ukathleticscoach wrote:
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/bosnia-herzegovina/amel-tuka-273168#progression
Yes, very big jump at 24 after years of gradual progression. A 4 sec improvement looks suspicious.
In fact his yearly progression has been:-
2011(20) 1:51.09 Zenica (BIH) 01.06.2011
2012(21) 1:48.31 Helsinki (FIN) 27.06.2012
2013(22) 1:46.29 Tampere (FIN) 12.07.2013
2014(23) 1:46.12 Zich (SUI) 15.08.2014
2015(24) 1:42.51 Monaco (MON)17.07.2015
I think the Monaco track is super fast, but let's see if he can break 1:43 again this year.
This is a repost of what I put in the Monaco 800 thread:
I was able to get a bit of background information on Amel Tuka from a news source (in Finland). Main points:
- training seriously since 2009
- new coach, Gianni Ghidini (coached Wilfred Bungei, Yusuf Kamel, William Yiampoy), since last year
- lives and trains at 2000m altitude in Italy
- claims to have not done weight training before this season
- does more sprints and distance than before
So basically he has run 1:46 off of what sounds like "amateur" training, which puts the improvement into context. As for speed he has a 47.19 from 2013 and 47.52 from 2012, so he should be slightly faster now.
Not quite as big as Amos 2012 progression...
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/botswana/nijel-amos-256997#progression
BS filter wrote:
Not quite as big as Amos 2012 progression...
http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/botswana/nijel-amos-256997#progression
Not a good comparison if the reported age of Amos is accurate
Indicators/comparisons can be rather pointless unless you know the whole story, including real age, injuries, taking the sport seriously, finding the right training, family issues, etc., etc..
Didn't Bosse run a 1:42.5 last year? Tuka will probably end up like him. Competitive but won't improve.
BS filter wrote:
Indicators/comparisons can be rather pointless unless you know the whole story, including real age, injuries, taking the sport seriously, finding the right training, family issues, etc., etc..
Real age he's 24 not 15
Find me someone else who has gone from 1:46 aged 23 to 1:42 aged 24
TAA wrote:
Didn't Bosse run a 1:42.5 last year? Tuka will probably end up like him. Competitive but won't improve.
I guess that bodes well for both Bosse and Tuka in that case. Aman and Amos both ran fast times and are competitive, but did not improve...
webbb wrote:
TAA wrote:Didn't Bosse run a 1:42.5 last year? Tuka will probably end up like him. Competitive but won't improve.
I guess that bodes well for both Bosse and Tuka in that case. Aman and Amos both ran fast times and are competitive, but did not improve...
If you're referencing since the Olympics then Aman has improved. Yes, top 8 in the world is great.
He was focusing on the 400 meters until 2012. All of the races that he ran in until the European championships last year in 2014 were all very small meets with little competition. I'm a huge fan of his, but more importantly I'm a huge fan of athletics. Sure his improvement can be attributed to doping, but what if he trained from an earlier age like mostly everyone else has done that is currently running in the world stage? Whether you like him or not, he positions himself perfectly for the first 400-500 meters of every race that I've seen this year and just pushed on from there while most everyone else fades.
tldr; I hope his improvements are from great coaching and competition bringing out the best in him, but you never know who is on something these days.
I'd like to see him try a 1500m given his even splits and his relatively (emphasis on relatively) weak 400m (if it's true he spent his first three years of Athletics training focused on that distance).
I hear he is supposed to be running in a small meet today or tomorrow since they couldn't fit him in to London. Anyone know where?
Duane Solomon went from 1:45.86 to 1:42.82 at 27 years old (had been running 1:45 for 5 years in a row), so no reason a 24 year old can't do it.
The interesting thing is that both athlete had changed coaches in the previous season. Also as previously mentioned, Amel's current coach Gianni Ghidini, has coached more sub 1:43 guys that any other coach in the world. He also coached 1:43 man Andrea Benvenuti (92 OG final 94 EC champ) - so clearly his coach knows how to get men running well over 2 laps.
JRinaldi wrote:
Duane Solomon went from 1:45.86 to 1:42.82 at 27 years old (had been running 1:45 for 5 years in a row), so no reason a 24 year old can't do it.
The interesting thing is that both athlete had changed coaches in the previous season. Also as previously mentioned, Amel's current coach Gianni Ghidini, has coached more sub 1:43 guys that any other coach in the world. He also coached 1:43 man Andrea Benvenuti (92 OG final 94 EC champ) - so clearly his coach knows how to get men running well over 2 laps.
An Italian coach ..right you have convinced me!
Thanks for the info though- be interesting to look into his training
If he's an Italian coach, then he knows drugs don't work on Kenyans. Fortunately for them, Tuka is not a Kenyan.
Boris Berian hasn't run 1:42 yet, but he's close, 1:43.34, and he entered the year with a 1:48 pr, but he had a 46.93 400m pr from 2011, high school.
Personal Bests
Event Result Wind Venue Date
200m 21.97 +1.6 Albuquerque (USA) 07.04.2012
200m ind. 22.13 Alamosa (USA) 15.02.2014
400m 46.93 Lakewood (USA) 21.05.2011
400m ind. 48.95 Chadron (USA) 25.02.2012
600m 1:16.14 Walnut (USA) 18.04.2015
600m ind. 1:16.57 Boston (USA) 01.03.2015
800m 1:43.34 Monaco (MON) 17.07.2015
800m ind. 1:49.68 Albuquerque (USA) 19.01.2013
4x400m 3:14.43 Albuquerque (USA) 04.06.2011
Guy On A Buffalo wrote:
If he's an Italian coach, then he knows drugs don't work on Kenyans. Fortunately for them, Tuka is not a Kenyan.
LOL.
Deanouk wrote:I think the Monaco track is super fast
then you tnink nonsense
explain to the world why the post-millennium 400 track record is a totally crap 44.30 by lashawn from '14 ???
lashawn ran 43.92sb in lausanne !!!
on that basis, monaco is a totally rubbish track compared to lausanne !!!
ventolin^3 wrote:
Deanouk wrote:I think the Monaco track is super fastthen you tnink nonsense
explain to the world why the post-millennium 400 track record is a totally crap 44.30 by lashawn from '14 ???
lashawn ran 43.92sb in lausanne !!!
on that basis, monaco is a totally rubbish track compared to lausanne !!!
Then it almost certainly is so.