¶2012 OG: mSteeple–Ezekiel Kemboi (Ken) 8:18.56

[dj]

T&FN formchart still alive for final

1. Brimin Kipruto (Kenya)
2. Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya)
3. Abel Mutai (Kenya)
4. Mahiedine M.-Benabbad (Fra)
5. Roba Gari (Ethiopia)
6. Tarik Langat Akdag (Turkey)
7. Benjamin Kiplagat (Uganda)
8. Evan Jager (USA)
9. Brahim Taleb (Morocco)
10. Jacob Araptany (Uganda)

[Marlow]

T&FN formchart
8. Evan Jager (USA)

Given his steep improvement curve, ya gotta believe he'll be higher than this, but then again, the kid is a ROOKIE.

[Daisy]

I missed the Koech story. What happened to him at their trials?

[t_monk]

Imagine the depth you must have to can leave off someone like Keoch on a team..... Especially when he is not injured....

[croflash]

I missed the Koech story. What happened to him at their trials?

He struggles with the altitude.

[pakillo]

Without Kipsiele Koech I will be cheering hard against Kenyan sweep and against that Jager.

[EPelle]

Olympic Record: 8.05,51 Julius Kariuki, KEN, Seoul 1988

2008 Results: G-Brimin Kipruto, KEN, 8.10,34; S-Mahiedine Mekhissi Benabbad, FRA, 8.10,49; B-Richard Matelong, KEN, 8.11,01
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[Alan Shank]

Looks like Jager got the shit-end-of-the-stick on the draw, with Mutai, Kiplagat and Mekhissi-Benabbad, as well as Akdag. Also, he's in the first heat, so they will not have the advantage of knowing the time-qual target. Still, there are four auto-quals, and he can finish strongly.
Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA, USA

[lovetorun]

I think Jager is still on his improvement curve...so should be competitive...but then,as Alan Shank pointed out above, there's an outside chance he won't advance to the final. Prelims can be tricky and harder to deal with in some ways than the final.

[EPelle]

Jager is leading through the bell. Q-2nd (8.16,61) to Mekhissi-Benabbad (8.16,23).

[jeremyp]

Smart race by Jager.

[guru]

Smart race by Jager.

The kid just impresses me more and more with each race

[jeremyp]

Benabbad (bad boy) seems to be looking for the mascot.

[aaronk]

Jager is leading through the bell. Q-2nd (8.16,61) to Mekhissi-Benabbad (8.16,23).

Benabbad wins the heat.

Hopefully the 14 year old girl mascot was safely hidden away!!

[jeremyp]

Kemboi snuck by on inside of next to last water jump and got knocked almost off the track.

[bruce3404]

I love the race Cabral ran. Did what he needed to do to stay in contention then kicked with the Africans. Very impressive!!!! Wonder how long its been since two Americans made it into the final?

[dj]

T&FN formchart still alive for final

1. Brimin Kipruto (Kenya)
2. Ezekiel Kemboi (Kenya)
3. Abel Mutai (Kenya)
4. Mahiedine M.-Benabbad (Fra)
5. Roba Gari (Ethiopia)
6. Tarik Langat Akdag (Turkey)
7. Benjamin Kiplagat (Uganda)
8. Evan Jager (USA)
9. Brahim Taleb (Morocco)
10. Jacob Araptany (Uganda)

[gm]

I love the race Cabral ran. Did what he needed to do to stay in contention then kicked with the Africans. Very impressive!!!! Wonder how long its been since two Americans made it into the final?

1996 I believe, Croghan and Davis

[lapsus]

Smart race by Jager.

The kid just impresses me more and more with each race

I never saw him run before, but was impressed. It felt like he was taking it very easy, including the last lap - or was that just his usual running style?

[gibson]

Hopefully the 14 year old girl mascot was safely hidden away!!

i'm hoping that David Haye is the mascot.... and BOOM, bad time for bad boy.

[dj]

I love the race Cabral ran. Did what he needed to do to stay in contention then kicked with the Africans. Very impressive!!!! Wonder how long its been since two Americans made it into the final?

1996 I believe, Croghan and Davis

Correct, with Croghan 5th and Davis 12th.

The same pair also had the previous USA double finalists at Stuttgart in 1993, Croghan 5th and Davis 11th.

[pakillo]

Very small chances of Kenyan 1-2-3.
Spanish debacle. Bravo Keskisalo.

[Powell]

Correct, with Croghan 5th and Davis 12th.

The same pair also had the previous USA double finalists at Stuttgart in 1993, Croghan 5th and Davis 11th.

Didn't they still have 12-man finals in those days? With 15 qualifiers, making the final is a bit less of a big deal now.

[Master Po]

A few random comments --

So, I must have been snoozing during the "mascot attack" discussion -- are you all telling me that Mekhissi-Benabbad is that guy? Sheesh. There's a candidate for the "What is Sportsmanship?" thread. Maybe they sent him to anger management therapy. For some reason, I thought -- wrong as usual -- that whoever the mascot attacker was, he was not going to be running in this meet. Oh well.

Tuned in late to the broadcast, after Heat 3 was underway -- never having seen Cabral run, and realizing I also hadn't seen the USA's uniforms before, I spent most of the race viewing (til they closeup-ed him in the last couple of laps) trying to figure out where Cabral was -- confusing him w the British & Canadian runners. The place it had not occurred to me to focus on was the front! Impressed w his run -- he did what he had to do throughout the race to ensure his Q.

Was hoping that Genest (CAN) would make the final -- SB, but not quite enough.

[Master Po]

Correct, with Croghan 5th and Davis 12th.

The same pair also had the previous USA double finalists at Stuttgart in 1993, Croghan 5th and Davis 11th.

Didn't they still have 12-man finals in those days? With 15 qualifiers, making the final is a bit less of a big deal now.

Atlanta final had 12; Stuttgart 16. I get your point, but I'll keep Jager & Cabral in the "big deal" category, as they got in on Q (& I realize it might have played out differently at the end of those heats if there were only 12 going through).

[bruce3404]

Smart race by Jager.

The kid just impresses me more and more with each race

I never saw him run before, but was impressed. It felt like he was taking it very easy, including the last lap - or was that just his usual running style?

I don't know that he has a usual style in the SC, since this was only about his 6th race in the event

[CKuykendall]

I went through reference books and old TFNs to try to determine who was the last U.S. athlete to win the NCAA steeplechase and make the Olympic steeplechase final in the same year. The obvious answer was Jenny Simpson in 2008, but on the men's side the answer appears to be Browning Ross of Villanova in 1948. Shalaya Kipp has a chance on Saturday to become the fourth (if I'm correct) U.S. athlete to accomplish this particular double. It turns out, among other things, that Henry Marsh didn't win the 1976 NCAAs.

[user4]

Go for the win Evan ! Remember, Billy Mills had much tougher odds.

[Conor Dary]

but on the men's side the answer appears to be Browning Ross of Villanova in 1948.

The Long Distance Log publisher! One of my all time favorite publications

Now back to the regular program.

Interesting story in the Chicago Tribune about Jager today. His father caught polio as a baby back in 1953.

[k3ck3c]

Why not a frenchman as a mascot ?

Teddy Riner is my choice

[fromage]

Excellent run, so positive, by Jager, a 3.38 man I understand.
Just shows that if you are not quite with the top guys in 1500/5000 metres a steeple career is a good idea. The Kenyans looked nothing too special yesterday; maybe it will be different tonight. The quality overall is a little down on previous years. Jager has a def chance of a medal.

[gibson]

yes the steeple is not hopping with talent but you have to appreciate that the presence of africans makes the event legit.

right now jager is probably a 335 1500 man.
lets say jager can do 802 in the steeple, this "equates" to 12"49 5k http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Competi ... _23299.pdf

now i think the tables in this case are quite out of whack - and that the "tax" for going over the barriers is some 34 seconds (7"28 for 3000m flat). maybe 3x seconds a lap is the right tax.
still all of this helps you realize that running 8 minutes flat over barriers ain't easy, and is a par with maybe just under 13 for the 5K.

no matter how you slice, dice and julian it, an OG gold in this event is a very high quality performance period.

i got jagermiester for bronze based on time, his performance at these OG and the expected improvement factor.

looks like the race will go just under 8, with jager 2-3 seconds back of the winner.

another scenario @ 5% - it is Billy Mills time!!

[j-a-m]

About time for the mascot to hide...

[jeremyp]

Going out on a limb time. Jager for.......bronze. SNAP!

[1fastrunner]

Jager will finish 4th...no one can break up Kenyans...hopefully, race will be quick