Diamond League 2019 - Rome

[RunUnlimited]

Forgot to mention Zak Seddon (mainly because I'd switched over to watch something else by then, because I missed Seddon was in the line up!) Well done from him... That 26 year gap also coincides with the last British 3000m steeplechaser running sub 8:20, which was done by Tom Hanlon at the Monaco meeting (8:19.99).

Also we almost missed Andrew Butchart's 13:09.33 season's best in that 5000m race won by Bekele.

[Ursus]

21.97 PB from Bukowiecki. Sometimes easy to forget that he’s only 22.

Puts him 30th on the all time list. 14 of the 28 men who have gone 22+ are American.

[RunUnlimited]

21.97 PB from Bukowiecki. Sometimes easy to forget that he’s only 22.

Puts him 30th on the all time list. 14 of the 28 men who have gone 22+ are American.

He's also pretty much the youngest member of that top 30 list. The only shot putter there of a similar age is the one he shares the 30th spot with, Jannus Roberts of South Africa, who was also 22 when he threw it 21.97 in 2001.

Bukowiecki is going to be a super star in the shot... I'll be *very* surprised if he doesn't go beyond 22 meters before the end of the season.

[larkim]

I think second last night is a good outcome for DAS in the wider picture of keeping her grounded throughout the season, though given how far ahead she was at about 60m I didn't expect to see her reeled in that effectively given how strongly she has finished the 200s this season. But maybe I don't "get" sprinting!

I thought Muir was outstanding though, to be in a position where Dibaba was really unable to pull away from her after that very dodgy start, will both worry Dibaba and give Muir confidence.

[RunUnlimited]

I think second last night is a good outcome for DAS in the wider picture of keeping her grounded throughout the season, though given how far ahead she was at about 60m I didn't expect to see her reeled in that effectively given how strongly she has finished the 200s this season. But maybe I don't "get" sprinting!

I thought Muir was outstanding though, to be in a position where Dibaba was really unable to pull away from her after that very dodgy start, will both worry Dibaba and give Muir confidence.

Give Muir that same race with a clean start and she would have edged past Dibaba on the home straight. She was closing on her up until the line... Had she been only a couple of meters down on Dibaba, rather than five or six, then she wins that.

Heading to Doha, that will be a very good jolt of confidence for Muir indeed.

[Laps]

It still worries me that Laura finds ways to be beaten tactically. In that Rome race she was badly buffeted after 80m losing several positions, spent the next 600m competing for positions on the outside, basically battling for 700m whereas Dibaba cruised around serenely in 3rd place for much of the way. Laura's much better than she was but still has things to learn, especially about her opponents. If she gets a gold medal it will probably be the hard way, in spite of making mistakes.

[larkim]

That's the first time I've really noticed her get into a tussle like that, am I using rose tinted glasses with my memories of her races? She is normally quite good at getting up to the front at the very least, isn't she? The big take away for me is that her finishing speed is much better - she could always wind it up at about 800m and run hard to home, but I suspect they are working on raw speed to battle people like Dibaba, and it seems to be working out just fine!

[Laps]

Well you may be right, but look at the videos of the 2017 WC 1500m, 2018 Indoors WC 1500m and 3000m and then the race on Thursday in Rome. Laura always handing the initiative to her opponents, always 5m back when it matters, always chasing, always losing by 5m on the line. In these examples Dibaba and Kipyegon don't have more speed than Laura, but in 2018 and 2019 Dibaba has the confidence and commitment to go for home from well out, and in 2017 Laura front runs but loses the initiative and the race 600m out.

[treadwater1]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Norman, I thought that was the run of the night after Lyles dominance last year. He must have gone through 100 in 9.90, this from a 43.45 400 man, he may not take Bolts WRs but he could become the greatest all round sprinter in history if you combine his 100, 200 and 400 times

I understand some will be unhappy with aspects of Muir's race, but 3.56 in June is exception, her SB last term was 3.58. After that slow first 700 she must have gone through the final 800 quicker than she did in her NR run. She recovered from the stumble pretty well, it was just her failure to cover Dibabas surge at 800 that cost her later in the race. She had the better finishing speed over the last 50

Very good run by Pozzi, looks like he is back to his 2017 form

[RunUnlimited]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned Norman, I thought that was the run of the night after Lyles dominance last year. He must have gone through 100 in 9.90, this from a 43.45 400 man, he may not take Bolts WRs but he could become the greatest all round sprinter in history if you combine his 100, 200 and 400 times

I understand some will be unhappy with aspects of Muir's race, but 3.56 in June is exception, her SB last term was 3.58. After that slow first 700 she must have gone through the final 800 quicker than she did in her NR run. She recovered from the stumble pretty well, it was just her failure to cover Dibabas surge at 800 that cost her later in the race. She had the better finishing speed over the last 50

Very good run by Pozzi, looks like he is back to his 2017 form

To put that time from Muir into some context, of the 7 athletes who ran quicker times than Muir's run in Rome since the year 2000, 3 of them have turned out to be drugs cheats (Sureyya Ayhan-Kop, Yuliya Chizhenko, Yelena Soboleva) and a 4th (Abeba Aregawi) has some questions over her past results. Therefore, only Dibaba, Yusuf Jamal, Rowbury and Kipyegon are rightfully ahead of Muir on times, and only Dibaba herself and Kipyegon are still active runners.

Muir is a real factor heading into Doha.

[hemlock]

Wasn't Hassan 2nd to Dibaba on the day she set the world record in Monaco? Rowbury was 3rd.
Cheats apart, they might have been the only ones ever to have run 3.56 without winning the race. Until now.

But anyway I agree. The 1500 in Rome was one of the great races, and would have been even better but for Muir's early stumble.
Dibaba, the greatest 1500m runner ever (assuming she was clean when she did the WR), is getting back to her best form;
and this time Muir is right there with her.
Absolutely awesome.

[RunUnlimited]

Ahh yes, forgot about Sifan Hassan, she was indeed behind Dibaba in the world record run. And you are also correct to point out that Hassan's and Rowbury's runs, if you take out the drug cheats, are the only athletes to run 3:56 in a 1500m since the year 2000 and *not* win the race they were in. Now Muir's joined that club. (Oh, an Faith Kipyegon too!)

[philipo]

i think we sjould all bear in mind that the WC is a different ball game to DL meets At this stage of the season we do not know the condition of other athletes like Houlihan and even Simpson if the pace is WC pace with no pacemakers. Muir must have exactly the right tactics in Doha to medal and I still wonder about that aspect of her performances.

[Laps]

True. But I wouldn't be worrying about Houlihan or Simpson if it is a slow race. Both of them are two seconds or more slower than Laura Muir over 800m.

[LuckySpikes]

I understand some will be unhappy with aspects of Muir's race, but 3.56 in June is exception, her SB last term was 3.58. After that slow first 700 she must have gone through the final 800 quicker than she did in her NR run. She recovered from the stumble pretty well, it was just her failure to cover Dibabas surge at 800 that cost her later in the race. She had the better finishing speed over the last 50

In her NR run she covered the last 800 in 2:02.3 (62.3 / 60.0). In Rome it was 2:03.5 (63.2 / 60.3).