OFFICIAL 2014 Paris Diamond League Discussion Thread

cu trackfan wrote:

the results wrote:

1 HASSAN Sifan 3:57.00 WL,NR

2 SIMPSON Jennifer 3:57.22 PB

3 OBIRI Hellen 3:58.89

4 KIPYEGON Faith Chepngetich 3:59.21

5 ROWBURY Shannon 3:59.49

6 MUIR Laura 4:00.07 PB

7 BELETE Mimi 4:00.08 PB

8 WEIGHTMAN Laura 4:00.17 PB

9 EMBAYE Axumawit 4:02.35 PB

10 AREGAWI Abeba 4:03.46

So what happened to Aregawi, who has been kicking butt this season?

She the kickee today.

I must say the women had much more heart. See Coburg and Simpson running their hearts out, as well as Vlasic's response to clearing 2m again, compared to weak performances from the men.

Button stuck wrote:

I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Drug cheat drug cheat drug cheat - I just like saying it. Then I take off my white silk robe.

Indeed

The world of sports (and t&f/athletics) has changed a lot since Bannister ran at Iffley Road - and his story was also very different.

Competitive races (think Merritt vs James who don't shy form competing against each other) or hard front-running will attract more sustainable public attention than one-off attempts at records.

Former dopers still on top in the 100

Tape on Aregawi's thigh. Didn't look like she was willing to push it.

1. Galen Rupp

2. Bernard Lagat

3. Dathan Ritzenhein

4. Chris Solonski

5. Matt Tegenkamp

....

9000. Bob Kennedy

Have not looked this up but anyone know if this is the first time for 2 Americans sub 4 in the same race?

The timing of my post was off - the message was a reply to Rupp running in a set-up race. I think more people should be running like Simpson, Coburn, etc - the run hard, lead and try to win approach.

OFFICIAL USA 5K GOAT RANKS

#1 is definitely Bob Kennedy

#2 Sydney Maree

After that

Lagat

Solinski

Ritzenhein

Tegenkamp

Rupp

J.R. wrote:

Uhuh, that's what I said the last time they raced, to run faster than Aregawi and you'll beat her.

That's completely stupid, that's like taking credit for saying the sky is blue

How can Bob K or anyone possibly be in front of lagat? Holds AR, was world champ, etc.

Simpson and Coburn HAVE TO run that way to have a chance of winning. They don't have the kicks to wait till the last lap. It's necessity, not choice. If they had lethal kicks they wouldn't be running that way.

The depth in men's racing is much greater than the women's. Only someone clearly physically superior to everyone in the world can just run away from a pack -- and there isn't anybody like that now, including Mo Farah. Rupp's not going to do that because he's not clearly better than everybody in the world. The other guys are not going to go with the pacers because why should they? They get paid by PLACE, not TIME. Paris in 2012 was an Olympic year and guys were motivated to run fast to impress their Olympic selection committees.

TJ wrote:

I think the rabbits did that on purpose. They don't want to make it a race that Rupp can win. They were 11 seconds off the requested pace at 3000m. ELEVEN seconds. There's no way they can be that far off unless they're actually trying to be.

I would have suspected Nike would have been involved to make sure this thing was a burner, given all the resources behind Rupp to get the record. Maybe the fee offered wasn't enough? or maybe the pacers don't get paid?

I may agree with you about Coburn, but not about Simpson, she definitely does have a kick. She has been closing in on Aregawi all season, getting outkicked by less and less. I believe front running for her is a personal choice.

Also, I think Aregawi was who got tripped up with Rowbury a few times today (?).

Wow. Tremendous race from Simpson, knocking another second off her best and getting so close to Decker (and you cannot say "drug cheat" about her American record when it occurred something like a decade before a testosterone reading that was ultimately thrown out many years after she was relevant in competitions). And congratulations to Shannon Rowbury as well for finally breaking 4. Her pr's were 2/4/8:31/15, so even Salazar said that it was a major goal to break those time barriers. Surprising to see Aregawi so far back (did she fall?), but for Simpson this is tremendous to beat both Obiri and Kipyegon, as well as Aregawi, and Simpson has the guts very few other runners have, as she is not going to sit back with the field and either let the pacers go or even let the pace slacken.

Les wrote:

Simpson and Coburn HAVE TO run that way to have a chance of winning. They don't have the kicks to wait till the last lap. It's necessity, not choice. If they had lethal kicks they wouldn't be running that way.

The depth in men's racing is much greater than the women's. Only someone clearly physically superior to everyone in the world can just run away from a pack -- and there isn't anybody like that now, including Mo Farah. Rupp's not going to do that because he's not clearly better than everybody in the world. The other guys are not going to go with the pacers because why should they? They get paid by PLACE, not TIME. Paris in 2012 was an Olympic year and guys were motivated to run fast to impress their Olympic selection committees.

Regardless of whether they have to or not, the fact is that THEY DO. They race like champions because that is what the are trying to become. Rupp races like a boy who just hopes the men will pull him to a fast time.

buttus nuggetski wrote:

I look for Salazar to try to organize a better pacemaking set-up. Not only will there be pacemakers, but the top contenders will also have to be paid to go with the pacemakers, so that Rupp can follow them.

Sure, why not? I thought something like that may have been going down today. But naturally those guys are going to want to get paid.

coach d wrote:

Other hurdlers do NOT like Lolo's self-centered attitude, so yes they do not generally celebrate with her. You can see that in meet after meet. And while her time might be just off her personal best, when you throw in Rollins (minus boyfriends) and Nia Ali, Lolo would be hard pressed to make a US team these days.

Not so sure. Lolo is still third but she's consistently third to Dawn and Queen. No one else from any other country challenges those top three. Top 3 in the US just may be the top 3 in the world. Unfortunately for Lolo she's 32 years old and Rio is still 2 years away.