Murphy did not peak at trials. That trials final made Murphy and Hoppel look better than they are. Hoppel emphasized the race unfolded perfectly for him. Murphy had been in heats with Jewitt so he knew exactly what to expect in the final, unlike most 800s which evolve differently race to race.
Exiting trials the United States was stuck with two stretchrunners who need absolutely everything to unfold perfectly for them, and one kamikaze frontrunner untested at international level. Given that layout the bottom line makes plenty of sense. Below logical expectation but not dramatically.
I was impressed with Hoppel varying his tactics. At least he seemed to finally understand you can't sit and kick in races of that caliber. I think we'll see further experimentation toward the front, with steadily improving results.
Murphy doesn't get it at all. He's still running like this is 8th grade gym class and no problem reeling in all the stiffs no matter how long you loiter.