r/trackandfield • u/Spiritual_Line_5264 • 1d ago
Am I overreacting to the first day of Grand Slam Track?
Based off of what I watched of the first day of GST, my first impression is showing me that the athletes don't really care about this. None of the times that people raced were good, example 1 being the absolutely atrocious 5K, along with nobody going sub 10 in the 100. I don't think this is gonna last long, but am I overreacting?
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u/MNVR414 1d ago
It’s the beginning of April what times did you expect
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u/Tag312 1d ago
Yeah with it being the beginning of outdoor season, some people may have just peaked if they did indoors or knocking off the rust picking up their season getting some races under them. Also worth noting that it was a pretty windy day and they ran on a newly laid track so no recorded times have been on it. Plus each athlete is running multiple events for their point system. So some athletes aren’t going to run their best in events they don’t typically run. Anyways OP, you’re kind of jumping the gun with your opinion. There’s still 2 more days of events with 3 more grand slams later into the year this summer. So time will tell how it turns out. One thing I do agree with and unfortunately happens often in distance races, is the 5k for men was just a bunch of guys running below threshold pace and just kicking at the end. Basically leaving the race up to who ever has the best kick which isn’t so entertaining as a viewer.
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u/hopefulatwhatido 1d ago
Same fella broke the WR indoors few weeks ago! Local lads from my club runs faster times than 14:39, like it or not speed sells, I’d much rather watch people go balls out and exhibit courage and their athleticism fully than taking it easy and waiting for the move to be taken by someone else. No way in hell I’m staying late to watch this.
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u/MNVR414 1d ago
It’s not about how much effort they’re putting in. These are professional athletes. They have training regimens that determine when they’ll run the fastest. No one was intentionally running “slow.” You’re “local lads” don’t have World Championships on the line. It makes no sense for pros to tire their bodies out by trying to run championship times from April to September. It is scientifically not sustainable for anyone’s body to do that.
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u/hopefulatwhatido 22h ago
I’m saying the same pro broke two WR few weeks ago within one week. It makes sense to run fast in February but not now?
no one is intentionally running slow
So you seriously think these professional athletes only capable of running at this level in April? Are you having a laugh?
I trained with lads running 13:20s-40s this morning and they were doing K reps at 2:40s/km.
Problem is this is not championship time this is slower than a heat leading up to championship final, no one ran an honest pace, if it was 13:49 I’d agree with you, but winning a race this slow doesn’t sound that impressive to me but maybe to you, they all did the most mediocre tempo for athletes that standard and ran a quick 400. None of these bunch will win the WC title in Tokyo, because they were all waiting and watching for someone to make a move, they let others call the shot, they don’t have the confidence to have and execute their strategy.
My concern is a model were fast times are not incentivised won’t attract any eyes, at least for distance running, athletics isn’t like football where it’s win or lose, athletics is expression of athleticism, people fundamentally train to get faster, they use that fruition of training to win medals in fast or tactical way, and I am a fan of that, I’m not just here to see who wins in a race where winning only means money to athletes, there’s no honour besides that because this isn’t global or regional championship to begin with.
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u/DryGeneral990 poopy pants 1d ago
Do sprinters normally go sub 10 on April 4? Wtf is this post LoL.
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u/Masidillia Middle Distance (800-1:53 1500-4:09) 1d ago
I didnt watch the races, but I am incredibly shocked to see the 5k results saying Grant Fisher won with a 14:39. Can someone explain what happened?
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u/yuckmouthteeth 1d ago
I mean Grant closed in a 51. It was warm without a pacer early in the season and everyone thought they could win the kick. Gebriwhet literally made this same mistake at the olympics and waited way too long, he doesn't have the wheels to win that way.
Guys like Grant/Teare will almost never choose to speed that field up because they can close well, why would they. The whole field can run sub 13 and sub 13:20 in the heat, but they have to double and all thought they could kick.
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u/rockardy 1d ago
I’d die if the womens 5000m was faster than the men’s
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u/Wrong_Truth_519 1d ago
It might be pretty close lol
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u/rockardy 1d ago
Agnes 5000m PB is 14:36 but her 5km road PB is 14:12
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u/yuckmouthteeth 17h ago
It’ll be in warm Jamaican weather without a pacer, the women are unlikely to run anywhere near their PBs.
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u/AdditionalLuck3499 1d ago
It was more strategic than competitive! They all waited until someone made a move, this point system will bring out different results than usual for the distance events for sure
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u/FizzlePie Middle Distance 1d ago
Maybe not your cup of tea but I really enjoy watching paperless racing for distance events. There’s a bit more strategy and actual racing rather than just tucking onto the rail and following the guy in front with little change in positioning
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u/satanichispanic666 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think the point of these meets is to watch some good strategic racing and for the athletes to walk away with lots of money. Also, the athletes have to come back again and run another race. I think most of them are trying to play it smart. Not to mention there's a huge prize at the end of all this for those who are going to multiple meets. And it's also the beginning of the season for some people... At least that's the way that I took it. 🤷🏾♀️
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u/CurrencyUser 1d ago
It’s okay to be kind folks. Yes it’s too early to see that for some but be patient.
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u/Kageyama_tifu_219 23h ago
Some of these posts are downright rude, illiterate, and disrespectful to the sport and athletes. It's absurd
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u/Kageyama_tifu_219 1d ago
No, you're just dumb lol. None of the times were good? Are you stupid or something?
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u/Wrong_Truth_519 1d ago
Literally world lead in the 400m men’s, 400mh men’s and women’s, women’s 800m, w 3000m…
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u/welcome2theabyss 1d ago
It's the second event of the outdoor season everything's gonna be a world lead right now
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u/eatfoodoften 1d ago
Where has the 3000m been contested outdoors this year so far?
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u/Wrong_Truth_519 1d ago
If you include all indoor 3000ms (there have been many run including a world championships) Tayes mark would be the 5th fastest. Does that live up to your standards? Is your reaction to a single day of competition from GST “so slow I don’t like this”? I don’t really understand that argument by itself nor do I think it’s accurate
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u/WesternInevitable230 1d ago
The season just started, I thought the times were fine for this early. As the season goes the times will improve. The goal is to peak later in the season not in April
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u/EmmetttB 10.91 | 21.46 | 33.72(i) | 46.51 1d ago
I think your expectations are insane. You want everyone to be peaking for April 4th and staying there until June 29th?
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u/FourExplosiveBananas actually rolled 1d ago
I thought the broadcast was horrible. Bad camera angles almost made it unwatchable
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u/Teddie_P4 Middle Distance 1d ago
I thought the men’s 100 was good, it’s very early in the season so I’m not surprised no one went sub 10. It was a very close race however. Kerley got COOKED though, and he’s been trash talking Noah. Kerley said he could beat Noah and that he’s the best in the world right now in the 100
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u/cctoot56 1d ago
Only event that disappointed me was the 5k.
In the Women's 3k they kept the pace honest. Seems like winning that much $ was enough motivation to get them running an honest pace. The women with strength knew their best shot was to keep it honest and drop the kickers.
In the Men's field they should all be aware of what their final 400m speed is. If they know they can't run a 51 they know they should keep the pace honest. But none of them did. I was expecting one of the lesser known challengers to keep it honest as this could be the biggest payday of their career.
Like their best chance to win is to keep it honest because the pay day might not be worth it for it a guy like Grant Fisher in a race that otherwise doesn't matter. Like is Grant really going to go all out to try win 8 of these races? I doubt it, from a racing load stand point there's no way he does. So the field needs to force him to go all out to win every time. Force Grant to make a business decision on if he wants to try to run 4x 12:50's this season before the championships even start up. He won't, because he cares more about winning a championship and he won't want to over train or over race.
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u/_mursenary Sprints 1d ago
Seriously? It’s the first week of April. It’s not September. Fastest 400mH time ever in April