Why does Andy Baddeley always run so badly?

[R.STEED]

I've just watched Andy Baddeley run badly in a race yet again,this time in Stockholm.
Just why does he always runs so badly? Is this somekind of joke? Could it just be yet another twist in what could be an ill-fated,joke of a British olympics next year?
Answers on a postcard.
Richard Steed

[trevorp]

Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? It's just the way of the world.

[Sportsman29]

I just don't think he's in great shape at the moment, he was off the pace in Oslo, not for anything tactical he just didn't have it in his legs.
He says his training is going well so hopefully it will start to pick up soon, but i think in that last lap he was just struggling for pace to keep up with them.

Charlene did great in her 1500m, but again she didn't put herself in the best of positions at quite a few occasions in that race, duckng and diving until the end. She herself admitted that.

[mump boy]

If your not in great shape then it is even more important that you run tactically well and don't allow people to have a 5m lead on you going into the last lap. It has nothing to do with what shape he's in he ALWAYS does the same thing

Charlene did get herself into a mess but she was aware of the fact and got out of it again

[Kermit]

It looks like it is the trait of our male middle distance runners to run like athletes of yesteryear's hero. Sit at the back of the pack, try to keep on the inside and sprint like billyo off the final bend. The trouble is that when you look at the great championship medalists of yesteryear none of them did that!

[sidelined]

Well, at least James Shane had a different idea about how to do it.

[trickstat]

Nominative determinism?

[1937]

fear... based on fear; fear of not being good enough; fear of doubting ones talent; thats why so many of our current mid distanceathletes immediately drop into the rear zone and run like twerps. I do not believe, but cannot prove it, that the present day athletes train as hard and as smart as those of yesteryear; top man this outdoor at 3.38 approx

[speedyg2012]

Because he's rubbish or reads his surname too literally.

[Exile]

Baddeley is victim of his own success. He's been a consistent qualifier for major champs and has been the best of a mediocre bunch, which means the spotlight is perhaps on him more than it ought to be. Nobody would really be commenting on his tactics if there were three or four faster guys out-performing him.

I do feel a bit sorry for athletes whose abilities are slated or criticised (not that it stops me offering an opinion), because I'm of the view that as an individual sport, these athletes owe nothing to anyone but themselves and shouldn't necessarily have to put up with the likes of Jonathan Edwards sticking a microphone in their faces after races asking them to justify why they haven't met the expectations of others.

[ifihadwings]

another bad day for Baddeley but not in his normal event, but at that pace a simple sit and kick should have sufficed

what did we think of Gareth Warburtons run in the 800m , i felt he ran pretty well from being heavily boxed in.

[Ursus]

I thought he was abject in Paris last night, not involved at all, and finishing 15th.

But in a damning indictment of all other Brits, that performance tops the British rankings. 15th, honestly!

[mump boy]

I just don't understand this sit around the back stay there mentality, surely it's better to go down in a blaze of glory sometimes