Spanish article on 1500m Final

The Spanish article confirmed somewhat my first reaction to the race. Webb's move in my opinion was a good tactical move. He came off the front so quickly though, it was rightly seen by many as a wild and uncontrolled move. You live and learn, I for one am glad the guy went for it. His final placing wouldn't have been better than sixth if he'd laid in the pack and kicked at 200 out, why not attack?

However my first thought when he went as he did was of Tom Byers. Having read Steve Scott's book last fall, I immediately thought of how Byers' wild tactics disrupted the other runners' strategies and that they mostly resented him for it. Webb isn't an analogy to Byers (especially w/out a Dream Mile win), but in this specific race, there was a clear and immediate parallel. Right after the finish I was thinking, I bet Heshko, among others, would like to lay ol' Webby out right about now.

Estevez's anger probably has more to do with the fact that he sucked a nut in the race than the fact that Webb's move was stupid on his part. That's the problem with relying on a kick - anyone with serious balls can mess up your plan whenever he feels like it. That's why the kicker always just has to pray the race is slow. Anyone who wants to wait for a late kick takes that risk, so anyone complaining about tactics can shove it.

Estevez has always been somewhat of a complainer. In '99 he said he would have won if the race didn't go out so fast and it wasn't fair that the race wasn't tactical (!!!)

Listen, I would have won the race yesterday if all the other runners had just ran around and finished behind me.

Their tactics were crazy they all ran like lunatics OKAY !!!!

While it's true that Estevez probably shouldn't have complained about the tactics of the race, and he probably did so only out of frustration from his poor performance, it's also not too advisable to trash this guy...Remember, he does have TWO world champs bronze medals, and his PR of 3:30.57 occurred in the championships in 1999. How many other runners with similar PR's can boast posting such a swift personal best in a championship final as opposed to a Grand Prix race with pacemakers???

you're right.. i cannot and never run a 3:30, but i bet your ass he could not bench press over 300lb..

"and his PR of 3:30.57 occurred in the championships in 1999. How many other runners with similar PR's can boast posting such a swift personal best in a championship final as opposed to a Grand Prix race with pacemakers???"

Um, did you watch the '99 race where he ran 3:30.57? It was blatantly rabbitted by El Gerroudj's countryman- something like 54 sec at the 400m and 1:51 at 800m. El Gerroudj ended up running 3:27.65 and Ngeny ran 3:28.73. So, for all intents and purposes, Estevez's pr was in a grand prix-type race with a pacemaker. Its funny too that he criticizes Webb, because he made a pretty bold move right before the bell (or maybe right after, I can't remember) to get up on El Gerroudj, practically sprinting all out, then paid for in the last 200m when Ngeny ran him down.

Tactic good. Execution bad.

Don't worry about Reyes Estevez, he's cool. He's an aggressive runner often, too bad he's aging a bit right now, like other guys like Sullivan/Rotich/Shabunin. Everybody has an opinion on tactics, don't worry about it though.

I saw the 99 champs race, Reyes Estevez made an aggressive move to pass Cacho and Ngeny with 400m to go and get right behind El G, but he was not going all out. That was an insane race, Spaniards 3-4-5!

Go Estevez!

Yes, I watched the race. Yes, other runners were intent on running swiftly. But as you point out, he made some big moves late in the race as well. The only point I was trying to make was that Estevez is a veteran and truly a world class athlete with big-time credentials, because I was put off a bit by the fact that people were trashing him becasue he chose to say anything about Webb that was not purely congratulatory. I am not defending his comments or his poorly run race yesterday, just reminding people that he has come through big time in championship situations before, and despite being a bit outspoken, has been one of the few non-Africans (along with countryman Cacho) to compete at the highest levels since the British heydays of the 1980's.

Frank,

Point taken. I agree he is a trully classy runner with some awesome performances behind him.

True, big game, but almost any man can put in some work in the weight room and get their bench press up to 300lbs. Not so with a 3:30 1500m. Only a select few can aspire to that rarified air.

Webb had the stones to TRY. Who was it that said "Americans are afraid to run from the front"?