Tokyo Olympics day 3 - Sunday 1 August

[marra]

I was totally wrong. Just rewatched it and Jewett cut Amos up. Us keyboard warriors aren’t the experts we think we are🤣
The Belgian did the same, but more blatantly, to Hoppel, which I think explains his relative underperformance.

I saw that argument posted elsewhere and I'm not convinced. I'll qualify this by saying I'm no 800m expert but Jewitt seems to be in front of Amos in the lane for a bunch of strides (at least 6/7 by my count). I think the effort just tires him a lot, he slows and then Amos catches him not thinking he'll slow. Unfortunate but a racing accident.

This is circumstantial of course, but Amos's reaction after falling didn't seem to be one of someone who felt a great injustice. Also, if he had been cut up, why didn't he stick an arm out or take any attempted avoiding action himself?

Put it this way, if Amos deserved to get into the final for that, Rowden absolutely deserves to. Murphy clearly cuts back in front of him. You can see Rowden look down and chop his stride to make sure he doesn't clip him.

Maybe there's a camera angle that shows that I'm talking rubbish but it seems one of the more flimsy justifications I've seen.

[alfie]

Thanks ! I spotted it eventually ...

[alfie]

The other countries mentioned have indeed competed at all games. But they didn't win athletics medals in 1904.

Of course there are some nit pickers who would say the GB athletics medallist from 1904 should have been competing for Ireland but let's not even get into that argument...

[trickstat]

I know France has competed at every Games and I think Greece have (not surprisingly!), but I'm not sure if they have always had someone in athletics. France, of course, being the country of Baron De Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympics. I know St Louis in 1904 had very few non North Americans.

GB is actually the only country to have got a gold medal in any sport at every edition of the Summer Games.

[whatwouldIknow]

Correct. Great Britain is one of the few countries that have medalled at every Olympics in athletics since the inception of the modern Olympics in 1896. (We're also the only nation that have competed in every Olympics since 1896)

Whether this lot will become the first athletics team we've sent to not win a medal, whatever colour, is yet to be seen.

I dispute GB being the only nation to have compete in Athletics in all games, I think you find Australia may have also done so after Flack won the middle distance double in 1896 (plus a doubles tennis bronze).

https://www.olympics.com.au/olympians

[alfie]

And Laura Muir very comfortable in heat one. No mistakes and didn't waste energy. Canadian Debues-Stafford good too. As was Chebet.

But Fajdek might be in trouble. Just 76.46 his best of three. Miller in a better position at the moment...

[trickstat]

You're posting on yesterday's thread.

[alfie]

Nick Miller throws 76.93 in second round. Third in qual group at the moment.

[alfie]

Posters tell me that Giles ran the only race he could . What ???. In a stacked race with guys of similar best times, Giles pretends he is the pacemaker, a la Diamond League, for the rest of the guys who ought to kiss his arse, and then he imagines they will obediently follow him round until the tape. What was his coach thinking.??
The very last way to run those 800m races is to lead them round, for goodness sake.All the semis were run with guys tearing it up in the last 100 or so metres.
Of all the 800m male and female races, only Mu knows that she is good enough to hold them all off. The men's final race with failures by many ,such as Lopez, to run a smart race and qualify, will be a frantic rush in the last 100/150 with guys who do not sit back on the inside and think that the others will part like the Red sea, but get into the right position when it counts.
Rowden ran a foolish race. I don't accept the argument about our guys times. What about nice PBs such as possibly the Frenchmen who I had hardly heard of before the race, Tual.

Bol led all the way and got an AR.

[trevorp]

I agree. Any suggestion that Asha has 'squandered' her talent is ridiculous. It took great dedication and effort for her to return to anything approaching world class after that horrific injury and she deserves nothing but praise. I would concede that she might have been able to improve even further had more attention been paid to a certain aspect of her conditioning (I trust people can read between the lines here, as I want to be careful what I say) but what do us armchair experts know?

[treadwater1]

I think people are being harsh with our 800 boys. If they made mistakes, they were marginal mistakes. Rowden followed Murphy on the back straight and top bend, and could have expected the American to make a move sooner. Ran his second best time and missed a place in the final by a whisker. No disgrace. Personally, I felt that once in the lead, Giles could have decided to run a negative split and try to kick off the front. But had he done that, could he have realistically expected to beat Koech, Tuka and Amos? Probably not, so trying to make it quick and earn a Fastest Loser place might have been the best tactic. Maybe, if he hadn’t already got the 1:44 heat in his legs he would have pulled it off.

Small mistakes by two runners who came very, very close to reaching an Olympic Final. Worse mistakes and/or worse performances were delivered by better athletes: Lopez, Hoppel, Amos, Arop, Saruni. I’d even argue Murphy had a shocker.

Steve Ovett messed up his first Olympic 800, so did Seb Coe (who also cocked up the 78 Euros), so did Wilson Kipketer, David Rudisha had a shocker in 2009. It’s the hardest race to get right tactically. We’re about to enter a great period of 800m running in the UK and all 3 will have learned loads. I just feel particularly sorry for Giles because I’m not sure he’ll make a team again.

Trawling through some of the American forums - Rowden’s 1:44.35 is the quickest time ever not to advance to a final

[RunUnlimited]

I'm not sure the last time it happened where a GB team left with 0 Gold medals in Athletics in recent times, let alone no medals at all. From looking at Wikipedia there were 0 Golds in 1996 and 1988, but a handful of Silver and Bronze medals to make up for it.

The worst performance in the entire history of the Olympics by a GB Athletics team as far as I can see was in 1976 where they only had 1 Bronze medal (Brendan Foster's bronze in the 10,000m).

Correct. Great Britain is one of the few countries that have medalled at every Olympics in athletics since the inception of the modern Olympics in 1896. (We're also the only nation that have competed in every Olympics since 1896)

Whether this lot will become the first athletics team we've sent to not win a medal, whatever colour, is yet to be seen.

[Afrothletics]

Get Peaty to give them all an inspirational team talk now that the Swimming is over. I completely agree that leaving Tokyo with no Athletics medals is a real possibility and that's worrying to say the least. Any Golds was always a huge ask especially with Dina & KJT not fully fit.

I'm not sure the last time it happened where a GB team left with 0 Gold medals in Athletics in recent times, let alone no medals at all. From looking at Wikipedia there were 0 Golds in 1996 and 1988, but a handful of Silver and Bronze medals to make up for it.

The worst performance in the entire history of the Olympics by a GB Athletics team as far as I can see was in 1976 where they only had 1 Bronze medal (Brendan Foster's bronze in the 10,000m).

[Sovietvest]

I heard there was a reinstatement and assumed it was Jewett! Amos could even have been DQ’d.

I was totally wrong. Just rewatched it and Jewett cut Amos up. Us keyboard warriors aren’t the experts we think we are🤣
The Belgian did the same, but more blatantly, to Hoppel, which I think explains his relative underperformance.

[Occasional Hope]

I think we're disappointed more than harsh. Elliott Giles had been looking so good this year, Rowden perhaps better last year.