That being that there is still 200 meters to run.
I have never seen such a poorly executed race. I want to see bravery but it's not like he tied up with 35 meters to go and finished 5th. He was barely moving with 90 meters to go and did not even finish the race . Well technically he did but if you are running slower than me it really should be a DNF.
How could a pro let something like that happen ? How could his coach (Johnny Gray!) let that happen?
Bizarre strategy for a guy who could make the team without that kind of outlandish tactics. I could understand some dark horse saying "my odds of making the team are almost zero anyway. I'm just going to sprint like hell and see what happens. Maybe everyone will come with me and by some miracle I'll be one of the last three to run out of gas." But if you're a 1:43 guy, you go into the race knowing that you're almost guaranteed to qualify if you run within a second of your PR. Why take the risk when you can just cruise to a 1:44.xx finish and have your spot nailed down?
Madmandoc wrote:
That being that there is still 200 meters to run.
I have never seen such a poorly executed race. I want to see bravery but it's not like he tied up with 35 meters to go and finished 5th. He was barely moving with 90 meters to go and did not even finish the race . Well technically he did but if you are running slower than me it really should be a DNF.
How could a pro let something like that happen ? How could his coach (Johnny Gray!) let that happen?
Well, did you ever see Gray's performance in the 1984 Olympic 800 final?
Not a big deal. Next year is when it counts.
Would it have worked without telling everyone the strategy? Who knows.
He gets to spend time training instead of traveling.
Solomon there thinks he's better than he is, plain and simple. He believes that his 1:42 from the Olympics is still there. If you're a speed based 800 guy, you're better off trying to run it all even or save it for the end, as opposed to frontrun. The reality is he dragged cas and eric through 400m in ~49.8, just as one poster predicted and never broke the feild. He set everybody else up and wasted a whole lot of energy with no benefit. Duane couldn't have even broken 1:48 if he finished yet he kept the pace until the very end as if it would work: terrible self judgement. All the top dogs in the 8 can run through 700m at WR pace, the part that Solomon was completely missing is that holding it is what counts considering that the 800 is a race that progressively slows from split to split.
playing poker with cards up wrote:
Not a big deal. Next year is when it counts.
Would it have worked without telling everyone the strategy? Who knows.
He gets to spend time training instead of traveling.
This "when it counts" mentality is dumb. So now not even the world championships count? Only the Olympics? Exactly what does it count for anyway?
Gray was known for his frontrunning tactics.
Symmonds said before the race that if Duane goes out hard, he'll just do his own thing and look for Duane in the final 100.
I hope he looked hard, it was the first crumbling soul on the left....
Gray's coaching kept Khadevis off the 2008 team, and this time it's Duane, and on top it's all Symmonds, just like back then.
Duane is like Berian, can only run to his potential when he can use Rudisha as a rabbit.
Honestly, who is dumber: Johnny or Duane? Were they thinking aerodynamics don't affect Duane like the rest of us or something?
It's absurd to think it would work, but then to tell everyone, "Hey guys, I'm going to be the rabbit and will go at a pace that will effectively have me pull out around 700m." Now I can't tell if they are really that stupid or if someone paid them off.
Seemed like he was high all weekend. Weed, crack, PED withdrawl. Tragically comical finish for Solomon - on your knees on the track with 50m to go? 3min05 in the final of the WC trials? He will not be back. Done burger.
MadGluteusMaxx wrote:
Honestly, who is dumber: Johnny or Duane? Were they thinking aerodynamics don't affect Duane like the rest of us or something?
It's absurd to think it would work, but then to tell everyone, "Hey guys, I'm going to be the rabbit and will go at a pace that will effectively have me pull out around 700m." Now I can't tell if they are really that stupid or if someone paid them off.
The top 800m runners in a race are usually in the back or the front, the guys in the middle tend to be the role players. In a sub-1:45 race, your body spends as much time in the air as in contact with the ground. You don't want to be touched, because if you are touched while your foot is not in full contact with the ground, there in nothing to stabilize you and your stride will be interrupted. When you hear long distance types discussing the 800m, they are always questioning why an athlete goes out so fast or so slow, which shows a lack of understanding of the event. Btw, I don't think Duane going out quick was because of overconfidence and certainly not because he is stupid; I think it was because of a lack of confidence in his ability to win any other way. Also, Duane, like his coach, never raced to simply place, they always raced to win or else.
seb wrote:
If you're a speed based 800 guy, you're better off trying to run it all even or save it for the end, as opposed to frontrun.
Wtf are you talking about? A speed based 800 runner should run with a faster first lap, no doubt. Its the 800/1500 guys who is strongest at the end and should run at an even pace.
Speed guys LIKE to run the first 400 fast, it feels so easy. HOW fast is the tricky part. Look at Montano, she finally seemed to learn to not blow her wad in the first 500, lead but do it controlled, and have something left for the stretch. I seriously doubt Gray will learn the subtlety of this. He seems to have one game plan, which only works if he has a 1:40 guy to draft.
Barakus Obama wrote:
seb wrote:If you're a speed based 800 guy, you're better off trying to run it all even or save it for the end, as opposed to frontrun.
Wtf are you talking about? A speed based 800 runner should run with a faster first lap, no doubt. Its the 800/1500 guys who is strongest at the end and should run at an even pace.
10/10 for the title. So good.
Dosage wrote:
Speed guys LIKE to run the first 400 fast, it feels so easy. HOW fast is the tricky part. Look at Montano, she finally seemed to learn to not blow her wad in the first 500, lead but do it controlled, and have something left for the stretch. I seriously doubt Gray will learn the subtlety of this. He seems to have one game plan, which only works if he has a 1:40 guy to draft.
Barakus Obama wrote:Wtf are you talking about? A speed based 800 runner should run with a faster first lap, no doubt. Its the 800/1500 guys who is strongest at the end and should run at an even pace.
You dont understand. Seb there is all wrong. A speed based 800m runners need a faster first lap to run the fastest races. Doesnt mean its the perfect way for winning a tactical race, but its generally a better way to beat a 800/1500 type of runner who DOES thrive on an more even pace.
the tactic is fine if he is totally fit and in race shape, but having been injured, under trained and under raced......i didn't understand it at all.
and if he wasn't injured in the last 100, i don't understand stopping and then dropping the to track looking for sympathy.
It was a mental collapse. Once he know he wasn't on the team he quit. If I was his sponsor or coach, I would not be happy that he quit once he knew he wouldn't make the team.