Wayde targets Bolt's 100/200m records.

ib 800 speculation

He's not getting 9.58.

He won't ever touch 9.58. 19.19 is hardly possible for him... I'd see an 800m WR easier for him than Bolt's records.

He took down Johnson's 400 record I wouldn't be shocked if he runs faster than Johnson's 200. But no way will he break Bolt' s records.

Sasuke wrote:

He won't ever touch 9.58. 19.19 is hardly possible for him... I'd see an 800m WR easier for him than Bolt's records.

Possibru.

I still think he has a better shot at 19.19 than 1:40.91.

Rudisha's run was flawless... (But I suppose most WRs are more or less flawless...) Worth noting is that it was done in an Olympic final from the front-- wire to wire. I just don't see a sprinter picking up the racing chops to execute something so amazing with all the necessary talent/ability being present to run such a time.

Outside a London-esque scenario who would rabbit this thing for Wayde? And why wouldn't another dedicated 800m runner with more experience take the record instead?

WVN is pretty young, so who knows? Maybe he'll start putting in some miles and take a stab at it.

The 100m WR, no. The African record yes. I can see him running a 9.83 in 2018/2019, and if he manages that, he'll have a decent shot at Bolts 200m record.

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown will take down Bolt's 100m record

bways01 wrote:

You have to admire his gumption. I guess there is a new strain of undetectable PEDs.

http://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/19131998/wayde-van-niekerk-ready-inherit-throne-usain-bolt

You call it "gumption"; I call it laughable. Niekerk is not going to come anywhere near either of Bolt's records. He is basically a 10.0/20.0 sprinter and is going sub 9.58/19.19 when he is already in his mid-20s? Niekerk 100/200 PRs are only slightly better than 19 year old Noah Lyles. Also, how is he going to train for the 100 and the 400 at the same time?

My predictions are:

1. He will never run better than 9.90 in the 100.

2. He has a lot of upside in the 200, but I doubt he will even break Michael Johnson's old 200m record of 19.32. (It is possible, however)

3. He will never run faster than his current 400m world record.

The rationale for all of this is quite simple. As far back as grade school, Niekerk was never a 100m sprinter. No body chooses the 400m, you run the 400m because you are better at it than the 100/200. If he had WR potential in the 100 or 200,. that's what he would have been focusing on years ago. There is no way he is going to get significantly better in the 100m unless he gives up the 400; there is a reason why there isn't one world class track & field athlete who compete equally successful in more than 2 events. Niekerk has basically had 2 great 400m races in his life, his 43.48 at the 2015 World Championships and obviously his 43.03 WR at the Olympics. I believe the stars aligned for him at the Olympics and he was in a rare once in a lifetime zone in that race. When you run way faster than you thought you could makes it hard to repeat because you don't know how you did it. Also, over 90 percent of the time when a world record is set, the athlete can't better it. Also, Niekerk now has a lot more demands on his time and there is no one to push him to run faster, 43.5 will win every race he's in for next couple years. Niekerk is talking and thinking like an athlete, but these are the facts of the matter.

TrackCoach wrote:

...

The rationale for all of this is quite simple. As far back as grade school, Niekerk was never a 100m sprinter. No body chooses the 400m, you run the 400m because you are better at it than the 100/200. If he had WR potential in the 100 or 200,. that's what he would have been focusing on years ago. There is no way he is going to get significantly better in the 100m unless he gives up the 400; there is a reason why there isn't one world class track & field athlete who compete equally successful in more than 2 events.

What about Allyson Felix, for a world class track athlete who compete successfully in 100, 200, and 400?

Is she not a perennial star on the US 4x100 *and* 4x400 teams?

But, I don't actually dispute your point; she is more an exception who proves the rule, methinks.

bways01 wrote:

You have to admire his gumption. I guess there is a new strain of undetectable PEDs.

http://www.espn.co.uk/olympics/story/_/id/19131998/wayde-van-niekerk-ready-inherit-throne-usain-bolt

What percentage of professional track athletes do you think are using peds? What about NCAA athletes? Very interested and eager to know since the assumption peds are a small percentage I think is incredibly naive but who knows. I'm not part of the inner circle.

agreeable99 wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:

...

The rationale for all of this is quite simple. As far back as grade school, Niekerk was never a 100m sprinter. No body chooses the 400m, you run the 400m because you are better at it than the 100/200. If he had WR potential in the 100 or 200,. that's what he would have been focusing on years ago. There is no way he is going to get significantly better in the 100m unless he gives up the 400; there is a reason why there isn't one world class track & field athlete who compete equally successful in more than 2 events.

What about Allyson Felix, for a world class track athlete who compete successfully in 100, 200, and 400?

Is she not a perennial star on the US 4x100 *and* 4x400 teams?

But, I don't actually dispute your point; she is more an exception who proves the rule, methinks.

I believe Van Niekirk has stated that the type of training that is typically associated with 100/200 sprinting tends to get him injured, and I believe that's why he gravitated to the 400m. But this training seems to have had a positive impact on his shorter races, which brings to mind how Clyde Hart trained Michael Johnson

agreeable99 wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:

...

The rationale for all of this is quite simple. As far back as grade school, Niekerk was never a 100m sprinter. No body chooses the 400m, you run the 400m because you are better at it than the 100/200. If he had WR potential in the 100 or 200,. that's what he would have been focusing on years ago. There is no way he is going to get significantly better in the 100m unless he gives up the 400; there is a reason why there isn't one world class track & field athlete who compete equally successful in more than 2 events.

What about Allyson Felix, for a world class track athlete who compete successfully in 100, 200, and 400?

Is she not a perennial star on the US 4x100 *and* 4x400 teams?

But, I don't actually dispute your point; she is more an exception who proves the rule, methinks.

Allyson is a rare bird, her 10.89 100m PR makes her a legit 100m sprinter, but she only seriously focuses on 2 at a time. When she was running the 100m seriously, she was only dabbling in the 400m and when she became serious about the 400m, she only dabbles in the 100m. Jesse Owens could run the 100/200 long jump and was a great hurdler as well.

TrackCoach wrote:

agreeable99 wrote:

What about Allyson Felix, for a world class track athlete who compete successfully in 100, 200, and 400?

Is she not a perennial star on the US 4x100 *and* 4x400 teams?

But, I don't actually dispute your point; she is more an exception who proves the rule, methinks.

Allyson is a rare bird, her 10.89 100m PR makes her a legit 100m sprinter, but she only seriously focuses on 2 at a time. When she was running the 100m seriously, she was only dabbling in the 400m and when she became serious about the 400m, she only dabbles in the 100m. Jesse Owens could run the 100/200 long jump and was a great hurdler as well.

An interesting fact about Allyson's 10.89, she ran that in the 2012 Olympic Finals. She was last out of the blocks and remained in last until nearly halfway into the race. She basically walked down the field in the last 20 meters to get 4th. With just a decent start, she would have probably medaled in that race. The USA broke the 4x1 world record at that Olympics, Allyson's top end speed (mph) on that relay was the exact same as Jeter who was a 10.7x sprinter at that time. Allyson is a tremendous athlete, but she can't drive out of blocks, her reaction to the gun is slow, basically, her limiting factor in the 100m is it takes her a too long to get up to speed. She runs great 4x1 relay legs because of the running start.

TrackCoach wrote:

He will never run faster than his current 400m world record.

Wow. What an incredible prediction. He won't run faster than any person has ever run in all of recorded history.

Thugging in Beverly Hills wrote:

What percentage of professional track athletes do you think are using peds? What about NCAA athletes? Very interested and eager to know since the assumption peds are a small percentage I think is incredibly naive but who knows. I'm not part of the inner circle.

we all know everyone is clean and the testing is perfect.

Wrong, he will lower the 400m WR to approximately 42.83 in the next two seasons (weather dependant).

I think he has a shot to surprise us in the 200. Didnt he split a 19.n in lane 8 in rio in the final?

Sasuke wrote:

He won't ever touch 9.58. 19.19 is hardly possible for him... I'd see an 800m WR easier for him than Bolt's records.

You are an idiot.

doot doot wrote:

Sasuke wrote:

He won't ever touch 9.58. 19.19 is hardly possible for him... I'd see an 800m WR easier for him than Bolt's records.

Possibru.

I still think he has a better shot at 19.19 than 1:40.91.

Rudisha's run was flawless... (But I suppose most WRs are more or less flawless...) Worth noting is that it was done in an Olympic final from the front-- wire to wire. I just don't see a sprinter picking up the racing chops to execute something so amazing with all the necessary talent/ability being present to run such a time.

Outside a London-esque scenario who would rabbit this thing for Wayde? And why wouldn't another dedicated 800m runner with more experience take the record instead?

WVN is pretty young, so who knows? Maybe he'll start putting in some miles and take a stab at it.

Why do people stupidly say Rudisha's London was "flawless"? It obviously was not.

Can we all realize that this is ESPN? They have been sucking with everything lately

Original Gangster Poster wrote:

TrackCoach wrote:

He will never run faster than his current 400m world record.

Wow. What an incredible prediction. He won't run faster than any person has ever run in all of recorded history.

That's the nature of all of the predictions, to state the logical conclusions and what should be obvious.