Bonkers wrote:
Montesquieu wrote:Here's wherein Farah's greatness lies, and every great runner: he can control the pace of the race so that it suits his talent, and not the talent of the others. Does Jager have this ability? We'll find out next year. Sometimes it takes time (and failures) for it to develop.
Do you think Farah controlled the pace of the 10k this weekend? I don't think so. He would rather have run slow and kicked hard with 250 to go.
Farah's greatness is that he's a great runner who can't be dropped off a fast pace and has the best acceleration of anybody in the last 100m. That combination makes him pretty much impossible to beat in a 5k/10k.
It has nothing to do with some magical ability to "control the race".
Yes and no. First of all, controlling the race is not "magic." It's just a sound tactic, and one built on confidence. Secondly, yes, Farah usually wins simply because he is the fittest AND has the best pure finishing speed, I agree. However, even in races when others were likely as fit, or could close as hard, his "controlling the race" certainly is an important tactic for him and helps him win those races (where he is capable, purely based on fitness/closing speed, of losing). Why ?
A) He never is backed up in the pack, getting caught up in trouble or having to pass wide at a key juncture in the race. It ain't magic, but it matters. B) Psychologically, he seems to prefer leading the final lap rather than passing late. Many prefer letting others doing that final bit of pacing and then coming from behind them. Not Mo. So he *ALWAYS* does it the way he prefers, and doesn't let someone else dictate to him his final lap or so.
To just give you one example of this mattering, look at OG 5k 2012: Key comment from announcer with 1.5 laps to go: (Farah goes to front early because it is so packed together) "And they're all jostling now to get into the right place at the right time." That costs mental and physical energy. Farah? He's out front, free from the jostling, from lane changes, free from the danger. Gebremeskal, his main rival for gold? At the bell he gives, unbelievably, Farah almost 15 meters! He has to pass SEVEN athletes to catch up to Mo, and zigs and zags, and dodges and stumbles his way on that last lap to get to second. And not surprisingly, doesn't catch him. Now even if Gebremeskal had taken the lead instead of Mo, or been right on Mo's shoulder, Mo still might have won, who knows. But that was an instance where "controlling the race" mattered a lot, and Gebremeskal appeared to have at least equal 5k fitness to Mo (earlier in the year had run 12:46!), and actually ran a faster final lap (or at least final 300), but lost because he ran incredibly stupidly, and got boxed beyond belief. Mo controlled the race and won. Gebremeskal did not and lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C93qwVmBseE