With it being the location of the men's mile, the men's 800m, and the men's marathon world records, I've seen enough. London is the fastest city in the world. Let's take a look at our next stop on the Diamond League circuit, where we see a new world record, a comeback, and a massive upset.
Simeon Birnbaum (USA) - PB: 3:31.69
Robert Farken (GER) - PB: 3:30.80
Nathan Green (USA) - 3:32.20
Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.08
Josh Kerr (GBR) - 3:27.79
Hobbs Kessler (USA) - 3:29.45
Brannon Kidder (USA) - Pacer
Yared Nuguse (USA) - 3:27.80
Ethan Strand (USA) - 3:30.25
Zan Rudolf (SLO) - Pacer
What's happening: Using two pacers and wavelights (which are a little hard to see until 4:53 in), Josh Kerr breaks a 27-year old world record in the men's mile with a winning time of 3:42.66.
Callout: The previous world record was 3:43.13 set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999, which you can watch here. Let's discuss what they have in common.
They both had help from pacers and they both involved largely even splits. For El Guerrouj's record, his splits were ¼ mile in 55.07; ½ mile in 1:51.58, ¾ mile in 2:47.91 and a last lap of 55.22. For Kerr's record, he came through 55.3, 800m in 1:51.1 (a 55.8 lap), 1,200m in 2:46.5 (55.4), and 1,600m mark in 3:41.4 (54.9) for an average of 55.34 per 400m. While both are largely even, Kerr had a faster last lap!
The differences are largely technical, but there's also a larger margin of victory. Kerr had help with wavelight tech and had access to better shoes. That said, he completely drops everyone else within the last lap. Note that he completely dropped Yared in second in the last lap, which is a contrast to Hicham El Guerrouj's run where he had Noah Ngeny with him all the way until the end.
Coming back to the splits, it's pretty remarkable how even it is, even down to the 100m level. His slowest 100m happens in the first lap and then it is airtight after that. Josh Kerr is a human metronome!
Definitions:
"Even splits" refer to running certain segments at a consistent pace. The segments could be miles, laps, or fractions of a lap. In this case, we are referring to laps.
Pacer is an athlete paid to take the field out fast with the goal being the field can draft and run faster than they would otherwise. You'll sometimes see them invitational meets like this and usually it's helpful for athletes who are looking for qualifying times. They don't usually finish the race, they will drop out halfway or so and are found in the middle distance and distance events.
PB refers to "personal best", an athlete's best mark for an event
Isabelle Boffey (Great Britain) - PB 1:57.43
Jemma Reekie (Great Britain) - PB 1:55.61
Addison Wiley (USA) - PB 1:56.83
Sarah Billings (Australia) - PB 1:57.01
Tsige Duguma (Ethiopia) - PB 1:56.64
Femke Broeders-Bol (Netherlands) - PB 1:55.60
Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) - PB 1:54.33
What's happening: After being paced through ~550m, Keely Hodgkinson wins the 800m in a time of 1:56.21. Femke Broeders-Bol is not far behind in second place with a time of 1:56.46.
Callout: There are two athletes we want to check in on here: Keely Hodgkinson and Femke Broeders-Bol.
After a really bad fall, Hodgkinson showed up to the Prefontaine Classic with taped up knees and finished in 2nd place. She talks in this interview about how she struggled to even walk at one point. She's understandably not in peak form, but we see that Keely's victory looks fairly well executed and with no noticeable signs of lingering injury. That should be a reassuring sign for her fans. Recall that the 800m is run more like a 400m than, say, Kerr's mile. There's a more aggressive start with a controlled deceleration instead of even splits or a negative split. The napkin math is frequently (but not always) somewhere in the 2-3 second range for a deceleration. So, you'll notice that the pacer takes them through ~56.7, Keely stays in the lead and she wins in 1:56.21.
I also want to call attention to Broeders-Bol as this is her first year with this distance, so it is very significant that she is right with one of the best to ever run this event! She's a little over a second from her PB, but she continues to be right in the mix this season.
Definitions:
Wavelight" refers to a pacing system where there is a series of lights set up on the curb of the track and usually move at prescribed speed. The idea is that it's mentally easier for athletes to just follow a light.
"Even splits" refer to running certain segments at a consistent pace. The segments could be miles, laps, or fractions of a lap. In this case, we are referring to laps.
"Negative splits" refer to running the first half of a race slower than the second half. In other words, you pick up the pace.
Pacer is an athlete paid to take the field out fast with the goal being the field can draft and run faster than they would otherwise. You'll sometimes see them invitational meets like this and usually it's helpful for athletes who are looking for qualifying times. They don't usually finish the race, they will drop out halfway or so and are found in the middle distance and distance events.
PB refers to "personal best", an athlete's best mark for an event
Marco Arop (CAN) - PB: 1:41.20
Peter Bol (AUS) - PB: 1:42.55
Max Burgin (GBR) - PB: 1:42.29
Mark English (IRL) - PB: 1:43.37
Tobias Grønstad (NOR) - PB: 1:43.61
Bryce Hoppel (USA) - PB: 1:41.67
Cian McPhillips (IRL) - PB: 1:42.15
Ben Pattison (GBR) - PB: 1:42.27
Patryk Sieradzki (POL) - PB: 1:44.16
Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) - PB: 1:41.11
Brandon Miller (USA) - PB: 1:43.14
Callout: The two athletes I want to call attention to here are Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Brandon Miller. Remember we last saw Wanyonyi in Monaco, where he broke the world record in the 1000m. We also saw Brandon Miller at the Prefontaine Classic, where he had come-from-behind victory to defeat indoor world champion Cooper Lutkenhaus.
The pacer takes the field out very fast with Wanyonyi out in front behind the pacer. But in that second lap, we see fatigue set in and he starts falling back. Brandon Miller continues to develop his strategy of strike from way back when a reigning champion shows a moment of vulnerability, only this time he displays an ability to do so even with a faster pace. So, the Brandon Miller argument continues to build!
Definitions:
Pacer is an athlete paid to take the field out fast with the goal being the field can draft and run faster than they would otherwise. You'll sometimes see them invitational meets like this and usually it's helpful for athletes who are looking for qualifying times. They don't usually finish the race, they will drop out halfway or so and are found in the middle distance and distance events.
PB refers to "personal best", an athlete's best mark for an event
Natalia Bukowiecka (POL) - PB: 48.90
Roxana Gómez (CUB) - PB: 49.48
Charlotte Henrich (GBR) - PB: 50.58
Henriette Jæger (NOR) - PB: 49.49
Yemi Mary John (GBR) - PB: 49.85
Marileidy Paulino (DOM) - PB: 47.98
Nickisha Pryce (JAM) - PB: 48.57
Stacey Ann Williams (JAM) - PB: 49.48
What's happening: After being challenged by a stacked field, Marileidy Paulino pulls away from the field in the final straightaway with a time of 48.97. Jæger sets a Norwegian national record with a time of 49.15.
Callout: We finally see Paulino be really challenged here. Recall how she dominated the field in Doha with an aggressive start and opening up a massive margin in the last straightaway. Recall that the 400m starts on a stagger and so you can assess how the race is going by looking for gaps that get closed or who visually line up. You'll see she has people right with her in the first 200.
Let's also remember that speed endurance is critical in the 400m and we see her speed endurance capabilities here by her ability to pull away. Recall that by pulling away, she's really just slowing down less. You can tell that she's digging a little more by how her arm carriage changes. She is REALLY pumping the arms in the final straightaway.
So, while this race plays out differently than we've seen before in this season, Paulino's late-stage strength is still there like last time. If you're not sure what I mean by "strength", it often means an athlete's ability to hold a consistent pace or hold off decelerating as an advantage.
Definitions:
"Stagger" refers to a staggered start line. Since the outside lanes cover more distance due a larger radius, they shift the starting lines for each lane accordingly.
"Speed endurance" refers to how well you can hold close to max speed.
PB refers to "personal best", an athlete's best mark for an event
What's Next
If you want to catch the next meet, it will be the USATF Outdoor Championships in NYC on July 23rd-26th. This is one of those puzzling situations where it will be streaming in a few different spots at various points: NBC, Peacock, and USATF.TV. Scroll down to the chart here to see when you need what.
If you want to follow along with more track and field observations or bad puns between now and then, you can follow me at @predamame on Twitter. See you then!
With it being the location of the men's mile, the men's 800m, and the men's marathon world records, I've seen enough. London is the fastest city in the world. Let's take a look at our next stop on the Diamond League circuit, where we see a new world record, a comeback, and a massive upset.