I’m sure I’m not the only one here who remembers when Charlie said about Asafa in a similar situation outdoors…
Asafa had it won (twice). All he had to do is go out to the prelims and execute and save it for when it really matters. ARGH!
But Bromell ran 6.54/9.84 last year (and, yes, I want to repeat my position about no coaching change). If you throw in a 6.47, how far into 9.7x does that put him?
Bromell’s RT was 1.21 (yes, quicker than Ben and Mo). I’d love to know what his 10m split was. It was obviously a blazing start.
As I stated, as much as it’s fantastic to have seen Asafa absolutely cruise two consecutive 6.44’s it was also predictable, despite the 60 being more forgiving than the 100, that his tone would have been too high going into the final.
What I’m most mystified about is the strategical failure and how reminiscent this is of Gatlin’s debacle in the World Championships last year. Both Asafa tonight and Gatlin last year shared very similar histories going into the Worlds in that both had set PB’s and world leading times in their respective events going in which sets the perfect stage for strategy through the rounds just as I explained in the article on tone that I wrote for Christopher Glaeser after the Worlds last year.
The confidence a sprinter who enters a WC’s due to having set personal best levels and world leading times prior to entering is the absolute bedrock for strategical domination- just going fast enough to qualify and nothing more. Yet what Gatlin did last year and Asafa did tonight was diametrically opposed to what they should have done and exactly what someone needs to do who has run at PB level just to qualify for the next round.
Asafa could have done like Trayvon and truly cruised through his heat and semi’s and conceivably given Maurice’s record a challenge in the final. But woulda, shoulda, coulda…
I surely cannot speak towards the specific nature of the dysfunction, however it’s either coach, athlete, or both who require serious education in these matters.
I have no inside knowledge of Asafa’s situation, however, given how laid back of a personality he is it seems less plausible that he experiences any sort of psychological breakdown for the finals. When weighed against him blazing the heats and the semis I believe that’s all the evidence necessary to yield reasonable doubt regarding the breakdown in strategical approach. If I’m correct, the question is whether the screw up is on his coach, him, or both.
Very naive to think just because he is laid back that he wouldn’t suffer nerves or psychological problem. I’m sure he has tried a different stragedy in the past & still choked.
Same thing happened to Kim Collins: 6.49 in the semis, 6.56 in the final. Asafa’s semis already didn’t look as good as his heats. He runs best when he is very relaxed and under no pressure. He ran a 9.74 WR in Rieti while easing up in a heat.
Bolt and Powell are opposites when it comes to pressure, Powell tightens up and loses confidence while Bolt steps up and digs deep. Bolt needs the pressure and Powell can’t handle it. We’ve seen Powell under-perform in many different major competitions and with different coaches/training situations all throughout his career, at some point Powell himself is the only common denominator. I think the telltale sign is the relay, Powell may run horrible in the finals of the 100 but come back and blaze the 4x1 heats and finals. I don’t recall him ever under-performing in a 4x1 final, having a team around him takes a bit of the pressure off.
The common denominator factor is viable which is why I’ve included Asafa as one of the responsible players in the situation, however, it further supports the fact that coaching is more than “sets x reps”. If you suffer from a recurring/chronic injury over your career and have been to multiple specialists, there’s no question that you share a role in culpability; however, so do the specialists who have failed to solve what’s soluble.
And again, going 6.49 early this season and 6.44 x 2 in the prelim’s yesterday is very telling of both excellent training preparation on the physical end of the spectrum yet a continued miss, if in fact, Powell suffers from psychological breakdown in the final.
All performance problems are soluble and the only point in which coaches cease to be responsible is when they’ve done all that is doable given the breadth of what is knowable at any given time. This is why we need to know more about what has been done in Asafa’s case.
Great posts James.
6.44s hours and hours apart is fantastic but highly uncalled for. I missed the meet and time schedule how many hours apart for all races?
AP-Take a page out of speed trap (part of it anyway)-Ben looked over the times of him comp. in his QF and set a safe target. Do this at the very min. sheesh!
I remember Charlie writing about how a sprinter must respect the clock in one day when it comes to CNS Management as well (training) which would have applied here big time. Now add to that “Father Time” in this matter lol
Asafa is tough to beat out of the blocks but when he is beat out of the blocks he didn’t seem to “mind” in the past…I recall 1 or 2 indoor races where he stormed back to win and 1 race outdoors in the Final at the 12 OLY trials? So save it ppl.
Brommel… wow. The future looks very bright for this young man. a 6.47 in his 3rd race? I wonder if he would do better with only 2 races :adoration: phew!
I don’t believe his final was a choke - I think it was a result of two 6.44 runs in the previous 6 hours. As soon as I saw the schedule, I thought Asafa was in trouble due to his poor ability to navigate rounds.
In the relay, Asafa has had time to recover. I think he has a rounds problem, not a pressure problem. Getting baton in front, behind, beside - there is always pressure on the anchor to deliver, and he always has.
[QUOTE=rainy.here;254299]I don’t believe his final was a choke - I think it was a result of two 6.44 runs in the previous 6 hours. As soon as I saw the schedule, I thought Asafa was in trouble due to his poor ability to navigate rounds.
I don’t want to believe it was a choke either, and while the 2 x 6.44 runs reason is plausible. This happens to him time and time again in major championship finals. Maybe he could find a way to take the pressure off himself, ie, not blaze the heat and semis which adds to the pressure when in the final.
Asafa is still one of my favourites and It would be great to see him medal at Rio. He looks in really good physical shape.
I could see in the first 6.44 heat that the Chinese guy (Xie) got off to a blazing start and Asafa might have panicked a bit, but you only have to go fast enough to qualify. You don’t have to win your heat, and you don’t have to win it by 0.11, which he did, while I think Bromell ran 6.57. BIG difference in CNS resources consumed.
I dont call this a choke either. One maybe 2 more meters and asafa wouldve walked pass trayvon. Asafa was definitely coming and picking up steam fast. Asafa lost it in the start. which couldve very well have been CNS. Either way the 60 is so short that one mistake, like asafa had, and your now wearing a silver medal.