I love track and field ⏱

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Make ‘em say 🤫

While it’s only right to give the ‘performance of the meet’ to one of the two World Record setting performances, the men’s 1500 wins my award for ‘best race’ of these Olympic Trials. I’m sure Centrowitz isn’t happy to be in the conversation as the best supporting actor, but this rivalry is undeniably good for the sport. And besides, Centro has a knack for making things interesting — I don’t expect him to ever go quietly into the night.

This was a stage that had been set over the course of the past serval months, so the meet being delayed an additional five hours only heightened the drama and gave fans more time to argue over their predictions. If ESPN cared to do so, they’d have been able to fill a week of air time with debate. I know, because that’s what my whole week seemed to be filled with, and it never got boring. The storylines matter and this race certainly had a strong one. 

Admittedly, I didn’t think Hocker would have the gas left to still be going strong at this point in the year. And as a Centro contemporary who has lost to him regularly, I picked him as a form of self-preservation. However, the semi-finals indicated that the kid was legit and it’d be a race. I’ll give myself credit for predicting that tactics would be the determining factor — take a boxed-in runner with a less insane kick and I’d have been right!

Centro ran sound position-wise — as always — and with 400m to go was at the front and winding it up. He moved hard on the back straight away and Hocker was too deep to react immediately. The field was setting a screen as the distance started to open up, but with 120m to go, a tiny gap materialized and Hocker moved with violence. It was Millenium-Falcon-going-into-hyperspace-esque. And somehow, with his head spinning and arms flailing, he found one more gear. Hocker shushed the haters, Centro smiled and I can’t yell any louder that this is the best sport in the world. 

After the race, I was chatting with Bernard Lagat (name drop!) and he confidently said that Hocker will win some medals in his career. We also agreed that his tactical mistake would have been exposed in an international field. The 1500 is a chess match and you need to be able to predict your opponent’s next few moves. Craig Engels won the US title in 2019 because he executed flawlessly, but unfortunately for him that wasn’t the case on Sunday. Instead it was another collegiate, stud Yared Nuguse in the 3rd slot. He isn’t going to receive nearly the attention that he deserves and in any other year he’d have been an NCAA champ and the talk of the town. It just so happens to be that he, like all of us, is living in Cole Hocker’s world. He told us to be quiet, but we won’t stop talking. 

Not a hot take: Centro and Hocker are both in 3:30 shape and could medal. 

What can’t Gabby do? 🔬🧪

‘Harvard graduate overcomes the odds to become the fastest runner in the world!’ Gabby graduated with a neurobiology degree and is now pursuing her Masters in epidemiology at the University of Texas. Apparently there is time to study when you’re only running for 21.61 seconds. She is now the second fastest performer of all-time, behind only Florence Griffith Joyner. Remarkably, this is her first international team, but sources are saying it won’t be her last.

The new Hayward Field is a dream for sprints. The horseshoe shape of the stadium’s design seems to have pushed athletes with a favorable (but legal) wind in every event all week. And as terrible as the hot weather is for some distance events, it’s favorable for 90% of disciplines. While a 10k can still be exciting while slow, the same can’t be said for the 100m where it’s all about the clock. Although maybe a tactical 100m could be interesting…

The prodigy ⚡️

The only strategy here was to sprint — and oh mylanta did Erriyon Knighton do that. It feels like a 17 year who is running 19.84 to qualify for the Olympics and break Usain Bolt’s records should be front paper news. Instead this is akin to really liking a band that you know is about to blow up.

And Noah, you had me nervous in the first half — not gonna lie. But thankfully Isaiah Jewett will have a fellow anime fanatic to geek out with in Japan!

Mu than you could ask for 🤯

Imagine writing a newsletter blurb about how Athing Mu should run the 400? And somehow you’re still reading my takes. I do think she’d have won either event this week, but I’m glad we had the opportunity to watch her for twice as long in the 800. 

It was exciting to see the new Nike kit and word is she’ll be quite financially stable in exchange for wearing it. There is of course something on the line at NCAAs (School pride! Grades! Etc.!), but it’s a bit different once the dotted line is signed and running suddenly becomes a job. Not everyone deals with that shift well, especially as a teenager, and it’s got to be underratedly tough to make huge decisions ahead of the biggest race of your life. But like a professional, Athing handled it with grace and was unphased.

Despite having the longest stride of any 800 runner in recent history, she has the versatility to run from the front or sit in the pack. When she slid into the lead at the bell it was smooth and not her last move — that came with about 130m to go. If you blinked, you missed it. But it was decisive and permanent. Raevyn Rogers, who has made her name on her ability to kick, tried to match Mu’s, though she would finish a clear second. Ajee Wilson ran conservatively and it was a bit different to not see her control things from the lead, but she did what she needed to and she is on an upwards trajectory.

Given how wide open this team seemed beforehand, this was the race where we needed gambling. (The length of an 800 lines up well with the duration of horse racing and the jockeying for position, while still basically sprinting, makes it anxiety inducing and subject to wild swings.) It’s only a matter of time before this pipe dream becomes a reality — hopefully it happens before the opportunity that is LA2028. As every other sport makes the shift, we can either innovate or be left behind. At the very least, we need Sportsbooks in track because I know it’d do wonders for expanding my readership. 

Sydney surprises herself 🤭

With hot and dry temperatures, the sun away, calm flags, the big stage and the fastest of tracks, the conditions were set for something special. This 32 minute window of track finals had the potential was about to be the best televised meet I’ve ever watched.

The Sunday night races didn’t line up well for the fan experience as many would-be East Coast viewers were soundly asleep, and the stadium had empty seats everywhere. But after multiple athletes had to be hospitalized due to heat exhaustion, it was without a doubt the correct move. If only there was a way to forecast the weather so it could have been done sooner!

Still, to those at Hayward, or still awake back in New Jersey, when the 400 hurdles finally walked out onto the track it was like opening up the first present on Christmas. Sydney McLaughlin looked effortless through the rounds and her ability to jog a 53.05 is a very specific type of superpower. Hers is regarded by many as the hardest event to master, as it is both exhausting and technical. To contend for the US Olympic team, one must be capable of breaking 50 seconds without hurdles and possess strength akin to an 800 runner’s. We watched Sydney get her doors blown off in some high hurdles races this year because she was working on improving her weak-side. It was worth it. Why?

She held 14 steps through 5 hurdles (alternating legs) before reverting to 15 and a right lead. If she can keep extending this, then there is still time up for grabs. Contrast this with Dalilah who held 15 until the 8th, before switching to 16 on the final two, which is where the separation and lead change occurred. Sydney seemed genuinely awe struck by her own ability, just like everyone else. Given the existence of the 4x400 and the mixed gender 4x400 (stupid), hopefully we get the opportunity to see her hold a baton too. This is her Olympics to lose and with the backing of Hollywood agents behind her, it would seem she is setup to become a big star. Can we get Netflix involved somehow? Like come on, she can run 51.90 AND juggle! 

Swinging wide right ➡️

If you’re going to move a meet up to avoid the heat, then it’s an interesting strategy to not move it up enough to avoid the heat. With some foresight, the 5k could have been held at night with the other races. Alas it was not meant to be. Paul Chelimo is a showman and every race he is in becomes an event. For a few thousand meters we watched him yo-yo with the peloton, throwing in surges to test their gall. These antics are why we like him. With 400m to go he continued to direct from the front as he fought off some weak moves. For a race of such significant distance, it didn’t begin until the final 100m. 

If you’ve ever dabbled in basic trigonometry, then you’ve heard about the length of a hypotenuse. Chelimo’s decision to go long and finish in lane 4 impeded himself as much as anyone else. On paper, this could be considered disqualifying. Of course that would have been an insanely bad decision and resulted in riots. This is a qualifying meet with the goal of sending the best team to Tokyo — that squad needed to include Paul Chelimo. Similarly Grant and Woody were making this team even if they had to finish in lane 9 to do it.

In the men’s 1500, a really cool graphic gained some traction on Twitter that tracked the top speeds of the athletes. Centro topped out at 18.1 mph whereas Hocker hit 18.6. During the 5k, it was clear that Woody was running a ton of extra distance, but just how big of an advantage did Chelimo have by running on the rail? 38 meters! We have seen the popularity of Statcast in baseball and I strongly believe that these capabilities need to be integrated into the broadcast. Some critics argue that there is too much dead time on TV — I think it just needs to be used better. After the women’s 10k, there was additional time to kill and it was filled with high quality race analysis by Kara Goucher, which added color and context to what had just happened. Utilize this technology and the commentators expertise to breakdown the X’s and O’s to show why the winner won. This sport is simple on its surface so let’s not dumb it down, but elevate it.

At this point, if you’re still reading then clearly you don’t hate this newsletter.

Heat training works! 🌵

You have to think Emily Sisson was smiling when she saw the record high temperatures in Oregon leading into the 10,000m. Living in Phoenix would prove advantageous, where runs begin at 5AM during the summer so the rubber of your shoes doesn’t melt. After a tepid first mile, Sisson took to the front and slowly pushed the pedal down until there was no one left. After coming through halfway in 15:49 (before closing in 15:14!), she was already revisiting familiar faces from the start of the race. In these conditions it was expected there would be some casualties, but she lapped 35 runners in a field of 41 runners. It was a clinic. Running a meet record of 31:03 (sub-5 minute pace) in 85+ degrees is INSANE! For perspective, the 3rd place finisher, Alicia Monson, spent the night at the hospital due to heat stroke and hypothermia. (Today I learned you can get hypothermia from hot weather. I got it in college from a XC race during a snowstorm.) According to some random weather adjustment pace calculator that I found on the Internet, the American Record, a sub-30 and therefore a medal are well-within reach.

The inspiration here comes from Emily’s ability to bounce back from the disappointment at the Olympic Trials Marathon. But I’d like to shout out an unsung hero: her husband Shane, who was an All-American at Providence, and is now Emily’s regularly scheduled rabbit. The best predictor of success for Olympic-hopefuls is if your parents made a team, and the second best would be if your spouse is capable of pacing you in workouts.

(Fun Fact: My wife used to be coached by Shane’s dad while growing up in Ireland. G’wan Ferrybank!)

An American moment 🇺🇸

The 2019 World Champion, DeAnna Price was absolutely ripping on Saturday. Of her 6 throws, 5 would have won the competition (fouls can’t win), but it was her 80.31m toss that saw her double down on her status as the American Record holder. And while this may have the rest of the throwing world nervous heading to Tokyo, it was Gwen Berry who likely made your Fox News-watching uncle fired up. (Yay media coverage!)

A little backstory: A couple years ago, Gwen raised her first in protest of racial injustice during the National Anthem at the PanAm games in Lima, Peru. The IOC responded by placing her on probation and she subsequently lost an estimated $50K of sponsorship (she has since signed with Puma). The Olympic Committee has already spoken out against such demonstrations ahead of Tokyo. But how’s that for motivation to get on the podium?

Death, Taxes and Emma Coburn 🏆

Emma has never lost a USA Steeplechase Championship. She has dominated the event since 2011 having won the event 9 times and only missed out in 2013 due to an injury she sustained after winning NCAAs. In a race that has gone through an incredible evolution during that period, she has been the one constant. For reference, she won her first title in 9:44 (her PB was 9:40) and this past week it took 9:38 for the 14th woman to make the final! At 30 years old, the question becomes how many more titles can Emma get? Probably a lot. Courtney Frerichs, who looked great leading the majority of the race, would be the most likely spoiler to the streak. Surprisingly, she has only ever beat Emma once — in 2018 at Monaco, but it took setting a new American Record to do it.

There is generally no such thing as “locks” to make a team, but everyone in the stadium could have predicted 2 out of 3 women who would head to Tokyo. After Colleen Quigley withdrew due to injury, it was inevitable that there would be a new face joining our usual suspects. Ultimately it was Valerie Constien, who dropped her PB by 26 seconds over the course of the year who seized the moment and triumphed. It’s not fair to say that it’s boring when athletes who have been to the Olympics make it again, but this sort of emotion only pours out from the eyes of a first-timer.

The worst part of the Trials is that the majority of athletes end up going home heartbroken. Leah Falland was in position with two laps to go when she fell coming over a barrier. She seemingly rebounded and fought right back, but on the final water pit couldn’t get out of it smoothly and saw the dream slip away. As we celebrate those who crushed it last week, let me quickly speak to those who left Eugene disappointed. As someone who recently retired and is now on the ‘other side’ of things, it’s remarkable how when all is said and done, how little one race will define you, no matter how good or bad it is. It’s your entire body of work and the way you conduct yourself that will be remembered. Leah could never run another race, but her remarkable comeback from years of injury would still leave a lasting impression on many. That race was the perfect metaphor for her journey. Despite being knocked down multiple times, she kept getting up. And at the end of it all, Leah is still standing and keeps gaining fans along the way because of it.

The Final Kick

Once again, I am kicking myself because there are a dozen+ other people that deserved to be commended for their performance, but alas, I’m at the email character limit. Luckily I have supreme confidence that Brittney Reese, Grant Holloway, JuVaughn Harrison, Rai Benjamin, Katie Nageotte, Hillary Bor and many others will keep doing what they’re doing and buy me some time.

Having spent 10 days recording daily podcasts with Chris Chavez for CitiusMag, I have never been sure that it’s not only possible to talk about Track & Field an infinite amount, but there is an audience who is willing and eager to listen. I didn’t even touch on anything international…