Tokyo 2020: Athletics Thread

Pherekydes

Yeah, Bol now third all-time!

Interesting article in the Guardian where the track designer suggests the track improves performances by 1-2%.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/aug/03/tokyo-track-designer-reveals-boost-from-new-surface-as-records-fall-at-olympics

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117702403#Comment_117702403

43:03 is a ridicules time. Done by the only guy that has ran sub 10; sub 20 and sub 44.

yerwanthere123

Delighted to see Jessica Hull get a PB and comfortably qualify for the 1500m final. Bar Purrier needing a time qualifier pretty much everything else went to plan.

YFlyer

Felix into another final.

yerwanthere123

So nervous about what we may get in this steeplechase final, fear we'll have some fallers 😬 Hoping Coburn gets on the podium at least, gold would be phenomenal

walshb

Laura Muir qualify in 1500?

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117704251#Comment_117704251

In a canter.

yerwanthere123

Chemutai... what?! Don't think anyone had her near the podium. Some front running from Courtney Frerich to split the field.

What on Earth happened to Coburn? Oh my God just saw she was disqualified. Think she fell into the inside track with a lap to go.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117704124#Comment_117704124

She looked extremely comfortable, saving loads by the looks of things. She'd be my favourite.

kirk.

KJT Achilles trouble

Not sure why BBC is discussing continuing, it's out of the question

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117700590#Comment_117700590

Seems to a huge recency bias in this.

Lyle was pretty much a shoe in before this event. He made a mistake in the semi-finals slowing up too early. I think he's still the class of the field.

Knighton looked impressive it has to be said but he's very slow out of the blocks and he's not catching Lyle if he starts poorly.

In three years time though I expect him to be on top if he gets his start together. Could be a 100m champ as well if he sorts his start out.

yerwanthere123

Gold for De Grasse! Thrilled with that 😎

pc11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117703863#Comment_117703863

Nope, van Niekerk is not the only one to do this.

Norman and Kerley have done it and obviously Lyles can do it whenever he wants to try.

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117708019#Comment_117708019

Or perhaps the 1st?

Pherekydes

Olympic record in the semis!

Dubh Geannain

Great effort from Coscoran. Be a brave man to call the final I think but Cheruiyot still has to be favourite I guess. Did he hit his peak last year though?

Cole Hocker through too. I don't I think it will pan out to be a tactically slow final, but if it did I'd back him to get a medal off his finishing kick. I'll still be cheering for Josh Kerr and Jakob. And Wightman to a lesser extent.

Pherekydes

Can't see the 1500m being tactical. There are many front runners. If the first lap is slow it'll be a long sustained burn up. 3:50 is not winning this time.

Itziger

Luxo lad Grethen qualifies. Delighted for him. About 6 months ago two of us were doing a little session at a local track (the main one nearby must have been closed) Grethen and another lad - who I teach, as it happens - were doing a slightly more quality track workout. He asked us, quite nicely, to keep lane 3 free. I think he was doing 300s.

Incredible achievement for a country this size to get a finalist in a 1500. Big PB too.

Tombo2001

How many PBs did Irish athletes get in this olympics? Did any?

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710442#Comment_117710442

The mixed relay took 2 seconds off the national record in their semi final. I think of the the guys (Greene?) split faster than his PB in there too but it doesn't count as an actual PB even though he started out of the blocks.

Coscoran was 0.18 off his own PB. Even if he surpassed it by 0.2 he would have still finished where he did. He has probably given the best account of himself so far IMO considering he was probably fatigued after making the semi final in the first place.

I'm hopeful we'll see a PB or two in the marathons.

Tombo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710905#Comment_117710905

To be fair, would that be saying much - how many times has the mixed relay even been run in Ireland. It just seems conspicous to me that so few of our athletes actually peaked for their main event - and obviously disappointing.

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710962#Comment_117710962

Be a tall order for Phil Healy to pb after competing in the mix relay.

Dubh Geannain

Yep, I knew that's what you were getting at. For me the biggest disappointments have been around the 800s. English PB'd and broke the Irish record only in the last few weeks so he looked to be peaking nicely. But maybe threw too much into that effort? He's experienced too so I expected more from him. He's finishing this Olympic year as the fastest ever Irish 800 metre runner though so I'll still give him his due. For the women's 800s. Not expecting PBs but close enough to them would indicate peaking on time to me. But they were all well off.

yerwanthere123

Really looking forward to what's left of the track action. Was a bit concerned by McSweyn in the semi-final, looked like he struggled a little on the last lap, but I hope it was a case of him easing off the throttle a little after perhaps overcooking the penultimate lap. Would love him to medal in the final, will probably have to make it quick though.

Cheruiyot didn't look 100% either, or maybe he was just saving his best for the final. As always with the 1500 there's probably about 7 or 8 who could medal, but I'd be surprised if Cheruiyot and Jakob weren't in the top two. Will also be keeping a close eye on Hocker, hadn't seen him race before this Olympics but he apparently has incredible speed over the final 200m.

As for the women's race, I've said it before and I'll say it again, but if Muir tries going with Kipyegon she'll end up with nothing. And I won't even feel too sorry for if it does happen, she's had more than enough races to have learnt her lesson at this stage. Hoping for a great duel between Kipyegon and Hassan with Laura getting the bronze.

Off-topic post, but I find Sydney McLaughlin's social media output quite off-putting. I've no problem with anyone being religious, or even openly so, but when every second post is filled with "JESUS CHRIST DIED TO SAVE ME" or whatever nonsense she posts I do find it quite tiresome. Obviously she's a beast on the track though!

Pherekydes

Don't forget Eilish Flanagan, who had a nearly 6 second PB.

I wouldn't expect many PBs in the middle distances. Many of these are tactical races with burn ups at the end. Not the best way to set a PB.

theoneeyedman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117711017#Comment_117711017

The secret to social media is you can follow or read whoever you want! Don't like what she posts? Then don't look her up, don't follow her feeds, it's simple! There's a whole wield out there, many with views like your own I'm sure, if what she's posting is not egregious or offensive/discriminatory, then I don't see the problem - maybe she's an asshole, but the world is full of assholes, don't let it annoy you!

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117711485#Comment_117711485

🤨

I don't follow her. I was simply passing comment on what I saw after checking out her profile. I'd often look up sports people I don't follow after they've achieved something great. Don't let it annoy you 🙂

Enduro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710962#Comment_117710962

Heat and humidity must be a factor surely. Anyone who was "dying" in our recent week of summer should no the difference it can make!

eagle eye

Anyone watching the walk? Diniz was out the back, looked like he might be out. Fought back up near the lead pack then stopped, had a chat and a drink and he's nearly back with the lead pack.

Started out the race going clear before pulling up to use the toilet, then stopping again like he had gastro issues or something. If he wins it it'll be legendary.

And btw, he's the world record holder.

Happyhouse22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713058#Comment_117713058

Had a vague idea I had seen this before, and just checked Wikipedia and in 2016 he lead the race for the first 35km before stopping abruptly.

eagle eye

He just stopped again after catching the lead pack. Unreal.

Hamachi

Really looking forward to the women’s 1500m final. I feel like the duel between Kipyegon and Hassan will be epic. If they really go at it, we may see a 3:4x:xx outcome, something that would have been inconceivable several years ago.

I really hope that Laura Muir also medals. She’s a gutsy runner who has just missed out on several occasions. She deserves that piece of hardware for her consistently high level of performance since she emerged in 2013. Realistically, she needs to be smart and target the bronze. If she runs around 3:55, nobody else in that field is catching her. She may even pick up a silver in the unlikely event that one of the protagonists blows up. Have my fingers crossed for her.

patob

Brendan Boyce going well so far. Who is the Irish fella commentating on walk for BBC. Con??

eagle eye

So Diniz took a long stop and is currently 1.40 down on the leaders. Looks like he is pulling out now. Obviously has problems. He made it very entertaining.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713103#Comment_117713103

Hassan and Kipyegon both capable of a sub 3:50 I think but I doubt we'll see it later today. I think it'll become an 800 metre race with Kipyegon the winner.

If it was about a month ago I'd have said Hassan should go to the front and try burn off Kipyegon like she did in Doha, but we now know that might not be enough. Not entirely sure how Hassan wins, but I'm looking forward to seeing how she goes about it!

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713133#Comment_117713133

He done very well and you could see the delight in his face going over the finish line. Along with the marathon swimming it must be one of the toughest events to take part in, especially in the heat and humidity out there.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713103#Comment_117713103

Likewise with Laura Muir, she deserves a medal for the years of effort she put in so I hope she gets somewhere on the podium. I doubt it’ll be gold but hopefully she gets something.

It would be nice to see Hassan achieve what she set out to do too.

Tombo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713103#Comment_117713103

To be honest, going back 12 months or two years this is the race I'd have looked forward to the most at the current Olympics, thats partly as I was hoping Ciara Mageean would be in it; but partly because Muir is such a class act and because I've been following Hassan ever since she won the European Cross Country a few years back; Fionnuala McCormack was 4th in that race. Should be a really great race.

Tombo2001

50k walk is such a compelling event - the last 5k yesterday was incredible.

yerwanthere123

5k prediction:

1. Kiplimo

2. Katir

3. Cheptegei

Wonder how wrong I'll be 😛

4Ad

Great last lap.

Well done Cheptegei !!

Was Katir injured, he was grimacing early on or was it the conditions ??

HeidiHeidi

I know it's been mentioned in other threads, but that commentary by George Hamilton in the last laps was just bizarre..... he was just basically shouting random names out! No order or placings, and it wasn't that close a finish......

4Ad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117715162#Comment_117715162

I turned over to BBC...

eagle eye

The Beeb really showing why you don't want them winning anything.

The 5000 metres just over and they decide to relive Mo Farah winning and show the race. It's so disrespectful to the new champion.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117715096#Comment_117715096

Fairly wrong tbf 😂

Again I overrated Kiplimo, picked him to win 10k gold too. Katir though, what happened there? Especially when he didn't have any other races in his legs.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117715190#Comment_117715190

Yeah it's bizarre. We've just watched a new Olympic champion being crowned, so what better way to celebrate that than a... Mo Farah montage? 🤔

eagle eye

Delighted for Allyson Felix, 10th medal which is a new record. She's my favourite female track and field athlete of all time.

4Ad

Thrilled for Muir !!

walshb

Stunning from Muir. Too much metres in the legs for Hassan

secman

Muir is such a gritty runner, pain doesn't phase her.