How would Cain have done in the other events?

I'm pretty certain Dayaum would've beaten Mary probably at least 75% of the time in the 1,500 if they raced. She's the superior runner. That being said, she hasn't won yet.

I'd love to see Mary enter the 1,500 just for kicks. Can't imagine Alberto letting her do this, though. Who cares if she doesn't win?

I think Cain would have won the 800. I don't think she would have gotten completely pulled into the crazy pace set by the Iceland girl, and would have had the best kick down the stretch, painful as it was... thoughts?

Random Observer wrote:

I think Cain would have won the 800. I don't think she would have gotten completely pulled into the crazy pace set by the Iceland girl, and would have had the best kick down the stretch, painful as it was... thoughts?

I didn't really consider that, but yeah, I agree that her race savvy would've paid off and she would've had more left and still hit the gold there. Has Dawit Seyaum proven to have a good kick? I don't know much about her except that she's run exceptionally fast for her age. Odds are pretty good it wouldn't be a 3:59 race at World Juniors, so I'd probably give Cain the advantage.

With out a doubt, the top African juniors are in the other events. However, I think Mary could have medaled in any event 400+, but the 3000 was one she was most likely to win. The 2 girls Mary beat are Kenyan H.S. national champs. The 3000 was the only event with accurately documented ages, which is something I heard Nike insisted on. I wish Nike could have used it's influence for all events and not just for their athlete. The girls that finished 1-2 in the 5K completed secondary school a year ago, which means they are probably 20 and 21, overaged yes, but not by a lot. I realy don't think Mary could have won that 5K becasue based on every thing have seem, she is an 800/1500 athlete and perhaps the 3000 is her upper limit. The Eithopean girl in the 1500 is a phenom, I think she is the correct age, if not, no more than a year over. If she was in that 3000, it probably would have been 10 seconds faster and she has good speed as well. This does not mean Mary would not have won, but it would have been much more dificult. In that 3000 race, Mary had a serious look on her face, but at no point did she ever looked fatigued and was capable of running a much faster race if necessary.

No sign of the mysterious Teferi. Maybe she will pop up again on the DL.

Mary would have easily won the 800. As for the 1500, Dawit would be in a tough position, as she would have to try to take the sting out of Cain's last 150. I say advantage Mary on this one, in front of home crowd. In a DL-style race, Dawit would be the favorite, by a second or two.

Wow! take off your Nike glasses. Cain is terrific, but is not yet the star even Zola Budd was as a Junior- who ran runs times of 3.59.9, 8.28, 14.48. She didn't even get the US Junior record (8.57) and that isn't really all that fast, and it's not like she (Hopp) became a truly world-class Senior runner (although her looks alone made a bigger impression than her times).

Cain/Salazar chose the 3000m at this meet to avoid the Cuban, who didn't win anyway, and Dawit S. Speculating, based on her PR's, how she might have run is pointless. The Cuban has run 1.57 this year, Mary hasn't, yet she didn't even win.

The 3000m field wasn't that good, which is why they ran so slow, and why it was chosen for Mary - should have been in the 8.40's at least. Even Radcliffe was 4th in her year (1992) running 8.51. So her having to outkick two average kenyans really doesn't mean all that much - a hollow victory in the easy event.

While it is fortunate for Ephraimson and Cranny, the real competition was Dawit S. in the 1500m. That Cain chose to avoid this for the easier 3000m says all that I need to know about Salazar - he is afraid that she will lose, and that is a terrible attitude to encourage for a runner who is aiming to be the best in the world as a Senior. Heck she should have been able to compete well in both (or both the 800 and 1500) given her ability and this was the last year for her to show (as a Junior) how good she really is. If it is because she has the DL, or was hurt earlier, the latter is on AlSal - she didn't need to race indoors knowing that this was on the calendar - and she has the rest of her life to run the DL (especially since she won't have the NCAA to deal with).

As to the idiot mentioning that the Kenyans were their HS champs. Who cares? This is a US obsession (what people do as a HSer) that the rest of the world ignore. This is a world Junior AGE meet - HS has nothing to do with it. It is where HS and College Frosh (or "rising" Sophomore - where the heck did that saying come from? Are they rising from the dead or just getting out of bed?) come together to be athletes prior to being "Open" athletes for the rest of their careers. Actually there is another group (Espoir - for athletes under 23) as a transition (much like the NCAA is from HS to Open) to real Senior/Open competition, but that too (like FISU) is a non-entity in the US.

What inpressed me about Ajee Wilson in winning World Youth and World Junior titles is that HS comp was an afterthought - being a global age champ in her event was what was important - and that is how it should be. Maybe it is about time that the US ceases this obsession about HS performances as the be-all and end-all as it is getting all too complicated as to when or what people are eligible anyway.

Think if you were in that position: "Maybe I'd win the 1500... but I could definitely win the 3k". Escalate that to the Olympics, thinking: "I could definitely win a gold medal in the 5k, but I don't know about the 1500." Sure it's the "easy road", but a gold medal is a gold medal.

I agree with you that Zola Budd as of now has much faster times than Mary Cain, but Cain still has almost 2 years to go before she turns 20.However I think you are giving Salazar psychic powers! It was months ago when Cain said she was going to run the 3K at Junior Worlds. I don't see how Salazar could have known at that time what athletes the Ethiopians and the Kenyans were going to select for the 1500M and 3K. In fact, when Ethiopia first announced its team earlier this month, it included Senbere Teferi, who has run 8:41 for 3,000. So Salazar wasn't choosing the 3k for Cain because he knew she would be the fastest runner in the field.

I really wish that Cain would run in the 1,500 just for fun.

She never would've won the 800M (won in 2-flat off a suicidal 56 opening lap). We'll see if she could've won the 15. I doubt it, but maybe off a slower pace I would've (if Dawit is a smart racer, she'd never let it be a slow pace, but she's young, so she might not be a smart racer).

Also, 3:59 as a junior is an amazing time! What is the WJR?

I'm sure she would have done terrible in the shot put.

I actually think that she would have won the 800m, because she runs the 800 from the back on the first lap and so would likely have been very fresh at 600 and roared right by the Kenyan guy and the Cuban woman, since they had nothing left and were closing in around 36-37 (I recall seeing 1:23 at 600, but maybe that is a bit slow). However, in a reasonably paced race, Cain would certainly have had her hands full in the 8 and it would have been very hard to win, as Wambui can surely go 1:57 or better, and the Cuban already has done 1:57 this year.

I agree with the posters who say Cain in hindsight would have won the 800 most likely. She runs very smart. I can't imagine her going out in 56. So as long as she doesn't totally blow up,she'd win it. It would have been fun to race.

trackcoach wrote: The 3000 was the only event with accurately documented ages, which is something I heard Nike insisted on. I wish Nike could have used it's influence for all events and not just for their athlete. The girls that finished 1-2 in the 5K completed secondary school a year ago, which means they are probably 20 and 21, overaged yes, but not by a lot.

Track coach, please email me. Those are some serious assertions. We're interested in exposing age cheating and if you seem to think it's easy to find out when people went to secondary school. We'd love to know more.

Please email (address is listed above).

I noticed that Cain was mentioned in a blog post (http://sportpoliticsrockandroll.com/2014/07/27/triathlons-are-whats-wrong-with-the-world-today/) by the former writer of this gem of years past: http://cowboytrack.wordpress.com/. The guy used to write about German Fernandez and team at OSU, but now he's doing much more. Seems like the site has been a hit since its release a few weeks ago.

Funny someone pointed this out, probably not the best thread to bring it up on but I saw that same blog's FB page recently https://www.facebook.com/SportPoliticsRockandRoll. Good stuff.