2017 Weltklasse

[Conor Dary]

I'd be curious to know the breakdown on the percentage of Zurich's great performances over the years that came in global championship years and what percentage came in off years.

1996....wow a meet that was...I was there...The Women's still standing mile record....1:43...in the B race!....and the creme de la creme...the men's 5000...of course it helped Komen hadn't competed but Geb was there and so was Kennedy who set an American record that night...

The meeting just oozed money flowing like water....

Kuha flew over every year all during the 90s....and was never disappointed...

These days if I was in Zurich on the day for some reason I'd probably go...

[gh]

next year's winners get a bye for '19

[tandfman]

Is this so? I ask because the commentators specifically mentioned that the winners would have a bye for the next WC.

That won't happen unless they change the rules. No reason to think that will happen.

[aaronk]

I'd be curious to know the breakdown on the percentage of Zurich's great performances over the years that came in global championship years and what percentage came in off years.

Glad you asked!
Because, lo and behold, I dealt with this subject---sort of---in my blog post about Zurich, posted yesterday!
In it, I listed the events in which Meet Records still exist that PRE-date the beginning of the Golden League, and then again the MR's that pre-date the beginning of the Diamond League!

So the first list are the MR's dating from 1997 and earlier, while the 2nd list are the MR's that still exist from 2009 and earlier!

Bottom line--Few MR's have happened from 2010 through 2017!
The only MR that fell yesterday was the Women's SC---and that was no shock!

[toyracer]

This year diamond league winners don't even get to use a bye into worlds so other than the 50k no other incentive to get up for this meet.

Is this so? I ask because the commentators specifically mentioned that the winners would have a bye for the next WC.

[bambam1729]

Not exactly. It is a judgement call on where the arm ends and torso begins when the shoulder leads. The reader has to visualize where the acromion process is. As I said, I know the process. I think the photo read is questionable.

There' a lot of your shoulder in front of (anterior to) the acromion process. The acromion is mostly posterior to the humeral head. (From my day job)

[jazzcyclist]

I'd be curious to know the breakdown on the percentage of Zurich's great performances over the years that came in global championship years and what percentage came in off years.

[Alan Shank]

I'm not to bothered about the stupid rule this year since it only determines prize money. However, next year where a World Championship buy is at stake, IAAF better fix this nonsense.

I suspect this is all part of the drive to make athletics more like USA team sports, i.e. the "McDonaldsization" of athletics. There is a long, long history of this in US baseball, football and basketball, with more and more teams getting into the playoffs, more playoff rounds and, in US football, one game determining the championship. This leads to the possibility of a "fluke" champion.

Another weakness of this system is that many athletes qualified for the final with a single competition, among them, Mo Farah. In the events that were reduced to four competitions, for example, that 5000/3000, Caleb Ndiku qualified with a single 4th-place finish, although he didn't show up, as did Benjamin Kigen in the M SC. So, as someone pointed out, it doesn't encourage participation, unless the athlete doesn't usually finish near the top; Shubenkov led the standings in the 110H without winning any race, but he competed in 5 of 6 competitions.

OTOH, many of the Zurich/Brussels events were anti-climactic under the previous system, as people like Perkovic had already clinched the diamond. There is no perfect way to set this up. For myself, I really like the DL; most of the meets are very good, and in many of the events we see the best athletes competing against each other often.

I really enjoyed Zurich, which I watched on NBC Gold replay yesterday evening after arriving home at about 9 PM PDT after leaving Dublin at 12:30 local (4:30 AM PDT). It's not all about marks, is it?
Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA, USA

[Conor Dary]

It's always been held at around the same time, and it usually was the first major post-championships meet. Whatever changed compared to earlier years is not due to timing.

Indeed in its glory days it was in August....

It just isn't anywhere near the same meet from its glory days..lack of big bucks for records or what...it just isn't a big focus anymore...its just another on the calendar...and this year made worse by having to gather points to compete.

[Alan Shank]

Was a bit disappointed that Coburn was so flat in a race where she could have PRed...was it true she said she was ready to go under 9:00 as said by the commentators? Or was that just hype?

After seeing her run in Birmingham, I was not surprised she never was in the hunt. She should be able to run much faster than 8:48, and that she didn't foreshadowed a poor performance in the final. Still, she caught Kiyeng and beat Krause, Assefa and Chespol, a sub-9 performer.
Cheers,
Alan Shank

[Alan Shank]

Awesome. We were treated to a show! (Stupid NBCS cutting it to pieces). Two under 9!!

The NBC Gold feed showed the entire race, uncut. Unfortunately, not so with that great 5000, although they did show the last 2K. People who think the early/middle stages of distance event are boring are simply not understanding how a race develops. That's OK, too, of course. It's preference. NBC achieved a peak last year with the track-only feed along with the field-event feeds, but my several requests for same this year fell on deaf ears.
Cheers,
Alan Shank

[Alan Shank]

So how did Hussein make it into the 400h final? He didn't qualify, and also, what happened with Jack Green? He was in 8th position, so he should have been qualified for the final. Is he getting any kind of compensation for being booted for Hussein? And does Hussein get the 50000 $ price money if he wins the race even though he didn't qualify? This seems all wrong to me.

Jack Green did run, finishing 7th, while Hussein equaled his PB. It's customary for a few local athletes to get a lane at DL meets. However, Hann was qualified and didn't run, but McMaster was NOT qualified and did run, and win (McMaster was 9th, with 7 points, one behind Green. Magi was also qualified, 2nd with 17 points. Of course, if a qualified athlete declines to run, they go down the list, hence McMaster got in. Thomas Barr was ranked 10th and Hussein 11th.

An interesting study would be to compare the top 8/12 in the final rankings (post Birmingham) with the actual entries. Anyone?

BTW, as to the 400H race itself, once again Kerron Clement was coming fast, but, just as in London, blew the last hurdle and lost all his momentum. I thought he was over that, but... Oh, well, he got his Olympic title and another world medal.
Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA, USA (back home yesterday)

[Powell]

Yes but this meet routinely had tons of WLs and through the year several historic WRs have been set. Not anywhere near what it used to be and maybe it is held too late in the season.

It's always been held at around the same time, and it usually was the first major post-championships meet. Whatever changed compared to earlier years is not due to timing.

[Gabriella2]

Miller-Uibo was superb, it's that outside lane again! I would love to see her focus on the 200m in 2018, before doubling again in 2019 and beyond. 21.88 is a time Felix & Schippers have only beaten twice, and Thompson 3 times. And she still isn't opening her stride out to it's full potential! She can certainly run 21.7. Such a shame re that mishap in London as this could be the beginning of her amassing a great collection of medals over both 200m and 400m. That win is the tipping point for number 1 ranking for me (see my separate thread).

Schippers hasn't been her best this season, we've all said how she is carrying too much weight & how she has lost that drive at the end of the race. She looked tired today, and that lack of finish was thus emphasized, and it was surprising to see her come off the bend vying for the lead and then fade to 4th place. For me, she needs to ditch Reider and go back to Bart! It seems the combination of some speed training with Reider and cross training with Bart was best for her.

Thompson must be pissed though for her London debacle. If her coach makes her focus on one event again in 2019 she's mad for accepting that. She's done two Worlds, she could have had the opportunity to get 4 individual medals, and instead she only has one silver. Olympic double aside, World medals help cement your legacy. She needs to draw a line under 2017 and start afresh.

[AS]

What's the record for numbers of sub-44 runs in one season? I would suspect Makwala is dangerously close to that record.

The record is 4 in a season:
Quincy Watts in 1992 and Michael Johnson in 1995

Makwala and WVN have 3 this season. Michael Johnson has five other seasons where he ran 3 sub-44s (93,96,98,99,2000), Butch Reynolds did in 1988. Wariner did it 2006 and 2008.

The career counts (for everyone >1):

Michael Johnson	22
Jeremy Wariner	9
LaShawn Merritt	9
Kirani James	7
Wayde van Niekerk	6
Harry Reynolds	4
Isaac Makwala	4
Quincy Watts	4
Danny Everett	2