I have known Engels has been over there for a while..not sure what he is doing? Pacing off the radar races? That cannot be very profitable, and did he run a real race all year? Not sure I get what is going on there?
A Good comparison might be Matthew Stonier the Englishman. He is 20, so a year older than Hobbs and ran a similar 800m time (1:46:xx - also a PR for him) a couple of weeks before the Commonwealth Games where he went on to run 3:32. He had improved his PR this season prior to Commonwealths from 3:39 to 3:35:xx. I don't think it's crazy to think Hobbs could run something similar to 3:32 in the right race. CG did have the Kenyans making it a fast race all the way though so depends if he can get in a race like that before the end of the season.
And he's only 19. Hobbs on track to be a medal contender in 2024.
Early days yet but Kobbs is definitely showing a lot of promise for such a young age.
I wonder who is gonna have better accolades, Kessler, Teare or Hocker? All three have enough talent to go sub 3:30, which is the ability seems to be needed to medal these days.
Races: 13 Finishers: 117 PBs: 68 (58%) Power of Ten results: Here 800m A Race 1 1.46.19 Charlie Hunter SM Australia 2 1.46.87 Hobbs Kesler U20M United States 3 1.47.24 Christian Harrison SM United States 4 1.50.55 Jordan Cham...
I would say it is more of a sign he just didn't run many 800s last year. If he did I wouldn't be shocked if he was 146 high.
This and 1000 are good times. They aren breakthrough times.
What would have been a breakthrough 1000m time for this U20 athlete?
We already know Hobbs is a great Junior runner, so it doesn't really make sense to compare him to other U20 runners when he's competitive with current senior level guys now. Compared to his 3:34 last year, the times he's running now are still a step below that performance, hence why not everybody's jumping for joy.
What would have been a breakthrough 1000m time for this U20 athlete?
We already know Hobbs is a great Junior runner, so it doesn't really make sense to compare him to other U20 runners when he's competitive with current senior level guys now. Compared to his 3:34 last year, the times he's running now are still a step below that performance, hence why not everybody's jumping for joy.
When does 90% of the people jump for joy @1000m (I am not going to bother with the last 10%)?
A Good comparison might be Matthew Stonier the Englishman. He is 20, so a year older than Hobbs and ran a similar 800m time (1:46:xx - also a PR for him) a couple of weeks before the Commonwealth Games where he went on to run 3:32. He had improved his PR this season prior to Commonwealths from 3:39 to 3:35:xx. I don't think it's crazy to think Hobbs could run something similar to 3:32 in the right race. CG did have the Kenyans making it a fast race all the way though so depends if he can get in a race like that before the end of the season.
I don't really think this is the best comparison. Stonier is 18 months older than Kessler, which is significant. Stonier ran 3:35.9 on June 3rd and in general has been having a breakthrough season whereas Hobbs has been trying to recapture last year's form and seems to be getting there. Stonier's 800m appears to be his first ever pro 800 and he got the win. Hobbs was on his 5th 800/1000 start of the season and clearly is building up sharpness/fitness. Thus, it's unlikely Stonier's was a maximal effort like this was for Hobbs. Stonier to me has more in the tank in the 800, and you could look at his 1500 like Hobbs' 1500m of 3:34 last year. Got the perfect race and was able to capitalize. I hope Hobbs gets a race like this to close out Europe and/or 5th Avenue Mile, but I'd think 3:33-3:35.5 (or 3:50-3:52 in NYC) would be the goal based on what he's shown. That would be excellent given the ups-and-downs of his first pro season and him being so young.
A Good comparison might be Matthew Stonier the Englishman. He is 20, so a year older than Hobbs and ran a similar 800m time (1:46:xx - also a PR for him) a couple of weeks before the Commonwealth Games where he went on to run 3:32. He had improved his PR this season prior to Commonwealths from 3:39 to 3:35:xx. I don't think it's crazy to think Hobbs could run something similar to 3:32 in the right race. CG did have the Kenyans making it a fast race all the way though so depends if he can get in a race like that before the end of the season.
I don't really think this is the best comparison. Stonier is 18 months older than Kessler, which is significant. Stonier ran 3:35.9 on June 3rd and in general has been having a breakthrough season whereas Hobbs has been trying to recapture last year's form and seems to be getting there. Stonier's 800m appears to be his first ever pro 800 and he got the win. Hobbs was on his 5th 800/1000 start of the season and clearly is building up sharpness/fitness. Thus, it's unlikely Stonier's was a maximal effort like this was for Hobbs. Stonier to me has more in the tank in the 800, and you could look at his 1500 like Hobbs' 1500m of 3:34 last year. Got the perfect race and was able to capitalize. I hope Hobbs gets a race like this to close out Europe and/or 5th Avenue Mile, but I'd think 3:33-3:35.5 (or 3:50-3:52 in NYC) would be the goal based on what he's shown. That would be excellent given the ups-and-downs of his first pro season and him being so young.
"Thus, it's unlikely Stonier's was a maximal effort like this was for Hobbs"
Did you even watch Kessler laughing across the line winning the mile in 3:57 an hour later? After a three second PR his first 800 in how long...a year? A few weeks after dusting two 1:43 and one 1:44 guy in Monaco?
"More in the tank"? My bet is on Hobbs in this case. Easy money.
Think we might be jumping the gun a bit on that. 1:46.8 is a nice time, but most guys who can run 3:31-32 run 1:44 or 1:45 if they get into a fast one. Running a PB would be awesome and even just sub-3:36 and competitive (if it's a slower race) would be a nice result.
"Thus, it's unlikely Stonier's was a maximal effort like this was for Hobbs"
Did you even watch Kessler laughing across the line winning the mile in 3:57 an hour later? After a three second PR his first 800 in how long...a year? A few weeks after dusting two 1:43 and one 1:44 guy in Monaco?
"More in the tank"? My bet is on Hobbs in this case. Easy money.
Fact Check:
1. It was his 5th 800/100 start of this outdoor season alone. Not close to his first 800 of the season by any means. Stonier was running his first pro 800m ever and he won.
2. Here are the SBs of the athletes in Monaco who finished a tenth (or less) ahead of Kessler. Thompson (3:35.55, no 800 but his PB is 1:49), Luke McCann (1:50.43, 3:35.65). You'd think if that running 2:16.4 reflected "dusting" true 1:43/1:44 guys at the top of their game than all of these 3:35 1500 guys are in the wrong event!
3. Kessler did the mile as a hard workout effort pretty much. He was helping Avila break 4 and then competitive instincts took over the last 50 and he tried to eke out the W (I actually don't know who got the W). That doesn't mean his 800 was easy or not a max-level effort, though. He would've been closer to the win if that was the case. Hunter beat him by a significant margin — Hobbs was running hard. There's video of it, too. He's in really good shape but Stonier was in really good shape starting in June and only got better. He only ran the one 800, which to mean is probably not an accurate reflection of his upper abilities considering how much he progressed in the 1500 over July and August.