Let's assume Tsegay deviated by one full lane width (1.22m), even though she probably deviated less. Let's assume she passed her in the middle of the 100 m backstretch. Then Tsegay ran the long edge of 2 triangles, each of which is 50 m long and 1.22 m wide. This added 30 mm (1.2 inches) to the backstretch length. She was running at 6 m/s, so the extra 30 mm took 0.005 sec. If she passed her at 30 m or 70 m, it'd be a little longer: 35 mm, and 0.006 s. It's hard to see this costing her 0.2 s.
I still agree with the OP: Kelati should have moved way out of the way.
Exactly. No idea why these are getting downvoted. Most people need to re-learn the Pythagorean Theorem before commenting.
clearly you've never passed anyone in a race. always dead last.
I don't know if it would have been sub-14 since Tsegay passed her on the straight - but we will never know. More to the point, Kelati clearly didn't belong in that race. She only finished 8th in the US champs. Rogers, or even Henes would have been a better choice. But there was no reason for Kelati to not move well to the outside, since it was clear her race was over.
Here's the thing - when the leader (or leaders) are coming up behind you, you don't know the details of what's transpiring, and the details matter. For all Kelati knew there may have still been a race for 1st, and if she moved out to lane 2 she could have impeded somebody who was trying to pass the leader right as the leader was passing her. Yes, we know Tsegay was all alone by then, but she didn't. If officials pulling lapped runners from the race were the policy I'd be good with that, but as long as the lapped runners are expected to continue, it's definitely the safest, even if not the classiest, for them to hold their line and not make the leaders guess what you're going to do. Remember the wild last lap of the 10,000 in the 1964 Olympics with Billy Mills and Mohammed Gammoudi lapping everybody? They both had to zizgag around many lapped runners who all decided to do different things. Some stayed in lane 1, some moved out to lane 2 (there was one point where Gammoudi passed a lapped runner on the inside right as Mills went around on the outside and almost collided with the lapped runner. Good triumphed in the end but there were many near-catastrophes there. It would have been best for the officials to yank the lapped runners early, but absent that, it would have been second best for them all to stay on the rail.) I agree she shouldn't have been in the DL Final to begin with but that's another matter altogether.
I've always found that swinging a little to the right and then back to the left somewhere on the last lap activates supporting auxiliary muscles in the core and glutes areas and that gives me MORE strength down the final stretch - i.e if it's just about passing she might even have benefitted from it right there. :-)
Anyone who suggests lapped runners should move out to lane 2 has neither been in enough races, nor watched enough races.
It generally creates way more confusion when an athlete moves out; and if it happens to be a pack that's passing, it creates absolute chaos. You end up with some runners going on the inside and others going way around the outside.
Most race officials will instruct athletes to hug the curve if they are being lapped; and rightfully so.
Anyone who suggests lapped runners should move out to lane 2 has neither been in enough races, nor watched enough races.
It generally creates way more confusion when an athlete moves out; and if it happens to be a pack that's passing, it creates absolute chaos. You end up with some runners going on the inside and others going way around the outside.
Most race officials will instruct athletes to hug the curve if they are being lapped; and rightfully so.
Except she was one runner, having a shocking time, way out the back. Easy decision, get out of the way.
Every time there's a distance track record, someone starts moaning about the lapped runners, like the previous record holder didn't have to pass lapped runners too. That's part of the deal.
If you are good at passing lapped runners, you have a better chance of breaking a record.
Tsegay was running 64 second 400 pace and had to change direction and run extra distance.
personally I think it could have 100% cost Tsegay .22 but regardless it was just a selfish and disrespectful action by Kelati.
I remember when Curtis Beach moved to the outside and slowed down to cheer for Ashton Eaton in the 1500 of the decathlon when Eaton broke the world record. Not even a DUKE grad would of stayed in lane 1, and that's saying something.
She caught her halfway down the backstretch. She had 100m to drift out 2.5ft and drift back in. What change in direction?
Exactly, and she didn't even drift out 2.5ft. Looking at the highlights and pulling the nearest front view frame, Kelati was keeping as tight to the rail as possible when she passed, so Tsegay only had to move out about a half a lane from where she had been running. She was still inside lane one. That's going 0.6m wider on a straight.
To simply the math, lets say she angled out 0.6m for 50m. That's square root of (0.6^2 +50^2)=50.0036 meters instead of 50 meters. Double that to account for angling back. She ran about 100.007 meters instead of 100 meters. She only had to run about 7mm (millimeters!) longer to get around Kelati.
14 minutes*60 seconds = 840 seconds. 5000/840= 5.95 meters per second = Tsegay's average speed. She was 0.22 second short of a sub-14. She needed to be 0.22*5.95=1.31 meters further ahead at the same time she finished to get sub-14. That's a lot more than the 0.007 meters that she lost going around Kelati.
Others have pointed out that runners being passed are often told to hold tight rather than move out to reduce the risk of collisions. Having lapped other runners before, that's what I prefer because runners don't have eyes on the back of their heads. You might approach them faster than they expect, and then there's a chance (and small statistical likelihood) that they accidently jump into you while trying to give way.
This I can’t argue with as a reason to be upset. But to think it cost her a sub-14 is a stretch. I would love to see someone actually calculate the very small extra distance difference in seconds. I’d think .05s at the most.
Let's assume Tsegay deviated by one full lane width (1.22m), even though she probably deviated less. Let's assume she passed her in the middle of the 100 m backstretch. Then Tsegay ran the long edge of 2 triangles, each of which is 50 m long and 1.22 m wide. This added 30 mm (1.2 inches) to the backstretch length. She was running at 6 m/s, so the extra 30 mm took 0.005 sec. If she passed her at 30 m or 70 m, it'd be a little longer: 35 mm, and 0.006 s. It's hard to see this costing her 0.2 s.
I still agree with the OP: Kelati should have moved way out of the way.
This is assuming she ran a perfect tangent on the hypotenuse of each triangle.
In my mind she unnecessarily deviated the width of one lane—1:22m. Regardless of the length of track it took her to do it
Anyone who suggests lapped runners should move out to lane 2 has neither been in enough races, nor watched enough races.
It generally creates way more confusion when an athlete moves out; and if it happens to be a pack that's passing, it creates absolute chaos. You end up with some runners going on the inside and others going way around the outside.
Most race officials will instruct athletes to hug the curve if they are being lapped; and rightfully so.
Except she was one runner, having a shocking time, way out the back. Easy decision, get out of the way.
I don't know if it would have been sub-14 since Tsegay passed her on the straight - but we will never know. More to the point, Kelati clearly didn't belong in that race. She only finished 8th in the US champs. Rogers, or even Henes would have been a better choice. But there was no reason for Kelati to not move well to the outside, since it was clear her race was over.
Here's the thing - when the leader (or leaders) are coming up behind you, you don't know the details of what's transpiring, and the details matter. For all Kelati knew there may have still been a race for 1st, and if she moved out to lane 2 she could have impeded somebody who was trying to pass the leader right as the leader was passing her. Yes, we know Tsegay was all alone by then, but she didn't. If officials pulling lapped runners from the race were the policy I'd be good with that, but as long as the lapped runners are expected to continue, it's definitely the safest, even if not the classiest, for them to hold their line and not make the leaders guess what you're going to do. Remember the wild last lap of the 10,000 in the 1964 Olympics with Billy Mills and Mohammed Gammoudi lapping everybody? They both had to zizgag around many lapped runners who all decided to do different things. Some stayed in lane 1, some moved out to lane 2 (there was one point where Gammoudi passed a lapped runner on the inside right as Mills went around on the outside and almost collided with the lapped runner. Good triumphed in the end but there were many near-catastrophes there. It would have been best for the officials to yank the lapped runners early, but absent that, it would have been second best for them all to stay on the rail.) I agree she shouldn't have been in the DL Final to begin with but that's another matter altogether.
Agree with your points but they are more applicable with larger fields. There were only 8 runners in the race and it was essentially run as a time trial, not a championship race. Everyone knew Tsegay was going for the record.
Also, there was a large screen at one end of the track for athletes to monitor where they are in relation to the field. Kelati had plenty of time to assess her situaiton and move well out of the way without interfering with any other runners.
She caught her halfway down the backstretch. She had 100m to drift out 2.5ft and drift back in. What change in direction?
In this specific case you are right. I however lose total respect for a lapped runner who does not move out to lane 2 or 3. i lose even more respect when the runner lapping you is trying to get a WR. No class.
Lapped runners should be DQ anyway. That would solve that issue.
I was worried that the American record holder at 5,000 was going to get lapped. That would not have been good.
The women do this often. They stay in the way and don't show courtesy or respect during the race. Staying in the way is not getting revenge for being lapped. Get out of the way!
Took a moment to get the shoutout to Jimmy Buffet.
Has anyone answered the question of how she got a lane? She could not have been the US Wild Card. The organizers would have given it to a Nike runner. Probably one based there like whoever on BTC is healthy. I have the same question about Grant and Cole. I imagine they were both Wild Cards since it doesn't seem they would have even been close on DL points. I haven't been able to see the WA points list.....
Anyone who suggests lapped runners should move out to lane 2 has neither been in enough races, nor watched enough races.
It generally creates way more confusion when an athlete moves out; and if it happens to be a pack that's passing, it creates absolute chaos. You end up with some runners going on the inside and others going way around the outside.
Most race officials will instruct athletes to hug the curve if they are being lapped; and rightfully so.
This was a 5000 meter race with 8 finishers with only one getting lapped , not a 10000 with 30 runners and multiple people getting lapped . It was the Diamond League final , Kelati should have been pulled off the track before she got lapped.
Took a moment to get the shoutout to Jimmy Buffet.
Has anyone answered the question of how she got a lane? She could not have been the US Wild Card. The organizers would have given it to a Nike runner. Probably one based there like whoever on BTC is healthy. I have the same question about Grant and Cole. I imagine they were both Wild Cards since it doesn't seem they would have even been close on DL points. I haven't been able to see the WA points list.....
It’s not Jimmy Buffett, it’s the Pina Colada song by Rupert Holmes
This is just factually incorrect. 0.22 seconds is 1.3 meters at her finishing speed. Look at the video. She did not lose 1.3m going past Kelati on a straightaway.
Plus, it increases the risk of collisions when lapped runners move out, so if they aren't entirely paying attention to the front of the race it can be best for them to stay where they are.
She definitely ran at least 1 extra meter extra distance but it's the fatigue that would have affected her more from having to move to the outside then move back in.
It would have been sub 14 if not for Kelati. What a shame, this would have been the female equivalent to a sub 4 mile boundary - something that people thought was never possible.
And then we'd see one of Gidey / Kipyegon / etc run 13:50.
Took a moment to get the shoutout to Jimmy Buffet.
Has anyone answered the question of how she got a lane? She could not have been the US Wild Card. The organizers would have given it to a Nike runner. Probably one based there like whoever on BTC is healthy. I have the same question about Grant and Cole. I imagine they were both Wild Cards since it doesn't seem they would have even been close on DL points. I haven't been able to see the WA points list.....
What's that got to do with Jimmy Buffet??? Me thinks it was Rupert Holmes.