DJ's left nut |
08-17-2016 11:20 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjwood75nro
(Post 12373788)
I watched it again, and it's clear he gave up. Looking around, rapid deceleration, no follow-through or final lean...he clearly gave up because he thought he had it.
Everybody else pushed through, eyes straight ahead, leaning into finish line.
I have no doubt he was tired, but he clearly screwed up.
Edit: I saw via fast forwarded DVR that he was interviewed after, but I didn't listen to it, so broadcast narratives didn't influence my opinion.
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I think we see the same thing but reach different conclusions.
Remember that Gatlin's still a 100m guy, moreso now that he's in his mid 30s (amazing, BTW). When you're a 100m guy who's either put too much into his break or doesn't have the energy to finish out the last 50 of the 200, that wall's going to hit hard. So when you see a guy quitting because he thought he could coast, I see a guy that's simply run out of gas and is dying on the track.
Gatlin's no kid. He's run dozens of elite level races in his career and knows the stakes. He also knew he wasn't in first or anywhere close to it. And as you've noted, he looked to his right where there were runners closing in on him. What would've convinced him on that look that he was able to shut it down?
I think he looked to his right praying that nobody was catching up to him because he knew he was out of steam. That would explain why he looked early. It would explain why there was no lean (he knew there was no point) and it would explain why he just cratered at the end. The alternative is to think that a world class sprinter in second (not first) who just looked to his right and saw guys closing in on him thought to himself "eh **** it, good enough" and coasted across.
That just doesn't pass the sniff test for me. I saw a 34 yr old man who put everything he had into the 100m dash just a few days prior who was finally run down by father time, who remains unbeaten and untied.
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