I think Norman injured himself in that final. In watching his race, he starts aggressively but his pace drops significantly at 150. I think he felt a twinge somewhere but still wanted to finish.
Why did this post on this thread? I'm pretty sure I was on the WVN/Norman thread. Not the first time this has happened. Glitch?
She def either is ill or (more likely) just had the hammer down way to hard.
She, it turns out, was drawing dead against SML, and a 3rd possibility is she checked out for the 4x4 but more likely she simply ran a 300mH as fast as Syd and was thoroughly cooked off the turn and started pedaling squares.
Being ill caused her to losee to Anna who ran faster than bol on her best day. Weird.
I thought Bol did just the right thing. If she wanted to be competitive she had to take it out fast. It wasn't just Sydney and Cockrell alongside her. The entire field to the outside was right there with her at hurdle 7.
That was just like the Budapest final last year. I emphasized at the time that it was an evolving event with more women determined to take it out fast. Cockrell fell apart last year but made great strides this year.
Bol's natural tendency is to be patient early, like her relay splits. That style doesn't work at 400 hurdles at highest level. Her second issue is the pathetic caliber of competition she faces in typical 400 hurdles races in Europe. There is never any serious pressure as she glides between 7 and 8. Today she was startled at Sydney getting away on that turn then really lost form when Cockrell was still there after 9. Bol lost her stride pattern for the first time in a global final, chopping to 16 steps and forced to use her weak right lead. The silver was gone and fortunate to hold bronze. It won't be long before 52 low is worth nothing.
Imagine if Sydney had been stupid enough to stick with 400 flat this year. Instead of owning massive advantage over Bol she would be facing a peaking Paulino who has now wised up and is taking it out much faster.
Excellent analysis. Bol really lost form over the last hurdle. I suspect she was hurting from lactic.
She def either is ill or (more likely) just had the hammer down way to hard.
She, it turns out, was drawing dead against SML, and a 3rd possibility is she checked out for the 4x4 but more likely she simply ran a 300mH as fast as Syd and was thoroughly cooked off the turn and started pedaling squares.
Sydney actually had Bol by the first hurdle as she had ate into the stagger and was over the 1st hurdle first. Sydney then backed off down the back straight because she had already eliminated the stagger. All she had to do was maintain. Bol charged hard down the back straight. But because Sydney is faster, she took less energy to maintain the distance and gave nothing back. Sydney as has been practicing since Trials, kicked again in the bend, but Bol who had used up most of her reserves had nothing left in the tank to go with Sydney. She then just deflated.
The relay was almost a week ago. She went out too hard over the first 200M.
Did she? She went with Syd, but Syd does not go out super hard. She goes out with 14 strides conserving it with longish strides, then changes to 15 from the steeple (7th) and flies home. They both run it in a very similar way with similar stride patterns.
She did go out hard. She already said this in her interview. Plus, this was her new racing strategy. She said this after the run in the mountains and London DL. She said that's what she and her coach were working on to attack and run the first 200 hard. The issue is that Sydney had already caught her around the first bend and was using less energy to maintain the gain over the stagger, while Bol was charging hard.
Lots of criticism for Bol. At the end of the day, she simply showed what happens when a great athlete tries to keep up with the greatest of her generation, who is on another level. I think the margin of defeat is explained largely by her ambition to win.
This. Thanks. Think about it. Prior to the race only two other women in history had run faster than her bad-day tried-to-win time today. Sydney and Dalilah. She tried to run Without Limits (great movie) against a historic super runner. Brave. Risky. But still quite a fast race for her.