justafan wrote:
"Thank god for Rudisha. Finally a track athlete (above 400 meters) who actually competes, pushes the limits, and doesn't tolerate the bullshit games that have been plaguing championship mid-D and Dist racing for too long. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, this Womens 1500- with or without the fall - set a new low for embarrassing competition. How does a fringe sport that loses more fans with each passing year ever hope to regain popularity when it allows the competitors in a championship race to effectively not show up for 75% of the race. The IOC should not award any medals for this race - I'm sure there's some arcane rule about maintaining the integrity of sport and competing in good faith. This was a joke. Who cares is she fell - this wasn't even a race."
*************
This is off topic, but actually, if you go all the way to 1984, there was a 19-year-old from Inkster, MI, who routinely took it out in the the 800m in 49-point and would hang on for dear life for 1:43-point. Earl the Pearl. Rudisha is not the innovator in that regard. Heck, he is running very even pace, when you think about it. Maybe he should try going out in 47.