I can’t handle the horse dancing, but that sounds like something to watch
So, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last couple of days, watch the Mens 1,500m final. It is middle distance running gold. The two favorites for the race, Josh Kerr from the UK and Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway were getting all the pre-race press for the last 3 months while the Americans, Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse (and Hobbs Kessler at the young age of 21) quietly changed their training program to match the race dynamics they expected, adding significant speed work to their workouts in the weeks leading up to the games. So, that speed work sat on top of some incredible distance work (training to run sub-13 minute 5k’s, let that sink in) that was the foundation of their endurance. Hoping to take tactical running out of the race, Ingebrigtsen led off with a WR pace for the first 400m and then mistakenly carried it thru 800m, ruining his race. The balance of the race was magical with the distance specialists trying to hang on to the blistering pace and the speed specialists trying to keep up to get to the last 100m and still have enough of a kick. Watch closely as Hocker employs one of the greatest kicks in Olympic 1500 history over the last 150m, especially after he is boxed in at the 130m mark. Absolutely amazing. His last three 100m splits were 13.3s, 13.3s and 13.0s. After already running the first 1,200m at a near WR pace.
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A Panamanian boxer, female (ALLEGEDLY), made the semi-finals in her weight class, so Panama’s assured of its fourth medal. Ever. So that’s pretty cool.
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Don’t you need to make the finals to be assured of medaling?
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Participation medal?
That was amazing. As was the men’s 400m final. USA is cleaning up in T&F.
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As a big thoroughbred racing fan, it reminded me so much of a horse race: he’s stuck on the rail and has to check up, the leader drifts in, he finds room and finishes in time. It was a hell of a race. As was that dude from KC in the 400 yesterday. Pure desire.
I’m still amazed at the pole vaulter who set yet another WR. (He’s from Louisiana/LSU but competed for his mother’s native Sweden because the US wouldn’t let his parents be his coaches).
This is where race strategy prep is so very important. Ingebrigtsen has a long history of owning the inside then moving to the outside of lane 1 on the last turn to make his primary challenger break stride and run 1-2 extra meters. You see him do that twice to Kerr, which is the only person Ingebrigtsen was focused on. Hocker only got mixed up in that the first time by accident because he mistimed Ingebrigtsen’s first move by a second. When he did it again, Hocker knew it was coming and exploited that habit by Ingebrigtsen beautifully. Once that opening happened again at 110m, he was off to the races, wide open on the inside line.
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Isn’t him name Mongo?
Botswana won its third and first gold ever in the men’s 200 meters.
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I was surprised to learn that Panama does not have a previous boxing medal. They have a strong history in the sport.
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I watched that clip several times. Amazing kick by Hocker to win that race when it looked like he was dead a buried. Same thing with Quincy Hall in the 400m final, an event I ran in high school. Coming off the turn, I thought he was done and well out of medal contention. To have that kind of kick at the end of a 400m race is unreal. It just doesn’t happen. Until yesterday.
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The amazing thing about Hall is at 250m, he immediately changed behavior and broke every stride management, swing management and kinetics rule that all elite sprinters use (because it was not working for him) and went into schoolyard race mode. Going down the last 100m, all the other runners had beautiful form. Then there was Hall, who rode grit and determination to the 5th fastest time in history and gold.
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My youngest said Quincy Hall sounds like the name of a dorm.
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For some reason in boxing two bronze medals are awarded. Doesn’t matter, she’s going to kick everybody’s ass and bring back the oro.
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I have read a few recaps of the race and have not seen anyone else mention this tendency of Ingebrigtsen. I was wondering why Hocker would be looking for an opportunity to pass on the inside. Thanks for the explanation (and hats off to you for knowing this.)
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Amazing that Hocker was able to start, slow, and restart a kick like that at that point in the race.
Your youngest is close - Quincy House is one of the residential houses (dorms) at Harvard College.
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Unlike other single elimination tournaments, combat sports award two bronze medals. In boxing, it’s the two losers in the semi-finals. They don’t make them fight another bout, they simply award them both a bronze. In other sports like judo and wrestling, they use the repechage system. The losers of the quarter-finals face off and the winners of those bouts then fight the losers of the semi-finals for the two bronze. So you can lose in the quarters and still win a bronze medal.
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Yeah, his head rolls back some while his arms are flaring out slightly and windmilling. He looks like Eric Liddell from “Chariots of Fire” - i.e. everything my coaches drilled in me not to do when I ran.
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