Yes, the pacing in major championships seems troubling, BUT should World
and Olympic Champions only be those who have the best kick? El G clearly is
the fastest 1500 runner in the world right now. Isn't he a more deserving
World Champion than a 3:31 or 3:32 guy who might sit on him for 3 1/2 laps,
benefit from that draft, and outkick him in the stretch?
Geoff Pietsch
>From: Alan Shank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: Alan Shank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: Track Posts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: t-and-f: Morceli, El Guerrouj and pacing in championship races
>Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 16:21:25 -0700
>
>Now that it appears Hicham El Guerrouj may leave the 1500m for longer
>distances (although he postponed that move in Zurich), I decided to look
>back on his championship career and that of his predecessor, Noureddine
>Morceli. The impetus for this was a re-reading of Track and Field News'
>1997 WC edition. In the story on the 1500m, won by El Guerrouj with
>Morceli fourth, Jeff Hollobaugh wrote:
>
>"Whether his [El G] career will unfold the way his predecessor's has,
>with an endless chase for records behind a procession of rabbits, or
>whether he will retain the fearlessness that marked his rise to the top,
>these are questions that only El Guerrouj can answer."
>
>Well, I guess they have been answered, and in spades! Not only did El
>Guerrouj chase, and catch, the 1500, Mile and 2000 records behind a
>procession of rabbits (and also miss the 3K at 7:23.09), but with the
>help of a couple of teammates he turned the last three major
>championship 1500's into Grand-Prix-like, paced races as well, with
>mixed results.
>
>Although it's certainly true that Morceli ran a lot of paced races in
>invitationals, he won (and lost) his championship races without the aid
>of a countryman. Of course, he never had a countryman in the final with
>him, so who's to say what would have happened if he had. That's the
>tough part about getting a rabbit in a championship race - he has to be
>good enough to make the final, but not so good as to be a real medal
>prospect, lest he be so "selfish" as to run his own race.
>
>In all of his championship wins ('91, '93 & '95 WC and '96 OG), Morceli
>took the lead before the bell, as early as the 900m point in Atlanta.
>The pace for the first 800 ranged from 1:57.4 to 2:01.8. His fastest win
>was 3:32.84 in '91, a race he won by 2 seconds. In '93, he fashioned a
>50.6 last 400, while in '96 he put up a monster 1:48.8 last 800. 1996
>was the last year of his "dominant period", but he competed in the next
>three Championships, finishing fourth in '97, dropping out of the final
>in '99 and finishing dead last in his semi (4:00+) in the '00 OG. His
>loss (7th place) in Barcelona was an odd race, a 2:06.8 first 800
>turning it into a speed test that Morceli failed, finishing 1 1/2
>seconds behind Cacho's 50.5 last 400, but he ran 50.6 himself off a
>considerably faster pace in Stuttgart. About two weeks and four weeks
>after Barcelona, Morceli ran 3:30.75 and 3:28.86 for his first World
>Record.
>
>The "elite elite" periods of Morceli's and El Guerrouj's careers
>overlapped from Goteborg through Athens. El Guerrouj won the World
>Indoor 1500 in '95 and really impressed me in doing so. He wasn't quite
>ready for Morceli outdoors, though, losing by 1.55 sec over the last
>400, 51.3 to 52.8. Just before Goteborg, Morceli had set his last 1500
>WR, 3:27.37, and also run 3:27.52. Three days after the 1500 final, he
>ran 3:45.19 to beat El Guerrouj's 3:48.69, and finished up with a WR
>3:44.39 at Rieti.
>
>By Atlanta, El Guerrouj may have been ready to match Morceli. They came
>into the meet with SB's of 3:29.50 and 3:29.59. By next year, Morceli
>had started to decline and it was El Guerrouj who was dominant, but this
>race might have seen a titanic battle over the last lap had EG not taken
>his famous (infamous?) fall. After a 2:01.8 800, the last 700 was run in
>1:34, which is a 1:47.4 pace for 800! I'd sure like to get a peek at one
>of the "parallel worlds" in which El G kept his feet!
>
>The '97 race was quite similar to Atlanta, with almost the same pace at
>800. El Guerrouj took command at the kilo mark, followed by Morceli, but
>it was no contest over the last lap, and his last 800 of 1:48.9 and 700
>of 1:33.8 were almost identical to Morceli's pace from Atlanta.
>
>All these races were quite similar, with relatively slow early pace and
>the winner taking over before the bell, never to be headed.
>
>In 1999, Morocco introduced, or re-introduced, the "Championship
>rabbit." Twenty-year-old Adil El Kaouche, with 3:34.28 credentials, made
>the final by finishing 3rd in the faster semi. Among those he beat were
>Morceli (6th) and Steve Holman (7th), both of whom made the final on
>time only in the 5 + 2 qualifying scheme, so he certainly earned his
>spot. He took the lead in the first homestretch and towed the field
>through a 1:52.2 first 800, at which point El Guerrouj took over and
>
