Shit is poppin off!
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Nobody asked for it, but if anyone was curious about track at the olympics, hereâs a bit of what to look out for in each event 800m and up:
Womenâs 800m: The girl who won last Olympics (Athing Mu whoâs American) has been injured this year and not really racing. She still competed in the US Olympic trials and fell about 200m in and did not make the team. She probably wouldnât have been a threat to win anyways due to being out of shape (recently ran another race and wasnât close to her prior form) but weâll probably hear a lot about her. The gold medal favorite (Keely Hodgkinson from the UK) has been tearing it up this season. Wonât come close to the world record though since itâs still held by a West German who was on a robust anti doping program.
Mens 800m: This was originally supposed to be a down year for the event. No one had really elevated themselves to the level that medaled at most prior Olympics. Then about a month ago out of basically nowhere several people ran 1:41 which is within a second of the world record. A lot of people in the running world are suspicious of doping here, but weâll see. The top American in Bryce Hoppel who has an outside shot at a medal.
Womens 1500m: Faith Kipyegon from Kenya is the favorite and generally regarded at the GOAT at this event. Sheâs the world record holder and defending champ from both Tokyo and Rio. Sheâs a clear cut above the rest and one of the most impressive to watch run. The three Americans in this are strong but will need some luck for any to medal.
Mens 1500m: One of the more open events in the games. Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway is the favorite and has by far the best pr in the field. However, he doesnât have a great kick so his strategy is normally to turn the race into a time trial and win by running a time others arenât capable of. Problem is that leading distance races like this is a big disadvantage (due to drafting and the mental burden of leading) so many other people are brought into the race. Jakob was the favorite at the past 2 world championship races and got outkicked in the last lap. Josh Kerr from Scotland won last yearâs world champs and is a favorite here as well. There are two Americans who have good chances to medal (Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker).
Womens 5k and 10k: Unfortunately the USA women have basically no chance at medaling at either of these events. The Kenyans and Ethiopians are so far in front of the rest of the world I donât think an American audience will relate much. Just appreciate how impressive it is. The best women run the 5k is about 14:00 and look like theyâre floating during it.
Menâs 5k and 10k: Grant Fisher is the USâs best chance at medaling. Heâs finished top 5 before in a few global finals before including the 10k at the Tokyo Olympics. Heâs a Stanford grad and pretty much incredible at all things in life. Itâs still an outside shot at a medal since thereâs about 5 guys who seem to be a cut above him this year. Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda is the world record holder in both events but has not been having a good season so most arenât picking him to win. Jakob Ingebrigtsen is probably the favorite in the 5k. His foot speed thatâs not great for the 1500m is world class for a 5k. There are several Ethiopians and a different Ugandan who are the favorites in the 10k.
Marathon: Both the mens and womens marathons are pretty open. The big matchup will be Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) v Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) in the mens. Both are over 40 years old and way past their primes, but the two best/most accomplished distance runners ever. Bekele is generally regarded as the biggest talent ever and would dominate the 5k and 10k from 2005 until about 2010 when he started getting injury issues. But heâs had some huge flashes since then such as running the second fastest marathon ever in 2019 and had a solid marathon this past spring. Kipchoge is regarded as the GOAT of the marathon and unofficially broke 2 hours a few years ago, but has gradually slowed as he has aged. The favorite is probably Evans Chebet from Kenya or Sisay Lemma from Ethiopia, but Kipchoge and Bekele are certainly still in it. The world record holder in this event is Kelvin Kiptum from Kenya, but he tragically died in a car crash earlier this year.
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Is Mo Farrah still competing?
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Steeplechase fans found crying in the water pit
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Mo Farah retired a few years ago - before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Personally I wasnât a fan of his due to doping connections (his coach was banned for doping reasons) and heâs a bit smug like Justin Rose. Unbiased though, I think the distance races will be more interesting with him gone. His strategy was always to slow the race down as much as possible and win with a great kick at the end. Now, the races will be much faster from the start and the runners will be battling from further out. They will still be won with a great kick at the end, but the rest of the race will now be more more interesting. The top guys now are probably much better than Mo Farah ever was and itâs extremely impressive. Mo Farahâs personal best 5k was 12:53 and 3 guys this season have run 12:40 or better. Part of it is the new shoe technology, but the top guys now also just really good.
Lol havenât been paying much attention to the steeplechase the past few years but seems like it will be a pretty good race this year. The mens will likely be a battle between El Bakkali from Morocco and the world record holder Lamecha Girma from Ethiopia. The Americanâs had Evan Jager in this event for about a decade who was completive at the highest level and medaled in 2016, but has aged out of it and is not competing at this one. There isnât really an American man in the mix. For the women, Val Constien won the US Olympic trials a bit out of nowhere in a great time and may be in the mix for a medal with some good fortune. Her personal best is still a good 20 seconds off from the world record though so I might be looking at this a bit optimistically.
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Roll the shoes back!
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Man fuck this.
Youâd be surprised at the amount of complaining about this that goes on in the running message boards. Itâs pretty much the first thing that comes up whenever someone runs a fast time - followed by doping accusations lol. Basically the story is that nike created a shoe in 2016 called the Vaporfly that used a new type of foam thatâs bouncier and lighter than they were using before and added a carbon fiber plate inside of the sole to give it structure and a bit more bounciness. The world athletics association made some rules on footware shortly after limiting this, but the cat was already out of the bag and they pretty much just stopped the progress rather than rolling it back. My opinion is that the shoes donât really help in the 1500m and barely help the 5k, but make a pretty big difference in the marathon. The foam is lighter, so the shoes have much more foam and seem to save peopleâs legs from the pounding of thousands of steps. The shoes have taken more than a minute off marathon times for elites. The new tech pretty much just makes old marathon times antiquated though and doesnât seem to really affect the strategy or skill of the sport the way tech has for golf so I guess Iâm fine with it.
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During the Olympic Trials last month I just so happened to be flying into Eugene for work. A bunch of people missed their original flight from Seattle to EUG due to delays and we were all on the same shuttle to the hotel they put us up until the next day.
Got to chatting with an older couple near me and they tell me they are headed to Eugene to watch their granddaughter run the 5 and 10k. Turns out she was one of the favorites to medal and she got bronze in both (Karissa Schweitzer). Ended up watching the 5000m the next night when I probably would have never watched it otherwise.
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As a former distance runner who still loves the sport, awesome recap!
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as if getting around Paris wasnât going to be hard enough during the Olympics⌠pretty shitty to happen on day of opening ceremony
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Trust Fund Tron is probably still buying bubbly by the case.
In all seriousness, I think most people are just getting Prosecco nowadays.
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Can we talk about how @Tron is a travel influencer now? The guys flown more miles than Taylor Swift this year, produces zero golf content. Is Soly footing the bill for all of this?
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Iâm a Cremant Guy personally. Same method, same country, way cheaper.
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They just put his Bandon Trails episode up - find a new slant /s
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As long as the Tigers keep Benetti on the payroll I will be fine if they donât have another winning season. What a treat itâs been to have him calling games!
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I have YouTube TV so I (gladly) pay extra just to listen to him. He is soo good at having a âthis team absolutely stinks, but youâre stuck here and Iâm stuck here so letâs have as much fun as possibleâ vibe. I think @djpie described him that way when he was in Chicago and I didnât understand it at the time but itâs so true.
Really hoping he gets some Michigan State football games this fall on Fox because we are going to really need those vibes.
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Did I miss an announcement on a different pod? Big is engaged?!
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Yep, newly engaged and a new dog owner.
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