26mi235 wrote:No, " running fast from the gun ALSO considered a 'race tactic" is a race strategy, not a racing tactic -- as a strategy it works fine when you are much better than your opponents and would likely win anyway. When you are not much better than they are (the situation everyone is in at the top levels) it is almost always a poor strategy.
Rudisha is a cut above the rest and did succeed at the OGs, but the same strategy the next race cost him, didn't it. For him, it is not good strategy to have it go slow so that everyone is still in it with 200 to go, but even there he is reputed to have possibly the best 400 capability and he might do pretty well letting other race plans play out.
Not to mention the fact that the benefits of drafting for an 800, especially with staggered starts pale in comparison to what benefits you get / or lose in a 5k or 10k. There are simply few guys, if any at the current level who could count on breaking away in top level races. With teamwork sacrificing for their "captain" perhaps, but not individually. Hence most guys waiting until the final 3 or 4 laps to show their strategies.
