What a crazy time we live in. An American just ran 12:56 in a Diamond League and I view it as a disaster.
If you have the ability to rewind, go do it. Woody Kincaid ran THE GREATEST last lap in history for someone who was 15th at the bell. If I counted right, he was 15th and like more than 10 meters behind the pack.
He closed in 54.55 - I wonder if that was faster than the leaders - and finished 6th.
Listening to your post race review on why Kincaid seems to always get dropped in these international races and then kicks hard.
In my lowly opinion I believe he is recovering to set up his kick. Only problem is with the talent around him as he recovers he is being dropped. He may do this with even knowing he’s doing it.
If he had gone with the 60, 59 prior to the last lap I don’t believe he runs 54.55 for the last lap.
When Femke Bol ran her PB of 52.03 at the Olympics she was using 15 steps. This season she is switching to 14 which means alternating lead legs. She nailed it until the 7th hurdle before settling back into 15. To run 52.43 right now shows a ton of promise in the transition!
I'm impressed that she switched to 14 and took it all the way through 7 immediately. During the offseason I expected she'd stop at 5. Bol herself said she didn't know. It has to be after an odd numbered barrier because she wants to resume 15 on her left lead, not get stuck on the weaker right leg.
Bol today reached 8 in 36.6 and came home in 15.8. That's impressive because her typical close is 16 flat. She is looking stronger physically. And there was no sign of the wobbly final 2 hurdles like her opener in Oordegem.
Bol eventually needs to be more aggressive early and reach 8 in something like 35.7 or 35.8. That should allow her to sneak under 52. Her low to 8 is 36.0 from the Tokyo final. Sydney reached 8 in a ridiculous 35.0 at Eugene.
Just recovering from that 1500 👀 Faith told Italian TV that this was supposed to be just the first attempt at the WR and she wasn't really expecting to succeed. Says now she has it, she feels like she's accomplished everything and might still take another crack at it this season.
That was obvious from the presser yesterday. Faith received only 2 questions, the first from the moderator and the second from a journalist. Both focused on the world record. Faith was hardly pushing the topic. The first time she said she hoped to run faster than the 3:53 from two years ago in Florence. The second time she backed off even more, saying her goal was to get inside her 3:58 season's best time.
I think she broke it largely because she was not expecting to, and ran more relaxed. All her prior world record attempts at 1000 and 1500 she was focused solely on the record and fell just short after seemingly tightening up late.
Also it could not have been more appropriate that Faith began to pull away from the lights at the 200 meter mark. That has always been her go zone, including so many head to head battles with Hassan where they all out sprint the final 200 with little to separate.
Faith has been the most underrated track and field athlete of my lifetime. I've posted that many times here and elsewhere. I think this result will finally allow her to reach the appreciation levels she has long deserved.
In terms of breaking this record, Birke Haylom would have the greatest opportunity of anyone currently on stage. In that world U20 final last year she looked just like Faith over the final 200.
What a crazy time we live in. An American just ran 12:56 in a Diamond League and I view it as a disaster.
If you have the ability to rewind, go do it. Woody Kincaid ran THE GREATEST last lap in history for someone who was 15th at the bell. If I counted right, he was 15th and like more than 10 meters behind the pack.
He closed in 54.55 - I wonder if that was faster than the leaders - and finished 6th.
Listening to your post race review on why Kincaid seems to always get dropped in these international races and then kicks hard.
In my lowly opinion I believe he is recovering to set up his kick. Only problem is with the talent around him as he recovers he is being dropped. He may do this with even knowing he’s doing it.
If he had gone with the 60, 59 prior to the last lap I don’t believe he runs 54.55 for the last lap.
See the Athletics Diamond League 2023 Florence BBC Coverage HD 5000 meters at the 65 minute mark.