The sprints have been crazy this year, from a depth perspective especially. Two non Americans run sub 44 in two days.
The sprints have been crazy this year, from a depth perspective especially. Two non Americans run sub 44 in two days.
Superb! Contender for leading the list until the end of the year.
Btw, that is at altitude, I guess??
Btw, that is at altitude, I guess??
Very much so. Even a simple jog is pretty tough in that town. Super nice town to visit...
Wow! This result is totally unexpected to me ... until this Makwala's fastest time this year had been 45.10, ran in Kingston on May 9.
To me he has looked pretty horrible this year; decent first 300 then fading badly last 100, leading to some very poor results.
Makwala's previous results this year (I might have missed a few from smaller meets):
45.10 -- Kingston, 9 May
46.28 -- Shanghai, 17 May
45.33 -- Eugene, 30 May
45.74 -- Oslo, 11 June
46.40 -- Rabat, 14 June
He also ran his 44.01 at La Chaux-de-Fonds last year. He did back that up later with a 44.24 at the African Championships.
The time of Haroun (44.26) isn't that surprising to me, given that he had already ran 44.68 on 3 separate occasions this year.
It will be interesting to see if either can back these times up the rest of the year. For whatever reason this track seems exceptionally fast.
52.43 wrote:
Btw, that is at altitude, I guess??
Yes ... just looked it up. Exactly 1000m, apparently (according to wikipedia).
As far as I know marks from ABOVE 1000m are given the "A" beside them; not sure if technically considered "aided" since some past world records were set at altitude yet still recognized.
From "The Legality of Wind and Altitude Assisted Performances in the Sprints" ...
http://myweb.lmu.edu/jmureika/track/legalwindalt.pdfSimilarly, performances which are achieved at altitudes exceeding 1000 metres above sea level are noted as "altitude assisted", but unlike their wind aided counterparts, these can and have qualified for record status
Thx. I just checked the all-time list and saw his 44.01 has no 'A', so apparently it is just under that (1000m I also wouldn't count as altitude). 16th best performance of all time and African record!
Mr. Makwala seems only capable of running fast in that venue. If he can duplicate that performance outside that venue, he deserves to be in the discussion of the world's best. Until that happens, I question the legitimacy of that venue.
It's bogus. His season best is 45.10. That's the same meet he ran 19.96 and 44.01 last year and hasn't gotten close to those since. None of those records should count.
vivalarepublica wrote:
Mr. Makwala seems only capable of running fast in that venue. If he can duplicate that performance outside that venue, he deserves to be in the discussion of the world's best. Until that happens, I question the legitimacy of that venue.
Yes obviously if it's up in the mountains it might be mostly downhill
Video of Makwala's race in La Chaux-de-Fonds (African record). Also asian record for Haroun Abdalleleh (QAT) finishing 2nd. CRAZY !
Flo'da boy wrote:
The sprints have been crazy this year, from a depth perspective especially. Two non Americans run sub 44 in two days.
And lashawn got 3rd here. Damn, other than verburg no one in the U.S. is rolling. Kirani may not have Lashawn to worry about anymore but now there's some new challengers who at this point could smoke and burn him. As for the legitness/neth of this one, he beat abdelalelah haroun and Merrit and it's ratified so it counts. Van N and makwaala and probably tied for world #1 right now just ahead of kirani.
Looking at his progression from 2006, he was always a 45-mid to 46-mid as his season best until last year when he ran 44.01. Now 43.72??? Nah! Smells fishy to me!!!
Totally legit. No chance there is anything untoward about two guys from the same country with pretty much no history of 400m running, smashing through 44 seconds in the space of 3 days.
THIS.SPORT.IS.A.JOKE.
Screwby Doo wrote:
Totally legit. No chance there is anything untoward about two guys from the same country with pretty much no history of 400m running, smashing through 44 seconds in the space of 3 days.
THIS.SPORT.IS.A.JOKE.
I will point out Screwby Doo, that the Olympic Champ got beat in the Diamond League, by Wayde Van Niekerk. So no joke here. Dont know about makwala, though, does seem a bit suspect.
But Van Niekerk had his breakthrough year last year, so its no surprise he is doing well.
Whatever it takes to beat that sham, Merritt. Why everyone is so soft on a former PED abuser is beyond me. Perhaps everyone just forgot?
Screwby Doo wrote:
Totally legit. No chance there is anything untoward about two guys from the same country with pretty much no history of 400m running, smashing through 44 seconds in the space of 3 days.
THIS.SPORT.IS.A.JOKE.
What country is that?
New batch wrote:
Whatever it takes to beat that sham, Merritt. Why everyone is so soft on a former PED abuser is beyond me. Perhaps everyone just forgot?
Because he was trying to make his dick bigger.
Screwby Doo wrote:
Totally legit. No chance there is anything untoward about two guys from the same country with pretty much no history of 400m running, smashing through 44 seconds in the space of 3 days.
THIS.SPORT.IS.A.JOKE.
From the same country???? One from South Africa, one from Botswana. They're different countries old chap. Kind of undermines your argument a little methinks.
Having said that, the Chaux de Fonds track has been notorious for some 'unusually fast' times for British athletes in the past, so I suspect this is similar. However, the athletes he beat show it was a top class run regardless.
Bad Wigins wrote:
vivalarepublica wrote:Mr. Makwala seems only capable of running fast in that venue. If he can duplicate that performance outside that venue, he deserves to be in the discussion of the world's best. Until that happens, I question the legitimacy of that venue.
Yes obviously if it's up in the mountains it might be mostly downhill
I said nothing about being downhill, you over assuming idiot. It's odd that a guy can only run his best times at one venue, and not duplicate them elsewhere. Altitude might have an effect, maybe the track is a tad short, something else going on, I don't know. But if he can't run similar times elsewhere or perform with the best at world champs, it's hard to include him in the discussion with the world's best.