If you witnessed Asbel Kiprop’s performance Saturday in the Emsley Carr mile in London and felt slightly confused, don’t worry, you’re not alone. 

 

I too sat there behind my laptop and watched as the two-time defending World champion employed a race strategy so bizarre that it simultaneously belonged on Sportscenter’s Top 10 and Not Top 10 countdown. The Kenyan deliberately put himself in awful position mid-way through the race, and still managed to come away with an easy victory, celebrating before the finish line while his peers jostled for the remaining places behind him.

 

The 26-year-old Kiprop, the most feared man at this distance in the world, won in 3:54.87, slow in comparison to his stunning 3:26.69 1500m just a week prior in Monaco. That race made him the third-fastest ever in the 1500m, and showed that he was clearly the favorite for August’s World Championships. Saturday’s performance further cemented his status as the gold medal favorite, albeit in the most head-scratching manner possible.

 

In the span of two laps, Kiprop had gone from leading to dead last, then back to leading as the rest of the field could offer little in terms of a response when he finally decided it was time to start trying with 300m to go. Sure, there was a stumble just short of 800 meters, but that was only because Kiprop had consciously slammed on the brakes which caused a trip up with another competitor. He wanted to run from the back, and would’ve done so with or without the contact. 

Here's Kiprop leading the race 700 meters in:


 

....And here's him in last 100 meters later:



Compare this stunt with his Monaco performance, where he ran away from the field from the gun, and you see a small example of the mystique surrounding Asbel Kiprop. When he wins, he does it so effortlessly that you wonder how he ever loses. But when he does in fact lose, it’s usually because he’s run so tactically poor that not even his immense talent can keep him in the race. 

 

Saturday was like a weird collision of these worlds, where the Kenyan managed to jam-pack the best and worst of his tendencies into one race. Kiprop had officially out-Kiprop’d himself. 

 

Look, I understand the purpose of tactical racing. It’s a necessary evil in a competitive field like the one that ran in London, especially with the clock ticking as we approach the World Championships. Kiprop, like everyone else, doesn’t want to become predictable and reveal his hand before Beijing. 

 

But this wasn’t tactical racing. It was something entirely different, more like un-tactical racing. How else do you explain what transpired in London? The world’s best metric miler directly sabotaging himself so that he could practice running from behind? Who does that? 

 

Apparently Kiprop, that’s who.

 

For those who watched the race and aren’t buying the whole self-damnation argument, here’s what Kiprop had to say after the race: “I’m trying to build my confidence ahead of the World Championships,” he told the Diamond League. “If the race is slow, and when the race is fast, to put me in a position whereby I can be able to handle the pressure.”

 

If this is his way of handling pressure, it’s quite possibly the strangest way of going about it. 

 

Kiprop, even you should know that a tactical race doesn’t mean that you have to kick past everybody to win. Hell, you’ve won two of these World titles, in what world did you think that purposely shooting yourself in the foot like you did in London would qualify as a pressure-test? You just ran 3:26 for god sakes. 

 

I won’t deny that Kiprop’s journey through Saturday’s Emsley Carr mile was certainly impressive. He covered more ground than anyone throughout the course of the race, and still managed to glide away easily from Matt Centrowitz and Ayanleh Souleiman, arguably his main competition for Beijing gold. 

 

It’s just that Kiprop is so much better than everyone else right now that he should never put himself in these types of situations in the first place. Race tactically to prepare for Worlds, yes, I get that, but to take it to such an extreme is completely illogical. Why couldn’t he just sit behind Centro and Souleiman, did he really have to put together such a heroic effort just to build confidence?

 

No matter the method to his madness, the confidence should be in a good spot for Kiprop as he readies for Worlds. Based on his last two races, I would be shocked if he winds up with anything but gold in Beijing. 

 

Come for the talent, stay for the festivities, it’s all-inclusive with Asbel Kiprop. Making winning so much harder than it needs to be is simply Kiprop being Kiprop.