What’s going to be more exciting 1:39, 3:25, 7:19

It's a matter of personal preference. To me the most mind blowing record is the 7:20. I watch that video every few years and it amazes me each time.

1:39. 3k isn't run enough for the WR to be as significant, and like 3 or 4 people have run 3:26 but only 1 person has run 1:40.

1:39 if not on a trampoline track

1:39.99

Breaking Barriers wrote:

What will be more amazing??

99 second 800m

3:25 1500

7:19 3k

I think 99 for the 800 will be more exciting given how many times the 800 has been raced. Coe’s record stood for so long, then Kipketer, now Rudisha... Back to back sub 50’s

Yes, sub-1:40 would be the most significant for me. If there were a 3k with wavelight at a super fast track 4 weeks from now and Ingebrigtsen ran 7:19.95 with multiple others (Barega/Kiplimo/Cheptegei/Wale/El Bakkali) just 2-3 seconds back, we would be stunned of course but probably write it off as being due largely to wavelight and shoe tech. I could reconcile it with my understanding of the world. Same with Ingebrigtsen or Cheruiyot running 3:25.90 at this point, honestly. But there’s no reason to even imagine someone running sub-1:40 any time soon. It’s worth 3:23.x and 7:15.x, or something.

Lloyd Christmas wrote:

It's a matter of personal preference. To me the most mind blowing record is the 7:20. I watch that video every few years and it amazes me each time.

7:20 for sure.

None of them with pace lights.

And if I’m gonna watch a(nother) doper break a doped record I want them to put on a real show for as long as possible.

7:20 should be broken in the next 5 years. Feels pretty inevitable and you can probably chalk up 3-5 seconds to the shoes with wavelight helping a bit too. 1:39.99 for me as 1:42 is still a really fast time in a way 7:26 or 3:28 don’t feel they are despite being close relative to the records.

Jakob and/or Tim could break 3:26 for the 1500. I give it a 50-50 chance of happening before 2023.

No one running right now has a shot at running 1:39.x for 800. Amos had great speed but is beginning to age out and is still inconsistent. Brazier ran a near perfect race at Doha and got a PR of 1:42.35. 2.35 secs is a lot to find at age 24. No one else strikes me as anything more than a 1:42 mid talent.

40 years after Coe's 1:41.73 run in 1981 the WR is only .8 secs better. At that rate we'll be around. 1:40.1 in 2061.

Maybe if more 400 hurdlers take up the distance, train seriously, and make front running mandatory the record will come down. I'm not holding my breath though.

Isaiah Jewett strikes me as someone who could break it... Fearless, isn’t afraid to go out sub 50 and hang on. That mentality is what it will take to break the record.

Warholm and Rai have the tools as well. Running 48 without hurdles in the way should feel smooth. It would be great if those guys gave it a shot.

Breaking Barrier wrote:

Isaiah Jewett strikes me as someone who could break it... Fearless, isn’t afraid to go out sub 50 and hang on. That mentality is what it will take to break the record.

Warholm and Rai have the tools as well. Running 48 without hurdles in the way should feel smooth. It would be great if those guys gave it a shot.

Thanks for making me laugh!

One I can immediately think of is a woman breaking 3:50 in the 1500.

Breakfast In Bed wrote:

One I can immediately think of is a woman breaking 3:50 in the 1500.

Sifan and Faith are both physically capable. Just a matter of setting up the right race at the right time

It's interesting that the 800m WR is only ranked 17th amongst WR's according to the IAAF points table.

Using the points, the 800 WR would need to drop to 1:39.4 to compare to Bolt's 100/200 and 1:39.7 compared to the new 400H WR.

Seem crazy, but if you said a week ago that someone would run 45 point for the 400H you would have laughed!

WR's do remain somewhat stagnate before taking a massive leap and then setting a new standard of what is achievable. So while it currently seems impossible that 1:40 will be broken anytime soon, I think it will happen in the next 4 years. Look at the women's 800 record - that seems untouchable, then Athing Mu shows up and suddenly it seems plausible that it could be broken.

Personally, I think we need to have more athletes going out in 48 high on a regular basis and once this becomes common place, the WR will fall. We need rabbit that can hit 24.0/24.6 and be able to keep that pace thru to 520m before launching the field off to the abyss!

48.8/51.0 1:39.8 WR

Oh, 1:39 can happen and it will be a bigger milestone than the other two distances especially in the non-metric USA.

JRinaldi wrote:

Personally, I think we need to have more athletes going out in 48 high on a regular basis and once this becomes common place, the WR will fall. We need rabbit that can hit 24.0/24.6 and be able to keep that pace thru to 520m before launching the field off to the abyss!

48.8/51.0 1:39.8 WR

I agree with this. I think there have been multiple athletes capable of running fast times and especially so in recent years. The issue the 800 has, though, is it’s split between events. A hypothetical 800 with runners in lanes the whole way would absolutely yield faster times, but sacrifice urgency as runners would too spaced to race well. That being said, the current format is too congested and doesn’t allow for each runner to find their cadence early on. I think Isaiah Jewett’s race at USAs was a perfect example of this, 25/25.5/25.5/27.8 ≈ 1:43.8(50.5/53.3)

Agree on Amos but if Nick Symmonds can run 142.95 at 26. Brazier can go 1:41.x at some point. WR, though? Doubtful but then again it would be less a surprise to me than Nick running 1:42.95. That is one of the epic all time performances imo. And Duane too,, to be fair.

Certainly it would be one of the Olympic distances.

Rudisha was dangerously close many times. I wasn’t around to watch Coe, but I’ve never seen another 800M runner like Rudisha.

I almost don’t want it to be broken like I was a little bummed to see Bekele’s records fall. Still, it would be epic.

Jogger262 wrote:

Rudisha was dangerously close many times.

I don’t really see it that way. When you break a 13 year old world record by .02, and eventually chip 0.08” and another 0.10” from your mark for 3 lifetime bests of 1:40.91-1:41.01-1:41.09 and eleven career runs of 1:42.15 or better—are you really “dangerously close” to sub-1:40? Seems like he more or less maxed out at ~1:41.0, and I never thought he was threatening to break 1:40 while watching those great races.

The sub-1:40 man will likely need a mix of Emmanuel Korir’s 44.21 speed and Timothy Cheruiyot’s 3:28.28 speed endurance. Or he’ll be a Rudisha/Amos/Korir type but with improved, 43.x speed. Or perhaps we’ll see a 42.9/1:39.9 Juantorena-esque freak. It’s fun to speculate.