to come up with a decent jog. Guys frequently get to the 1500 too injured to even do that--though if you line up to *start* the 1,500, start legally, and then DNF after taking one step, you still get an official total score for the ten events. I've been at a conference meet where *two* guys (out of seven) did just that; one of them scored team points for his school (I think he was fifth).
Traditionally the 1,500 was even less of a priority for decathletes because the point tables were based on open performances, not performances by decathletes. So why kill yourself and maybe pick up another handful of points? I *believe* (could be wrong--please correct me, if so) that the deca tables are now based on actual decathlon performances, so there's actually a decent chunk of points available in the 1,500.
This why these guys can't be called the world's best athletes. That's an overall designation and the decathlon is skewed towards speed/explosiveness.
Just look at Suarez who finished third. He might have an edge over Hardee if you include more aerobic events in the competition.
By BJ, we assume you mean Bruce Jenner.
Bruce Jenner's PR was 4:12.6 set at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He never got close to 4:00, nor was it a reasonable goal to try to attain. Training for such would have seriously taken away far more points from the other events than those to be gained in the 1500m.
Les Myles wrote:
Every one of the performances of the top decathletes compare favorably to the top US high school performances . . . except the 1,500, which wouldn't win a high school dual meet on a dirt track?
Why?
It can't just be that they are tired.
Putting it another way.... A weight lifter walks into the gym and asks another weight lifter, "Why are great distance runners so lame at anything but running? I mean, it's a bar, just push it up off your chest."