Matt Centrowitz.

[Cannon]

Here's what amazes me about Matt Centrowitz...usually it takes a guy with at least 1:44 800m ability to win an OG final with a final lap in under 51.0, but his 800m PR is no where near that. I know he hasn't run the 800m seriously so maybe he could do one in the 1:44 range...but he seems to be more a 1500m/3000m man than a speedier 800m/1500m type.

So again, where does he get that blazing speed al la the Rio final where he out kicks guys with 1:43-44 800m speed? Simply amazing.

[Karl]

It's as you said - he just hasn't run the 800 much. With a 1500 PR of 3:30, the fact of the matter is that he has the speed to match any middle distance runner in the world, as he displayed at the OG. If he chose to he could go under 1:44.

And don't underestimate the effect of the 3 lap "warm up" at the Olympics. His legs were just itching to get moving!

[LopenUupunut]

Centrowitz's 800 PB is 1:44.62, and it's likely that if he ran the 800 as much as he runs the 1500 he could have knocked at least another few tenths off that. Beyond that, his gold in Rio had at least as much to do with running a tactically perfect race as it did with outkicking the field; he didn't need to outkick anybody because when the kicking started he was already in the lead.

Same as Rudisha vs. Tuka in 2015 - Rudisha was off his best physically but outran Tuka tactically. Tuka ran the fastest last lap but only placed third because 1) he was so far behind to begin with and 2) had to waste energy passing everybody on the outside.