2021 Indoors

[paul]

Tsegay's time is almost beyond belief.
Muir's is the 5th fastest in history, including Tsegay's, and at least one of those ahead of her was definitely on the rocket fuel, so when the dust settles it will be seen that Laura has cemented her place as one of the all time great time-trialists. Whether she can convert that to a medal in the Olympic cauldron is another matter, but she definitely has the gas for it.

Courtney-Bryant's run was a little over-shadowed in that company. But she is in stupendous form, and _is_ a competitive race runner. We shall see what we shall see, in the summer.

[larkim]

What happened with Girma, leading at the bell? He appeared to move over for Wale and then seemed to have some sort of temporary spasm about 20 metres later. A bit reminiscent of Cheptegei at the 2017 World XC though that was much more prolonged through to the finish whereas Girma was able to recover and still run a great time.

I wonder if either Wale or Girma could be the one to take down Shaheen's long-standing WR in the Steeple? Having mid-7:20 pace on the flat should certainly help you run 7:53 over the barriers. It would be a bit of a turn up for the books given that, until the last couple of years, Ethiopia have rarely ever been a major force in the men's Steeple.

Looked very much to me that Girma thought the penultimate lap was the final lap and he sprinted all out for the line, he did well to hang on for another 200m if that was the case.

Overall the evening showed that odd mix of great performances tinged with a nagging suspicion that we're seeing performances of such consistently high quality that it's either re-writing the books in terms of how frequently athletes should race to get the best out of themselves, or that lockdown restrictions on anti-doping measures have been a let off for some runners. I'm not one to throw suspicion out normally, as I like to trust until I've seen an adverse finding, but there is definitely a niggle in my mind at the moment.

I hope, and currently tend towards believing, that it's just the delight of racing and the absence of over-working the athletes.

[Grassmarket]

Think all the Ethiopians last night were in the Joos Herman team weren’t they? He was certainly going bonkers at the finishing line.

[philipo]

Looked very much to me that Girma thought the penultimate lap was the final lap and he sprinted all out for the line, he did well to hang on for another 200m if that was the case.

Overall the evening showed that odd mix of great performances tinged with a nagging suspicion that we're seeing performances of such consistently high quality that it's either re-writing the books in terms of how frequently athletes should race to get the best out of themselves, or that lockdown restrictions on anti-doping measures have been a let off for some runners. I'm not one to throw suspicion out normally, as I like to trust until I've seen an adverse finding, but there is definitely a niggle in my mind at the moment.

I hope, and currently tend towards believing, that it's just the delight of racing and the absence of over-working the athletes.

If the niggle of suspicions persist, I recommend you join Letsrun( unless you are already there) Being mostly USA posters you read the most egregious sh*t possible where by every athlete is suspected of doping as soon as he or she starts performing at the very highest levels.This does not apply to their own athletes, naturally.
We do not know and will not know, i suspect ,who is 100% clean and above board, but I do note that apart from Russian statewide cheating and far too many Kenyan naughties ,we have a number of American missing tests to think about . Clearly more litigious societies get off the hook of cheating.

[Sovietvest]

I'm afraid I ended the evening with precisely the nagging suspicions Larkim refers too. I'm not proud of it and it possibly reflects badly upon me but I felt slightly despondent watching Tsegay. For me it felt like the mid-1990s again where athletes could set off at a suicidal pace and somehow recover mid-race and finish strongly and look full of running on a victory lap. According to PJ Vazel's splits Tsegay ran the second 100m in 14.4 and another one mid-race in 17.1. That's a HUGE differential in a fast 1500. Had the slower splits been at either end of the race it would make sense but to slow down that much and then speed up again (her last 100 was 14.9) is beyond comprehension to me. Anyone who's run 800 or 1500 at anyu level knows that if you 'overcook' the first lap or two there's 'no way back'. That has applied to everyone except the runners in the EPO period. She is either in a different league to anyone before her - including Hassan and Dibaba or she's doped to the gills.
And yes - Girma thought he'd finished (before showing unbelievable powers of recovery .. .. .. ..).
Hearing that Hermens is their agent just adds to the feeling of disquiet.
Before I'm bracketed with the Letsrun nutters - the last 10 years has been by far the cleanest for the sport in my lifetime but I fear the Covid period of limited testing has had an impact.

[CAML]

Those first two hurdles from Holloway were sensational. I can see him doing to hurdling what Duplantis is doing to the PV.

[Sovietvest]

Agreed - he's the first athlete other than Merritt who looks like he could run under 12.8.
There's a tweet from PJ Vazel comparing his race to Jackson's WR. Surprisingly, he was actually quicker to the first hurdle (does he take one less stride, like Merritt?), 2.50 v 2.53; extends the lead to hurdle 2 (3.49 v 3.56) and would have still led Jackson at hurdle 5 (6.45 v 6.51). So, Jackson's run in was 0.08 secs faster than Holloway's!
https://twitter.com/pjvazel/status/1359286403834724356

[Sovietvest]

Looking at the side by side video you can really see how Holloway over-strides and loses momentum off the last hurdle. He could run 7.25

[CAML]

I thought Holloway was hurdling safely with more to come. His technique has really developed and he looks to me he could run well under 10 for the 100. With a sub 44 relay leg, 6.50 for the 60m, 2.16 HJ when he was 16 and a 8.32 LJ, his talent is ridiculous.

[painisthepurifier]

There are so many questions about the Ysegay performance. She sets off at what EVERYBODY thought was a suicidal pace. She beats one of the top 1500m runners by six seconds. Very reminiscent of Genzebe's 1500m outdoor record. I've been an athletics fan since 1958, but I'm afraid track and field has gone very sour for me, The only way to save athletics is by draconian methods For example, the IAAF must reorganise its rules so that cheating is not an option.. For example, when an athlete signs up to his/her local athletic body they will be obliged to sign an agreement whereby if caught doping they forfeit all moneys/medals/prizes won during their career. We need to get serious...very serious.

[Sovietvest]

I understand your frustration but I honestly can't think of a cleaner period in the time I've watched athletics (starting with Dave Bedford v the Fins and East Germans). Ironically. the period most people think of as a golden period - 1980 to the mid-90s, was probably by far the worst. I prefer to see this as a blip caused by lax testing due to Covid.

[Grassmarket]

The problem with doping is that non-sports Courts simply never back up what the Governing Body decides, so you are left with slap-on-the-wrist punishments.

[Ursus]

Some outstanding performances. Shame Mondo wasn’t one of them.

But, as we all know, cynicism in our sport is well founded. Even if this has been the cleanest period for ages that’s a good direction of travel but still nowhere near where we’d all like it.

What shoes was she wearing?

[painisthepurifier]

The problem with doping is that non-sports Courts simply never back up what the Governing Body decides, so you are left with slap-on-the-wrist punishments.

That's where the IAAF mounts a massive publicity campaign involving the press and top political figures, and international courts, telling the world their aims and taking the moral high ground and thereby putting tremendous pressure on any opposition. It's like any club, if you don't like the rules don't join but if you sign up you must keep to those rules. BTW, do athletes currently have to sign a declaration before being allowed to compete in IAAF/Olympic meets?

[philipo]

Some outstanding performances. Shame Mondo wasn’t one of them.

But, as we all know, cynicism in our sport is well founded. Even if this has been the cleanest period for ages that’s a good direction of travel but still nowhere near where we’d all like it.

What shoes was she wearing?

Some person on LR opined Avantis shoes.
By the way i think that the greatest failure ,because of sport politics, is that of the athletic establishment refusing to reset world records, for fear of f*cking lawyers, and so therefore outrageous East German women and absurd performances like Flo Jo, doped to high heaven, are still on the books. Crazy if you ask me.

[philipo]

The next meet of the indoor tour in New York is the curates egg, good and poor in parts. Never could understand why the Americans insist on these silly 300 and 600m races in quality meets; that old exceptionalism crap again, i suppose; just like their failure to talk in metres etc, which the rest of the track and field world abides by, and hug close the imperial feet and inches which makes them appear too conservative . In swimming races the NCAA has 100 yards races i believe !!!

[LuckySpikes]

The next meet of the indoor tour in New York is the curates egg, good and poor in parts. Never could understand why the Americans insist on these silly 300 and 600m races in quality meets; that old exceptionalism crap again, i suppose; just like their failure to talk in metres etc, which the rest of the track and field world abides by, and hug close the imperial feet and inches which makes them appear too conservative . In swimming races the NCAA has 100 yards races i believe !!!

Yes, I agree. I've been having a debate about it on the T&F News forum - starting at https://forum.trackandfieldnews.com/...66#post1676466 - but they're adamant that these "off" distances are a good thing!

In case your eyes actually glazed over at all those unusual distances, for the women there's actually a 300, 400 & 500 !!! Ridiculous! It seems the last of those is there for Sydney McLaughlin to get a gimme win and maybe a (pretty meaningless) World Best.

[miles]

Sydney M is no longer listed as running the 500m (just the 60H).

[LuckySpikes]

Andy Pozzi was a late entrant in the Luxembourg meeting ... 7.68 in the heats and winning the final in 7.57, beating Paolo Dal Molin (ITA), 7.60.

[Grassmarket]

Andy Pozzi was a late entrant in the Luxembourg meeting ... 7.68 in the heats and winning the final in 7.57, beating Paolo Dal Molin (ITA), 7.60.

God to see him back, still a few good meets to get into. You always want to be in a hot event.

[Occasional Hope]

Very promising performance for Isabelle Boffey with a pb in the 800 in Boston; Adelle Tracey looked poor.