Welcome to the Cheeky Armchair Expert Daily Recap for Wednesday, the 7th of August. We're going to talk through the key events from last night, including the men's 5, 000 metre and 800 metre heats and the women's 1, 500 metre repper charge. And we're then going to preview what's to come and make some predictions for the events kicking off tomorrow. I'm joined by not Anna, but a very special guest. In fact, the most, the most special of guests. Welcome Sean. Great to have you on the show.
Thank you, Phoebe. I won't waste this opportunity. I've been waiting to break into
been waiting to break into the
I do appreciate you listening to my persistent letters to get on the
podcast. Yeah, Sean's been banging on the door for a while. So we thought it was time to give him a chance. So we're going to kick off by talking about the 5, 000 meter heat. We had two Aussies racing in these heats, Stewie McSwain in heat number one and Morgan McDonald in heat number two. They were both very interesting races. let's talk about Stewie's first. So. The race went out really, what looks like really slowly.
in fact the commentators continued to comment for basically the first three Ks saying like, can't believe how slow this is. Wow. They kind of looked like they were just joking. Essentially, they picked it up with actually about 1500 meters to go. but Stewie never really, There was a massive, fall. there were two separate falls. one with maybe, 800 metres to go. And then a really big fall with about 80 metres to go, with about four people.
And Stewie was kind of caught up in this one a little bit as well. So I'm keen to hear your thoughts. First of all, talk me through the. Why does in some races they go out so slowly?
slowly? I mean, watching the 5, 000 metre heats, that's the beauty of Olympic racing. It isn't just an all out sprint. as we saw in the 1, 500 metre men's final, sometimes it's a highly tactical affair. And, a lot of these athletes are doing the double, in Paris. So I think they were keen to just get through. the heat's unscathed.
You sometimes see someone who'd be focusing on just that event trying to take it out, but it seemed like no one wanted to take it on, so it really, really came down to, you know, a last 1500 meter burn up. So pretty hopeful for Stumick Swain, who's been building into the season pretty nicely off a bit of a slower start.
By his high standards, but, um, once the race got going, he sort of was jostling for position, but didn't probably have his usual rhythm and flow that we've become accustomed to seeing over, over the journey. So it was a tough race for him. Uh, it's certainly not uncommon.
and you know, it's particularly devastating at this level when it's, It's four, four years between drinks but they do have this system where, you know, if you were impacted negatively and it wasn't really your fault, they often make a judgment call the marshals and they end up getting put through to the final anyway, and we saw. You know, there was something like four qualifiers, um, across the two races who got put through on that basis.
Yeah, so
kind of
that's kind of wild to me that if you fall over you get an automatic qualification. Because isn't there just a world where some people trip themselves? If they, they're feeling like they're not going to make it or they just want to conserve their energy. Or is that just like considered terrible sportsmanship and like very unlikely to happen? Yeah.
think, yeah, that's probably the deep cynic within, within you coming out. Yeah, maybe that's more of a soccer thing.
They want to stay on their feet and finish the race. Because Stewie got hit and I feel like he could so easily have gone down and one of his foot stepped out and he had to like really regain his footing. You don't think he could have just kept that momentum, just keep him tumbling?
regain his footing, you don't think he could have just, just kept the sled, that momentum, just keep him tumbling? methodology, but I think the, these athletes just compete with distinction and they, you know, you see how hard they fight for, fight for the line and stuff. And, and Stewie, was sort of fighting on to the finish. And even after his 1500 meter heats, which didn't really go.
He, he was saying something along the lines of, you know, that's what we've got to do, we've got to keep turning up and, you know, and putting our best foot forward.
Yeah, so.
um,
Mitch Dyer from Straight Out It put up a post saying that Stewie McSwain and AA Athletics Australia would be trying to contest that. So do you interpret that to mean, do you reckon they're going to like, basically say, hey, I didn't hit the ground but I had a shot of making it through if it wasn't for that? Because
What I, what I think is probably a fair call is that it's four years between drinks and that you only have really one opportunity and it's not. The 5000 isn't like the 1500, there's no repercharge system, there's also no fastest outside of the automatic qualifiers, there's no fastest qualifying time. Um, you may as well in a race where everyone was heavily impacted, where there'll be a number of athletes that go through based on. Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting.
And he did, I've got to say, he actually was, he
And he did, as I say, he actually was, he was clipped and had to like fully step off the track. So he actually did definitely get impacted by it. Whether or not he was going to make the top eight, if he didn't is, but I mean, you can never
can
and then what's crazy is, so the next race was, which Morgan McDonald was racing in, was so similar it went out. It didn't go out as slowly, but it still went out pretty slow. It was clear right from the start it was going to be pretty tactical. However, Morgan was in an amazing He positioned himself really well in the race, would you say?
say? Yeah, Morgan, Morgan is a, you know, tremendous racer. we've seen that, sort of, over the course of his career. He's had a few. A few injuries that he's sort of been dealing with but um, he was up in the first handful of places for the entire race. He counted the moves when he needed to and yeah, Morgan was, he, he, he had this, he has this thing where he's never really out of it.
Yeah. I, but this was kind of tragic. So basically at the end. Sprint finish, as all these kind of slower races seem to be ending in. And he went from kind of fourth to eighth in a matter of a few seconds. And it was weird watching it because he actually still looked really comfortable, I thought. And it sort of looked like he slowed down. Right, the two meters before the finish line, which was like, Oh my gosh, you literally just had three people overtake you.
And then again, Mitch Dyer with the, um, breaking news, tweeted saying, A tough one for Morgan McDonald. He thought he was sitting in sixth. Sorry, he ended up coming ninth. He thought he was sitting in sixth and didn't see the guys on his outside shoulder. 005 seconds from that eighth spot that he needed to get to the finals. How heartbreaking.
Yeah, it's, it's super heartbreaking and particularly for Australians, you know, we're watching these races and we've had Isabette Doyle miss out by three quarts of a second after an amazing performance and Morgan equally had, you know, he wasn't necessarily leading, but he sort of put himself in an excellent position to succeed in that race. And this cutthroat only automatic qualifiers go through.
feels like, um, it's one thing to not make it because you didn't make it, but it's another thing to be like, I actually just
didn't
see them coming. I don't know if I'd known they were there. You know, that's going to be a whole other level of frustration to live with. Anyway, let's move on and talk about the 800 metres. So there were three 800 metre heats with Aussies in them.
One with
Peyton Craig, the young 19 year old from Queensland. one with, Joseph Deng. And then the final one with Pete Boll.
Peyton Craig was definitely the race of the day for me. He's just so exciting to watch. You know, under 20 Australian record holder and, recently signed with the OAC Oceana program and,
Payton. I remember
watching him in this interview in March earlier this year, also with Straight Athletics. feel like we're quoting Mitch Dyer a lot
He does good work.
he's the absolute best in the business but, basically it was Peyton. He's on the up, he's full of confidence as, as a young athlete. And he was saying that I, I'm not that phased about the times right now. It's good to get a win, And the times will come. And if you look at the body of work that he's put together this year, he really is someone who looks like he's focused on the racing component more so than just running times.
And ultimately, the time did come for him in June, he ran that 144 time, got the Olympic standard, full of confidence comes into this, championship in the form of his life. and is, is in Paris to race.
Yeah. And he did, I thought he raced so well. He spent the whole race, he kind of sat on first place's shoulder. He did get, kind of slightly outkicked. So he came out coming third, but he just looked. I feel like, I remember you saying with like 50 metres to go, he looks like he's jogging. Like he just looks so comfortable.
he just looks super strong and he looked like he, he was very much in control of the race. So, you know, let's see what we, we we get from him in the, in the semis. Semis.
I'm excited. Well, yeah, so he'll be the only one to make it through to the semis. Unfortunately, Joe and Pete both didn't make it through. Joe's heat was super fast. he actually did the same time as Peyton Craig. He did 1. 45, which was the season's best. But he came sixth, and he just never quite looked like he was in the race. He sort of hung on to the finish line. front pack and he did finish strong, but he didn't position it.
He actually overtook a few people in the last hundred meters, but he hadn't positioned himself well to be able to kick into that top three. And then people's, yeah, such a, obviously he's kind of like a really big hope coming into this event. He can position himself really well. I thought it looks like he had a really big shot. He kind of kicked with 300 to go and try to take the lead. Everyone else kicked two. he tried to sort of fend them off.
Actually, he was second coming into the straight, so he stayed pretty strong. But then it was weird. He, with like 50 meters to go,
to everyone
started coming around him, and he just sort of gave up. He just like fully de accelerated. What do you make of that? Is that him just being like, oh, I'm not, I can't keep up with these people. I gotta save myself a rubber charge.
It's interesting. Yeah, people, he loves to take the race on. He's certainly a, a bit of a force on the track when he gets out front. I think we saw that in his last Olympic campaign where he didn't mind getting to the front of races and it's super exciting to watch. Obviously, you know, the field sort of caught up with him a little bit there and ran over, over the top and yeah, not too sure what, what was going on in the last 50 metres of the race.
But that's the thing with this repercharge system. It's created this whole new dynamic that athletes are trying to, you know, strategically use the repercharge. I think we saw someone in the hurdles basically with a niggle jogging through the race strategically because they needed an extra day to recover and didn't want to, you know, injure themselves, I guess. They thought they needed an extra day. So, I mean, that's
That
That is an extreme example, but, looking forward to Deng and Bol go at it in, in, in the repercharge. It's,
you know, And then finally we had the, speaking of reppu charge, we had the 1500 metre reppu charge with Lyndon. I thought she, ah, poor Lyndon, she did so well. She put herself in the right position, she did all the right things. She sat with the leader. She took the lead with 700 metres to go and started. really trying to push the pace. But unfortunately, and sort of much luck in the heat, she really couldn't hold them off and she was swamped with like 250 metres to go.
Ended up finishing in, in 4. 09. what did you make of this?
Yeah, love the 1500. Love watching it. You know, it's so tactical. And, you know, Linden was, She, I, I think like in the context of everything, um, she's obviously been nursing and injury in the lead up and was of her own admission was very much in doubt to even start to basically get into the race and not only into the race lead up until, you know, however long to go 300 meters to go. just shows so much character. Not her race, obviously.
But I just thought that, you know, the way that, the way that athletes carry themselves when things aren't going well is often a indication of where they're, how headstrong they are. And I thought it was a pretty headstrong performance. Like I thought she just really gridded it out and I, I think, yeah, probably competed, in a way that I think looking back should be proud of given the circumstances.
Absolutely, we love Lyndon. Okay, let's talk about tomorrow. There's a few things happening tomorrow. We have the men's 800 meter rapid charge. We have the 1500 meter semis with Georgia and Jess, and then, there's also the 400 meter hurdles, final, which is going to be a pretty interesting race. albeit no Aussies in it. Let's do some, some quick predictions to wrap things up. Men's rep a charge. What do you reckon? Any luck for Pete or Joe? Do you think either of them will get through?
think get through? Uh, I want to stay positive. I think. Mindset's a massive thing. I was watching, Joey Deng do his interview afterwards with, Tony Jones and he just seemed really positive about the experience and was really up and about, about competing and he was taking positives away from the race and yeah, I, I think, uh, I think Joseph Deng will go close tomorrow
Go close? Well, given that.
Go close? Or I have to, I have to say he makes it
makes it through. no, no, you don't. You do not. If you don't think he's going to make it through, then. I
think he will make it
close. You think he'll make it through? I reckon when I saw that he did 145 and that was a season's best and that still wasn't enough to get through, I was like, I just feel like he might be slightly out of his league, right? With this. But
Season's best, he's on the up.
yeah, that's true. And he did have a very tough heat. what about 1500 metre semis? What are your predictions?
Uh, I'm predicting parking myself on the couch, uh, with you and just letting it wash over us, like, as it's going to be awesome. Super excited. I think, you, like, you couldn't get two athletes coming into it, like, in better form. Like, I, I, I really want to believe they'll both make the final. I think Jess, Jess has to. She's certainly like, that's, that's her standard. You know, she's pushing for medals.
But
I think the way that Georgia Griffith, has evolved over the course of the season. and the times that she ran over 3, 000 metres. Yeah, I think, I think she'll probably make it through as well, which is
I think
both going to make
probably make it through as well, which is super exciting. We have the multi time
world champion
record holder, world champion Sydney McLaughlin from America who is absolutely the race favourite. But then we also have the iconic Femke Bolle from the Netherlands who is Just an outrageous athlete. and I think they're gonna go head to head and it's gonna be incredibly exciting. And I predict there might be an upset. Which is why I'm really excited to watch it. I just think
And when you say upset, what do
I think, I think Femke might take the, take the
Take down the world record holder? Yeah. Interesting.
I don't know. I don't, that's not based on anything apart from maybe wanting an underdog to win. I also just, I love watching Femke race. I think she is.
think
It is so confusing watching her because she, she's the most effortless runner I've seen. I've never seen someone with her running style and I just, I love watching her just overtake people who look like they are like giving it everything and so locked up and she's just like blank expression, not even out of breath and just cruises past them. I love it.
been big on Femkebol. Big
Femke
fan. Big Femke fan. Described Femke as not just a runner but a sensation. It's something you just, you know, you know
it. She's a
You know it. It's a feeling. and yeah, I'm, uh, I, I get it. It's uh, watching, watching her in the 4x4. It was, it, it was just
Yeah, I'm hoping for a repeat. And her just to like cruise past Sydney with. All right, thank you so much, Sean, for joining us. hopefully we'll hear more from you over the next couple of days, depending on Anna's schedule. I hope you guys enjoyed listening and we will catch you tomorrow.
tomorrow. You have a
to say, Bye!