All credit to Josh Kerr. He said he'd prepare and peak better than everyone else and he did.
If you look at down the field and look who actually ran their best race of the season today you'd yield just a few guys. None would've done so markedly like Kerr. So here's who actually peaked well for Worlds:
- Kerr ~ as opposed to Oslo (way back with a 3:30.0) or even Lausanne where he was flat-out chasing Jakob and ran 3:29.64 and got outkicked by Girma, he was full of run in a 3:29 race. Here he ran 3:29.3 with a 53 last lap. Showing that 3:28 fitness from London again.
- Nordas - Just simply crazy, the meteoric rise here, trusts his kick in a fast race and produces a 52 pt
-Kipsang ~ ran like crap in Oslo and today/Silesia were his best performances. Considering today he led some, and had rounds I'd say he hit this season correctly, but unfortunately for him Nordas swiped his medal. This is in marked contrast to last year when he was killing it early and racing a ton before a weakish Worlds performance. Something to be said for picking your spots and taking some lumps early (Kip Keino, Rabat in his case)
Hocker - this one makes more sense as he's been getting into shape with the injury delaying his season until May
Laros - Young guy just getting better, and perhaps starting his season in late May was well-orchestrated by his team
Everyone else can point to earlier races in the season where they performed better by a good margin. This isn't even getting to guys who had a disastrous 1500 run like Tim Cheruiyot, Katir, Mechaal or McSweyn.