the lionesses of the 800

....

Um...ever heard of Jordan Hasay?

Just watch the lionesses tomorrow in the final.

Just a quick update:

The 17-yr-old Hinriksdottir just ran 2:01.17. I'm tempted to bump her up the list.

http://www.newsoficeland.com/home/sports/other/item/1768-anita-hinriksdottir-with-icelandic-record-and-a-ticket-russia

Cain for the double in rio. Wins the 800 and 1500. Legend. I think she can in a few years actually hold 1:56 and 3:56 shape.

Ajee wilson has had one season as a pro so I would say she has an extreme advantage I see her getting down to mid 158 at least

Judd Talented with altitude training and full focus to running I could see her possessing a 1:56 high /1:57 low capability. Biggest non russian/kenyan threat in the 800. Lower potential at 1500 but she might be able to get a 4:00.xx

Iceland girl 2:01.17 with god awful form if she stays in iceland she wont make any impact in championships but if she goes to a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"western\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" coach she could probably go 1:58 high by the end of the year with competiton

Weissenbach I dont see her as more than a occasional world team member who runs good races for her skill level about 1:59

Roesler training with sprinters and still running a 1500 in 4:9 makes me believe she could be a great 800/1500 witha great kick probably will make a lot of worlds as our second woman but still makes oly/world finals

caesarsghost wrote:

3. Mary Cain--I'm lowering her ranking because she has been dragged to her best times by professionals,

Are you on drugs?? Nobody grabbed her and drug her to fast times. Queen Mary ran them on her own two feet. No, really she did!!

gong

Just For You wrote:

Um...ever heard of Jordan Hasay?

She has the heart of a lion!

I'm pooped. I had a fantastic day. Super productive and had fun! My panties are washed and my money is in the back. I'm good.

Breezy Neptune,

I agree with most of your assessments but wonder if you're underestimating Weissenbach. She still holds the h.s-only record (as Cain was racing professionals), and she now also holds the NCAA freshman record. She's lanky and perhaps doesn't look as athletic as the others, but I think her potential is real.

Few around here in the northeast who have seen Wilson run were surprised at her sub-2 and third place finish this last weekend. She always has something left in the tank. She beat Judd last year by what -- .05 seconds? Do you think they are roughly on par? It will be interesting to see what Wilson does at the WC. I would not be surprised to see her in the Semis and even the Final. Will Judd be there? Wilson underachiever. 1:57+ by 2016. Outstanding racer.

Cain and Judd may meet next year at the World Juniors. I know Judd likes the 8 and Cain the 15. However, Salazar thinks Cain can run a 53.5 400 now. That seems like a stretch, but if it's close, Cain has massive potential in the 8. Resume shows less than 15 800s, more than 30 1500/miles. She and Hinriksdottir may hook up in the 8 in July at the World Youth Championships but do not see an indication that Cain is or will be entered. Given the way Anita runs the 8, Cain can run off her pace for 500 meters and hit 1:58.5.

Roesler is intriguing because she is so fast, but Montano was a 4/8 runner at Cal who could run 53 flat in college, and this was not relay time. Alysia has not quite developed as many thought she would. We don't know who will coach Roesler after she graduates. Is in Planet Salazar orbit. If she goes there and Cain and Moser are also there, what will the chemistry be like between these three? Not yet convinced Salazar has inclination or ability to coach the 8.

Weissenbach is at Stanford. Great academics but a minus for this athlete. I'm not crazy about her stride. Too much ground contact time. Frankly, a disappointment at the World Juniors last year. Would think by then she had been coached to hold her head still. Anyone know her shoe size? Less keen on track athletes with big feet.

Do not want to slight the two Europeans but my knowledge of them is sketchy.

Both Judd and Weissenbach are lanky, which I consider a plus.

The tipping point may be based on who has the highest pain threshold. The 800 is not for wusses.

Tentatively,

Wilson

Cain

Roesler

Judd

Hinriksdottir

Weissenbach

I was really impressed by Weissenbach at USAs. Compared to the others, she has run very low-key all through indoor and was only sixth at NCAAs. Running a PR after all her freshman struggles bodes well for next year. She has the best upside of all, IMO, given a few more years.

Time to revive this thread, as my top ranked runner, Jessica Judd, finally got to run against pros and beat them all with a 1:59.85. She beat Lea Wallace by four seconds in that race, and she's only 18.

Meanwhile, my sixth-ranked pick, Anita Hinriksdottir, smoked a 2:00.49.

It's been an incredible run for these girls. Since I started this thread a few weeks ago, five out of six have set significantly faster personal bests.

Taking everything into consideration, I'm personally moving Hinriksdottir to 5 and dropping Ajee Wilson to 5. Wilson has simply had too many advantages.

Here is a brief article on Hinriksdottir's run. She led the race from 200m on and beat her closest competitor by 3 1/2 seconds. This might be the single most impressive performance on the list. Put her in a race with professionals (Cain has had two, and Ajee has had probably ten), and I have no doubt she breaks two minutes.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=is&u=http://www.ruv.is/frett/enn-baetti-anita-metid-i-800-metrunum&prev=/search%3Fq%3Danita%2Bhinriksdottir%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DQE1%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D585%26tbs%3Dqdr:d

Let me give you some facts about Anita Hinriksdottir:

1. She will compete in the WJC

2. She will compete in the European Junior Championship 19 years and younger where she is going to meet up with Jessica Judd. That is going to be a very interesting match and may the best runner win.

3. She will not show up in Moscow for the WC. She declined the WC trip because she feels the above competitions are enough physical stress on her body and she just does not want to risk going to the WC just to get there. Hopefully she has few WC ahead of her in the coming years. She came to this decision with her coach. I think it is a smart decision. She is thinking about the next few years instead of being greedy for fast times and risking injury.

Anita's coach (Mr. Joakinsson) is a very capable coach and he is very careful with her and is constantly thinking about the physical effects hard training has on her body. Mr. Joakimsson has a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology from San Jose State University. He is a former 800m runner himself and knows what he is doing. Last winter she was running on the average 35k (22miles) per week. That might not seem to be a lot but she is improving her 800m time rapidly doing that so that can't be that bad. Her coach said to the media she is slowly increasing mileage per week and to put too much stress on her and is simply going to get her hurt. She has never had any kind of injury but still goes to physical therapist every week in order to prevent any possible injuries. The main problem her coach has with Anita is restraining her during a workout. She wants to do a hard workout and fast one every day but her coach is very firm not allowing her to run as much (and fast) as she wants to.

The only drawback for Anita's training during the winter is bad weather during the winter. Anita trains with group of male 800m runners ranging from 1.52 sec to 2.00m so she has excellent training partners.

A statement about Iceland being a poor country makes me smile (ignorance is a bliss): Iceland had an economic meltdown in the year 2008 and has been slowly climbing up the economic ladder so to speak. In the year Iceland was number 17 in the world in the yearly income per capita (UK is number 22) It had climbed 3 places on the list from 2011 but UK was number 22. Unemployment in Iceland is less than 2.5%.

icerunner wrote:

A statement about Iceland being a poor country makes me smile (ignorance is a bliss): Iceland had an economic meltdown in the year 2008 and has been slowly climbing up the economic ladder so to speak. In the year Iceland was number 17 in the world in the yearly income per capita (UK is number 22) It had climbed 3 places on the list from 2011 but UK was number 22. Unemployment in Iceland is less than 2.5%.

The OP wrote that Iceland is a "poor country for training," meaning that conditions there are not good for training. (Considering the Gulf Stream's effect on the climate, I don't know if that is true. I grew up in the Canadian prairies, and we still managed to train in the winter.) He did not mean that Iceland was poor in an economic sense.

Thank you for pointing that out for me, I totally misunderstood the point, sorry! Iceland really is a "poor country" in a sense the weather is very bad during the winter and high winds and cold weather are frequent. We have one nice indoor arena just for running track in Reykjavik and Anita would not be where she is today if she did not have access to it. That makes all the difference in the world for her.