What’s happened to him this year? he’s been horrible. injury?
ritz hasn’t exactly boosted Mario’s career. he was 4th in 2022 before moving to OAC…
In Mario’s defense, he hasn’t been horrible with OAC as some people are shaping it out to be. He ran 3:29.18 for the 1500 and a 3:47.69 Spanish record (along with a NR of 3:51.79 indoors) for the mile last year and was sixth at worlds (he was definitely in shape for a medal but was badly positioned with a lap to go). Maybe he’s just having a really bad down year, which while unfortunate, does happen. I don’t think one bad year like this one means that he’s done as a pro. He probably just needs a long break before getting back into it with fresh legs
He was literally running through them; they didn't have much of a choice. The most prominent passes where they seemed to give too much room were people already dying, c.f. Mphahlele and Hoare.