wtfunny wrote:There used to be a video of the whole race
not as far as i'm aware
i checked periodically for years & only this last 3 laps has been posted ever on youtube
Watch El G on that last 2 laps. He's done.
His last lap was outside 60
because of the ruinous uneven pace he had for initial 5 laps
how many times do i have to tell you this ???
there is even a comment in the comments section, from a guy who obviously also saw the whole race from it's content, which i can assure you is not me posting :
"Poorly paced run. Had the pacing been a bit more economic El G would have gotten closer to 7:20.67 and may have even broken it. No doubt had he tried having another go..."
He was a great athlete, with a wealth of resource available to take a stab at any wr he wanted. If he thought this one was as straight forward as you seem to suggest it was, he'd have run it again. And again
why ???
he never had any interest in it, otherwise he mighta run it in '98, his 1500wr year - he didn't
he had no time for distractions in '00 when his only aim was gold, so no 3k that year
in fact, he didn't run another 3k after '99 for nearly 4 long years until turin '03, when according to canova he got some more terrible pacing & "only" a 7'30
so, in effect, he ran 2 3k races in his established elite career, separated by nearly 4y !!!
if you think this is the race record of a guy who showed utmost interest in the 3k distance, i suggest you think again...
He was a phenomenal talent, and great runner. He may well have been able to break it. I don't know. And nor, of course, does anyone else.
no
no one else knows if he couda broken it, but i can assure you, he wouda run a damn sight quicker than 7'23 that day if he'd had smooth even pacing to 4'53/4'54 in '99...