KESSLER CHICKENED OUT

2011 Eugene DL 10,000 doesn't really count as a DNS. Everyone knows that was just a ploy.

Maybe you should have traded places with him. At least he showed up. Maybe something else was going on, AnyTHING you never Mu?

For those of you playing armchair psychologist in questioning Kessler’s grit, recall that he happens to also be a world class climber in a sport where even a momentary loss of focus can literally kill you. There are many possible reasons why he didn’t re-enter the race. Without having all the evidence, we should back off and leave him in peace. Likely no one feels as bad about what happened as he does.

Somewhat agree . after rewatching the kid could have easily jumped back in .

props to Hocker for hanging tough after the little dust up .

I don't understand all the down votes, it's clear as day that it was a minor stumble and he should have kept running.

If you watch in slow motion it is even more obvious that he could have easily recovered and stayed on the track in the same exact position - nobody would have even passed him.

Even if you are a huge Kessler fan, you should be able to admit he dropped the ball here.

This is pro sports, dude. If Hobbs can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

You need to understand that this criticism is because we want to see Hobbs run well.

But he quit. Period. We hope he never quits like this again.

If anything shouldn't this then pertain to the total opposite? Like "no matter what adversity I come across I never quit because that might mean xxx"?

It's quite clear the sentiment on this thread. There is a large group of people who subscribe to "well if you aren't going to run your absolute best (and you probably won't after a stumble) then why not save your energy and come back again" which honestly is surface level logic. Because yes that is true - but it doesn't address the bigger issue of when you are out there and have a split second decision to make that involves your conscious vs subconscious mind, you want to be certain that you will do anything at all costs to stay in the game. Like what if this happens at trials and it's again going to be a decision that ultimately isn't made rationally? (like he's not stopping, taking a breath and rationally saying to himself, okay Hobbs this is important we have to keep going). The point is as an athlete you just never want to take that easy out. It's exactly what Teare did the opposite of - you think it was fun for him to run the last 500m way off the back and run 3.53 when he probably had aspirations of running 3.48?

What a garbage thread of comments from the couch critics. Didn't LetsRun send Mr. Gault to Eugene? Is LetsRun incapable of "tracking" down Mr. Kessler and asking what happened? Perspiring minds want to know.

Unfortunately, he was looking for a reason to quit.

The Kessler critics are among the dumbest people on this message board, and that's a very competitive category. Bowerman was a single race and does not, by itself, mean anything. His last race before this was an 800M in which he set a PB and is a world top-40 SB time (not groundbreaking but not bad for a non-800M guy); before that he won a bronze at indoor worlds; before that he finished 2nd at Indoor USAs; before that he finished 2nd in the Wanamaker Mile with a 3:48; before that he won the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix with a 3:33.

That's a helluva stretch for anyone, let alone someone who just turned 21. The kid knows how to run and race, including in traffic. People have imposed incredibly high expectations on him--expectations that have not been imposed on any of his American peers (Hocker, Nuguse, Teare, the U Washington guys)--and he has met or even exceeded them with poise, honesty about his faults and shortcomings, and good humor. Criticism of his racing and tactics is fine and fair game, but the level of added derision and disrespect directed at him speaks very poorly of the sport and its fans.

Yeah, Lasse Viren was an idiot for getting up from a fall in the Olympic 10,000 to go on and win gold and set the WR. That girl from Minnesota really regrets getting up from falling in the Big Ten 600 to come back and win and have a inspirational youtube moment preserved for all time. Don't even get me started on Jager. He totally should have stayed down after falling on the last steeple hurdle when it blew his shot at breaking 8:00. He definitely went on to run faster in other races.

Funny how things like this always happen to American milers.

The best milers assembled one small thing goes wrong and white flag is waved. Blame this on time trial culture. No darn idea how these kids expect to deal with adversity.

It doesn't matter if he's 21 or 14 or 35. He threw in the towel. Hocker was 6th in the Olympics after just turning 20.

Hobbs has historically greatly struggled running in traffic, especially in championship races. If you knew anything about the sport, you would have already known that is his reputation.

If people saying he "chickened out" is too mean for you, then you can go cry in your safe space. The real world is a helluva lot more harsh than anything in this thread.

Former 3:33 runner here. This is an ignorant post. When you are running 55/400 pace and this happens, it is incredibly difficult to regain your composure. So Kessler did not chicken out, his only mistake is that he tends to run the rail in races where it is difficult to react, but he definitely didn't chicken out.

Well said.

it is much more the process you described

At 1:20.7 Hocker has moved to the rail directly ahead of Kessler and behind Wightman. At 1:20.8 Hocker stumbles awkwardly on his own with no apparent contact and nearly goes down. Kessler is breaking stride to avoid collision with Hocker and both arms are moving up. Kessler may have made contact with Hocker's extended leg - hard to tell. At that point Kessler is also starting to stumble forward with both arms extended forward and then back trying to stay on his feet. He manages one step inside the rail as he is regaining balance but then his outside leg crosses over, and he steps outside the rail onto the infield at 1:22.5. He takes 2-3 steps outside the rail before stopping. The entire event was less than two seconds. It was likely split second decision to stop and shock to find himself on the infield. Meanwhile Kerr is just to the outside and avoids it all. Better this happens to Kessler here than at Oly Trials. It's unfortunate he didn't finish but he has lots of (good) racing ahead. It's easy to judge harshly when you're not in the race.

No one talked to him. People are tired of excuses. They want results.

In a perfect world nothing bad ever happens. Kessler is racing alot better than last year - this is just a blip on an otherwise way above average season.

I haven't analyzed every millisecond of the race, but my sense was that he couldn't jump back on the track right away because the pack was so tight, and he must have figured that no point in waiting for it to pass then trying to catch up. Not sure I agree with that, but I'm not going to fault him.

That being said, I think Hocker caused it. Hobbs should watch some Steve Ovett videos to see how he'd have handled that!