Thank you Evan Jager Thread!

My two cents on the matter is that Evan Jager is a very talented runner with a great long time coach. As a veteran American distance runner, only Rupp shares those distinctions. I don't question this performance unto itself. But if Jager expects to be even better in late August. Well...let me borrow a rojo phrase. If Jager is on something legal I want some of it.

My greater fear is this is another Shumacher performance like Solinsky's 26:59 in April. Do something spectacular at a meet nobody really cares about, then when the cameras are rolling at the Olympics or WCs, they are struggling - or worst - sitting at home injured.

Someone has lost their mind.

A meet no one cares about? I have to disagree with that. This was the Diamond League, not an early season standard chaser. this far Jager hasn't bombed out Or crumbled in his last two major champs (his only two in the steeple). Sixth and six in the last two, he has been consistently very good. He's just brodged the small gap between himself and the top few Kenyans

Yeah, I just watched the 1min clip of the end without knowing and now I can't even sleep I'm so frustrated. I can't imagine how he feels.

I used to run steeple in a past life and definitely know how it feels to be on pace for PR (obviously not on a stage anywhere near this) and wipe out. I hope he gets some redemption. I never really did.

Go Jager, I'll be rooting for you.

Jebron Lames wrote:

Yeah, I just watched the 1min clip of the end without knowing and now I can't even sleep I'm so frustrated. I can't imagine how he feels.

I'm haunted by Jager's fall too. The same way I felt in 1969, when the Jets beat the Colts and then the Mets beat the O's. I wanted him to break 8:00 so much and for him to miss this way........yuck.

4 hours wrote:

Oh please. These guys train for a maximum 4 hours a day: even the least charismatic of them can find time to present themselves well. The fact that the vast majority of male American distance runners don't speaks to either their absolute awkwardness (ie Rupp) -- i don't see why i should applaud somebody who sold their social skills for fast times on the track -- or their indifference -- in which case you shouldn't ask me to care about them either.

if someone is awkward they are awkward. it doesn't make them a drug cheat. I would say that it's usually just the opposite. Those who have a slick presentation are usually the ones with a reason to con the fans. Fans care about medals or times, if you care more about presentation then you are one of those who thinks ARod cheated but Andy Pettitte made an honest one time mistake.

I agree that its not Payton Jordan. Its a DL meet. But its not exactly the most prestigious of DL meets. Its not a win that would go down as memorable (aside from the record)I agree that Jager has an excellent chance at a medal. For a couple years now he has been fairly close to medal contention and getting better. I thought he had an excellent chance of a medal in the next couple years, even before today. And who knows, if the Kenyan runners aren't in top form, maybe even gold. Saying he closed a small gap between him and the Kenyans today is putting it mildly. He runs in sub optimal conditions (heat), falls, and still breaks his own AR. It was truly a great performance. It sure as hell looked like he was in top form to me. Yet you can only maintain top form for a brief time. My fear is that come WCs, its the Kenyans who will be even better while Jager will not quite have it. We'll see.

Flo'da boy wrote:

A meet no one cares about? I have to disagree with that. This was the Diamond League, not an early season standard chaser. this far Jager hasn't bombed out Or crumbled in his last two major champs (his only two in the steeple). Sixth and six in the last two, he has been consistently very good. He's just brodged the small gap between himself and the top few Kenyans

Was watching this live and thinking, wow, better be careful not to fall now (can't even remember thinking that before while watching a 3000) and...down he goes, duh ! Amazing how effortless he looked when he cruised away. Dude will be back!

Very gutsy run by Evan Jager, the last barrier was just a bit too much. You can see that his legs just didn´t respond well enough when he landed over the barrier, but there will be another opportunities. He has a very smooth stride, long legs and not too muscular body. Running 2´40 km pace over the barriers for 3k is crazy, but it doesn´t seem so fast when he runs.

Very inspiring, indeed!

For those of you that follow mental visualization, Jager is an exponent

of mental visualization. In my estimation I can only think of a couple of

instances, where 'mentally preparing to fall' has not been

practiced thus complacency leads to a grim fate -- cough Mary Tabb (1984).

1. German Fernandez mile run at CIF where the pole vault paused

his run thus sabotaging Fernadez's sub-four effort.

2, Grant Fisher, squeezing to much out of the distance.

And like the Bellamy Brothers sing, "Just let your love flow..."

cbenson4 wrote:

Evan Jager, you are a beast. This run will now spark fear into everyone in the world racing against you, something not many American distance runners in history have accomplished.

Ever hear of Alberto Salazar?

Great race, bummer about the fall. But still 8:00! Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks Wejo for starting this thread.

And thanks Evan for such a great race. It really was inspiring. When my 10 years old son, who just started to run track, saw it, he said "I want to run the steeplechase! Jager is awesome!" We can't wait to see what you do the rest of the summer!

What?? wrote:

I guarantee you he does the altitude chambers/rooms.

And? Its perfectly legal.

Gideon wrote:

And thanks Evan for such a great race. It really was inspiring. When my 10 years old son, who just started to run track, saw it, he said "I want to run the steeplechase! Jager is awesome!" We can't wait to see what you do the rest of the summer!

I feel exactly like your son. I want to run the steeplechase too. Jager is super-awesome!

Paris is where Webb broke through for his only DL win during his magical season. It showed he was ready for sub 3:50 and he came through within weeks. Now it's Jager's turn to fulfill the promise of Paris and complete the unthinkable.

malmo wrote:

Gideon wrote:

And thanks Evan for such a great race. It really was inspiring. When my 10 years old son, who just started to run track, saw it, he said "I want to run the steeplechase! Jager is awesome!" We can't wait to see what you do the rest of the summer!

I feel exactly like your son. I want to run the steeplechase too. Jager is super-awesome!

congratulations to jager.

reading all the threads and the posts about his awesome performance shows an ardent longing in the western world for a runner who is able to force back african dominance. and jager is the man.

the discussion about salazar/nop has only just started and it ended at july 4, 2015.

Webb had already run sub 3:50 several times when he ran 3:30 over Baala in Paris in 2007. But it is where he showed that he could break the AR and was a threat to win at world's. I didn't realize that Cherono's record (why call him by his bought and paid for Middle Eastern name?) was just .01 ahead of Brimin Kipruto's time in 2011 (of course, the drug cheat Brahim Boulami ran 7:53.17 WR (and 7:55), subsequently annulled). I think this performance makes Jager #13 all-time performer (39th performance), and if he hadn't stumbled, he'd have been somewhere around 4th-8th all-time performer and top 14 performance. So, if you figure that he was on target for 7:55-57 until the last landing on a very hot day in Paris, then he does in fact have an excellent chance at the world record of 7:53.63, as Malmo predicted, at a place like Rieti. He's great for the sport.

All-time men's best 3000m steeplechase

1 7:53.63 Saif Saeed Shaheen QAT 15.10.82 1 Bruxelles 03.09.2004

2 7:53.64 Brimin Kipruto KEN 31.07.85 1 Monaco 22.07.2011

3 7:54.31 Paul Kipsiele Koech KEN 10.11.81 1 Roma 31.05.2012

4 7:55.28 Brahim Boulami MAR 20.04.72 1 Bruxelles 24.08.2001

6 7:55.72 Bernard Barmasai KEN 06.05.74 1 Köln 24.08.1997

7 7:55.76 Ezekiel Kemboi KEN 25.05.82 2 Monaco 22.07.2011

8 7:56.16 Moses Kiptanui KEN 01.10.70 2 Köln 24.08.1997

14 7:56.81 Richard Matelong KEN 14.10.83 2 Ad-Dawhah 11.05.2012

17 7:57.29 Reuben Kosgei KEN 02.08.79 2 Bruxelles 24.08.2001

23 7:58.41 Jairus Birech KEN 14.12.92 1 Bruxelles 05.09.2014

31 7:59.08 Wilson Boit Kipketer KEN 06.10.73 1 Zürich 13.08.1997

38 8:00.09 Mahiédine Mekhissi-Benabbad FRA 15.03.85 2 Saint-Denis 06.07.2013

43 8:00.45 Evan Jager USA 08.03.89 2 Saint-Denis 04.07.2015

He wouldn't have run 7:55. He likely would've broken 7:58, but that is uncertain. Still an incredible performance. Pretty sure you were one of the ones giving me grief when I outrageously asked if and implied that he would be capable of sub-7:55 one day.

The American record in the 5,000 is his as well if he wants it. The only question in my mind is can he improve his 1,500 by three seconds? I think it's unlikely but possible. That would be phenomenal.