lkgkj wrote:
Don't look too much into her lack of progression in the last year. Care to name this American sweetheart? Should we have crucified Jenny Simpson from 2009-2014?? 4 years of non-improvement.
1500 METRES VIEW GRAPH
PERFORMANCE PLACE DATE
2016 3:58.19 Paris Saint-Denis (Stade de France) 27 AUG
2015 3:57.30 Monaco (Stade Louis II) 17 JUL
2014 3:57.22 Paris Saint-Denis (Stade de France) 05 JUL
2013 4:00.48 Monaco (Stade Louis II) 19 JUL
2012 4:04.07 Rovereto (Stadio Quercia) 04 SEP
2011 4:03.54 Monaco (Stade Louis II) 22 JUL
2010 4:03.63 New York City (Icahn), NY 12 JUN
2009 3:59.90 Eugene, OR 07 JUN
2008 4:11.36 Luzern 16 JUL
The giant difference between simpson and the others is that simpson wasnt primarily a 1500 runner until 2010-2011, before that she focused on the steeplechase. That 2009 Prefontaine race was the definition of lightning in a bottle also, as her only other 1500 that year (that i can find) was a 4:08 race at oregon relays. If you put that into the graph, it looks a lot smoother in terms of development.
Some other reasons you cant compare her to the rest:
-Jenny was far more accomplished internationally (1500 gold in 2011, silver in 2013)
-The world as a whole was slower in that time frame, as shown by the # of women under 4:00 along with the world lead (2011: 0/4:00.06, 2012: 7/3:56.54, 2013: 4/3:56.60, 2014: 7/3:57.00, 2015: 8/3:50.07, 9/3:55.22