Italy?
Italy?
To a non-american, Hocker would give the same impression more or less. Wins gold while he had 3:30.5 pb one week ago. Difference being that these boards are american based and when it comes to american athletes users here are obsessed with details like splits, kicks, injuries that jeopardize whole seasons and so on. And thus countless threads about Hocker being a threat for gold will emerge, making it look like he didn't come from nowhere. Also, Nadia's parents were both pro-athletes. If she was american she would have been revered as a golden child for years on these boards.
The country that looks like a gumboot:.
She's been around a few years. I've followed her progress.
She hasn't come out of nowhere and that was a slow pace, she was in good position.
It was a slow race. They jogged the first 5k.
That’s why Hassan was able to catch up.
Half African. Her mother is Moroccan according to the semi-reliable Wikipedia.
I thought Battocletti made a massive tactical mistake in that race. The European Championships demonstrated what she was capable of in terms of a late kick. But the East Africans tonight wouldn't have been prepared for that at all. They were still underestimating her, just like the vast majority of fans.
Throughout the final lap I was screaming for Battocletti to shake loose from the rail and kick away. Trust yourself. Get the jump on Chebet instead of the other way around.
If she had timed it properly that tactic had a huge chance to succeed for gold. There was nobody else to be afraid of. Gudaf Tsegay is a joke. And like I posted a few days ago, Hassan was just going to hang back in the 10,000 while trusting that she could outkick everybody except Chebet. By going early Battocletti likely wouldn't have risked anything and possibly gained a ton.
Valby would look like that if she suddenly developed a serious finishing kick which is her only hope of competing for medals on the world stage.
Official Paris Olympic marathon men’s thread - race 2 am east coast
Wow. How NOT to run a 4 x 100. US men's medal drought in 4 x 100 is now going to extend to 24 years
Cole Hocker to Nike: "Yesterday's price is not today's price"
Friday August 9th Track and Field Evening Session Thread ?!!!+ Live Reaction Show at 5:30 pm ET