Ferguson Rotich just closed a 1:43 race in 25.5. Where does that rank in the all-time best closes?

3rd

Fun fact: 25.5 is slower than 800 WR pace.

I dont have the historical background to rank this close.

Nice job by Isaiah Harris in his first pro race!

Nice call on Harris. I was too enamored with Rotich’s closing speed to notice.

I was rapping on another thread about who has the best kicks, and pointed out that sometimes they’re a mirage: You have someone fading badly while another runner, by comparison, is not. In this case, considering you mentioned Rudisha’s 24. XX, and assuming that’s the bar, I’m very impressed with Rotich. Furthermore, great to see a 143.XX when guys are supposed to be rounding into shape. Feels like it’s a rarity since Rudisha has been missing. 142.XX anytime, soon?

sbeefyk2 wrote:

Fun fact: 25.5 is slower than 800 WR pace.

This is kind of the most salient point. For it to be "the best close ever," it has to at least be at world record pace.

Dont get me wrong, this was an elite finish in an elite 800m run. But when Rudisha set the current WR, he closed in 26. Closing in 26 off of a 1:14 is a lot crazier than closing in 25.5 off of a 1:17.

Abubaker Kaki closed in 25.68 when he went 1:42.69 (his first sub-1:43). He was 1:17.01 at 600m.

Rudisha was in that race (2008) and was 2nd in 1:43.72. Him and Kaki were pretty much even with a little less than 100m to go, then Kaki had a crazy kick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZI7fBKagKo

It's pretty unbelievable that rudisha WR pace is better than this but the nature of people slowing in the 8 shows this may be one of the best closes ever. But there probably a ton of 55 first quarter races where people closed faster right?

rojo wrote:

That men's 800 finish for Rotich today in Paris might have been one of the greatest final 200s in the history of the 800. I'm serious.

Rotich went from next to last to first all in the final 200. Ran the entire turn in lane 2, ran part of the homestretch out in lane 3 and and I timed him in 25.5 in a 1:43.73 race!! Unreal.

When Rudisha set his WR, he closed in 26.6. Of course at the 2015 Worlds, Rudisha negative split it and ran his final 200 in 24.36, but that was a 1:46 race.

Where does this close rank?

Behind Rotich, Isaiah Harris actually ran a PB but many may not have noticed it as he finished 4th in 1:44.42.

https://twitter.com/letsrundotcom/status/1013144736646000640

What about Mark Everett?

wejo wrote:

It's pretty unbelievable that rudisha WR pace is better than this but the nature of people slowing in the 8 shows this may be one of the best closed ever. But there probably a ton of 55 first quarter races where people closed faster right?

Of course. I mean, the whole point, basically, is to win the damn race. We’re setting the bar pretty high on kicks when we’re comparing them to Rudisha’s WR. 400 records fall as they may, I don’t see anyone popping a low 1:40 anytime soon. As far as contemporary 800s go, it was an impressive close.

Closed way better than wejo or Gault in a media 800. Nothing else matters.

It's impressive. Over 50 years ago Ryun closed in 25.5y in a 1:44.2 (1:44.9y) race (with one to chase), and Susanj closed super fast in a 1:44.07 race (no target to chase - link to video below) and it's likely lots of guys have done at least as well if not better. Probably all kinds of guys have had a good day and closed like this over this years.

The problem these days is who's clean and who isn't. Guys who aren't really slowing down - even when pulling away over the last 40m - or showing signs of tying up are suspect. A great run over the last 200 is super. A great run over the last 100 is rare, but possible at this distance. Too bad things are clouded these days by the drug circus. That aside, great running by most of the field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-MCxScv8U

Too bad Susanj was fighting injury at the '76 Games.

I don’t care that he closed in 26.XX; his kick looked monstrous. Perhaps, it’s because no one was near him. But if you take into account that he did it, on the second lap, mostly all by himself — and that it was sub 1:42, 37 years ago — it’s still astounding.

This goes along with my last post.

Sand Dunes wrote:

Ryun would of ran 1:39 on modern synthetic tracks.

6 second improvement? Sounds like too much to me.

I was thinking about Mark Everett and Tony Parilla at the 92 Trials

They were way back with 200 to go and ran 1:43.

rojo wrote:

That men's 800 finish for Rotich today in Paris might have been one of the greatest final 200s in the history of the 800. I'm serious.

Rotich went from next to last to first all in the final 200. Ran the entire turn in lane 2, ran part of the homestretch out in lane 3 and and I timed him in 25.5 in a 1:43.73 race!! Unreal.

When Rudisha set his WR, he closed in 26.6. Of course at the 2015 Worlds, Rudisha negative split it and ran his final 200 in 24.36, but that was a 1:46 race.

Where does this close rank?

Behind Rotich, Isaiah Harris actually ran a PB but many may not have noticed it as he finished 4th in 1:44.42.

https://twitter.com/letsrundotcom/status/1013144736646000640

I got him at 25.6 for last 200m and his last 100m was 12.6. He ran about 3.25m wide on last bend (in lane 2), so it was worth more like 25.2 if he'd had a clear run on inside of lane 1.

This is good, but there have been a lot of more impressive last 200's in races of 1:44 or faster.

Kipketer ran 24.7 for the last 200m in a 1:42.77 in Monaco 97. I don't think it's on Youtube, but I have it on dvd so can vouch for it being a genuine split. He ran the entire race on inside of lane 1 (so no extra distance on last bend like Rotich), and was drafted from 200 to 600m, but his last 200m was nonetheless awesome.

Rudisha ran a last 200m of 24.9 (on the rails) in a 1:42.84 at the African Champs in 2010.

Cram ran a last 200m in 25.0 in the Commonwealth Games of 86, in a 1:43.22 run.

Coe ran a last 200m in 25.3 in Oslo 84 (1:43.84).

At the LA Olympics Cruz's last 200m was also faster than Rotich's in Paris, both actually (25.17 - 12.5, 12.6 last 100m) and intrinsically; he ran about 2m extra on that last bend, so it was worth more like 24.9!

Coe, in 2nd in 1:43.64, ran 10m+ wide in that final, making his run worth more like a 1:42 low. His last 200m was 25.7, and he ran, like Rotich last night, the entire last bend in lane 2, so about 3.25m extra and worth around 25.3. Coe's last 100m was 13.0, but he did clash elbows with Earl Jones twice at the top of the home-straight, which probably cost him a couple of tenths, but his last bend was 12. 7, but with 3.25m extra, so worth more like 12.3 for a clear run on the inside.

In the 86 Europeans Coe ran 1:44.5, again covering more like 11m extra. Without the extra distance it would have been more like a 1:43.2. He ran the last bend on the line between lanes 1 and 2, so c. 3m extra.

His actual last 200m split was 24.8 (12.4, 12.4), but had he not run wide he would have run 24.4! And the penultimate 100 on the bend must have been worth close to 12.0.

In 2015 Amel Tuka ran 1:42.51 in Monaco, with a last 200m of 25.3, faster than Rotich in Paris. He ran approx 1.5m wide on last bend, so worth more like 25.1

So there have been quite a few last 200s that were faster than Rotich; whose finish looked more impressive due to the context of that race and what was happening around him.

Great close but not in tge same ballpark as Rudisha WR. Rudisha was 3 full seconds faster st the 600m mark and close in 26.0 compared 25.5 off typically 1:44 pace thru 600m.

The 25.5 wpuld rank in my top 20 greatest 800m closes but dont think its worthy of a top 5.

Are you guys all speedless distance runners? 25.5 in a 1:43 is barely even a kick, especially looking at running the first 200 from stopped.

Obviously, 1:43 is amazing, but finishing it in slightly better than even split space does not constitute a great close. It constitutes not dying.

The real lesson here is everyone else ate sh*t.

I've seen 1:55 guys close in 26.

Like a said, I fully appreciate what a 1:43 takes, but if I were commentating I would be mentioning how even pacing allows you to maintain in the last 200, which is a large advantage related to position, as most guys are dying en route to a big positive split.

Denouk - no need to time these things yourself anymore as the results already give you the 100m splits for the race for each athlete.

Rotich was 1:18.2 @600 and 1:31.1 @700 so 25.5 and 12.6 (so you were pretty accurate)

JR