OP your post is false on so many levels. Where to begin? I'l crush your points one by one.
No it doesn't. The 27 feet drop more than compensates for having to go up hill in the 2nd quarter. Even if you say the uphills hurt you 50% more than the downhills help you (which isn't true) so it's it's -1.8 seconds for every 10 feet down and +2.7 for every 10 feet up, then you still gain a lot.
I had read the course used to drop as follows per quarter.
[-18, +24, -31, -5]
Now that adds up to -30 feet and it's only -27. So let's say it's
-15+24-31-5 by quater.
WHat would you get? Youd' still get an aid of 2.7 seconds. Add in the fact you are running exactly a mile and you get why it's faster.
No he wasn't pushed to his max. A guy who has been celebrating his Olympic gold for two weeks was pushbed but he looked over the wrong shoulder and was nipped at the line. Had he known Jenkins was there, he would have won.
Colby Alexander is a great story but he's not as good as any miler in American on any given day. He's a 3:34 guy on a GREAT day. Centro is a 3:29-3:30 guy on a Great Day.
It's like comparing a 4:03 guy to a 3:59 runner in college. It's not even really the same class of runner. One is a conference level stud, one is a national level stud.
Colby is a good American miler. Centro is the Olympic champion.
In case you forgot, here are the Olympic Trials resutls:
1500 m    Previous results 10 July
1 Matthew Centrowitz 03:34.09
2 Robby Andrews 03:34.88
3 Ben Blankenship 03:36.18
4 Leo Manzano 03:36.62
5 Craig Engels 03:37.66
6 Johnny Gregorek 03:38.76
7 Colby Alexander 03:38.90
8 Daniel Winn 03:39.22
9 Kyle Merber 03:40.27
10 Izaic Yorks 03:40.34
11 Eric Avila 03:41.21
12 Andrew Wheating 03:41.22
13 Jordan McNamara 03:49.44
Jordan McNamara also ran 3:51.0 on the course in 2014 and his PB is 3:52.89. The course is simply aided.
My college roommate ran 4:32 in the 40+ race. He went 2:21-2:11. He said that had he run it more even he'd have broken 4:30 and he knows he's not in sub 4:30 shape.
-rojo
PS.
We've updated the article to reflect the course goes NE to SW so it definitely wasn't a big cross wind. Basically more of a tail wind.
PPS. In case you don't know, the OP is reacting to our WTW piece on the front page:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2016/09/wtw-free-pr-advice-mo-farah-putting-5th-avenue-mile-times-perspective-college-coach-helps-star-athlete-get-bombed/