Jager's 2016 medal chances just went down

He'll likely get hurt like Solinsky and Webb did after their best years.

road rashed wrote:

Jäger won't medal unless he runs away from everyone. He never closes faster than 65. Kemboi closes in 57-58, as do Mekhissi-Benabbad and Birech. Some luck and a perfect race must be involved if he plans to get on the podium.

Please read the front page once in a while. We obsessively cover the big meets and provide facts to help the uninformed.

Here is a recap of Jager's AR:

LRC wrote:

Evan Jager closed well in roughly 62.1 to get the American record in third.

Bob Tahri won't be a factor in 2016 - past his prime. His 5000/10000 results at the Zurich European Championships were disappointing and so was his 2hr18 2013 NYC marathon (1hr06 split and wall at 34k).

65... 62... what's the difference.

11 seconds off the record is not exactly a world beating time.

Almost the same thing wrote:

65... 62... what's the difference.

11 seconds off the record is not exactly a world beating time.

Nice self-contradiction... 11 seconds over 3000m is huge but 3 seconds over 400 is no difference.

Continental Cup 2014

7:15.19 at 2600m, jager leading.

8:14.08 for jager

that's 58.89 final 400m, just 0.9 seconds behind Birech, who kicked at the final water jump (~140m to go)

suck it trebek

Hey Jerry! If you and Jager get him ready for a world-class finish, he WILL medal in 2016. And 2015 as well as '17. This next 3 year cycle is the center of the J-man's career, and I see greatness.

HardLoper wrote:

Almost the same thing wrote:

65... 62... what's the difference.

11 seconds off the record is not exactly a world beating time.

Nice self-contradiction... 11 seconds over 3000m is huge but 3 seconds over 400 is no difference.

Wow you think a 62 is worth a 7:53.

rojo wrote:

Plus any new guys may be running the marathon where there is more money. Ethiopia's Yacob Jarso, who was 4th at the 2008 Olympics in the steeple, is just 26 but has been in the marathon for a while now. He ran 2:06 in Seoul this year.

Rojo has it nailed on how the road money is attracting all of the talent with many fewer fast guys and less fast races on the track.

Any why not? When an 8:0x Kenyan steepler who makes a few thousand per race can go get tens of thousands in silver-label marathons....

The 10,000 has already become a "B" event in the Olympics. The steeple isn't there yet but there's no question the talented distance masses in the Rift Valley are looking toward the roads and not the track for their futures. The 800 and 1500 will not be hurt because the speed required is identified early and those events are still extremely prestigious in Kenya, especially with recent successes.

Kenyan steeple/5000 depth is only going to get weaker over the next decade. Good for the US. Maybe more guys can get lucky like Rupp.

Based on the headline I thought a number of top Kenyan Steeplers defected to Bahrain and Qatar, hurting Jager's chances at a medal.

Considering 8 of the top 10 of last year's steeplers were from Kenya and the Olympics only allows 3 from a country, Kenyan defectors would be the biggest hurdle in a chance to medal (pun intended).

dsrunner wrote:

Good news is 10 Kenyans who are better than Jager will overtrain just trying to make the team.

This 'overtraining' you are describing is one of the two biggest reasons (likely the biggest) that Kenyans are as fast as they are

Almost the same thing wrote:

65... 62... what's the difference.

11 seconds off the record is not exactly a world beating time.

LOL @ your backpedaling.