thanks, as always, for your work. regarding "Tigist" vs "Tigst" Assefa, it would be "ትግስት" in the Fidel (the Ethiopian syllabary) if I'm correct. the respective characters reflect the sounds "ti," "gi,"si," "ti." so, it just depends on one's preference in the process of transliteration. whatever the spelling choice, she is one fast woman.
That makes sense, given that we used different alphabets, but it's just interesting to me that we're still sorting this out and coming to a consensus a year after she ran 2:15:37. She's still that new on the scene, because she hasn't raced much at all.
Oh wow, I read Ward’s post much differently! I thought it was unnecessary to add that he hadn’t “been passed by a female racer since the 9th grade.” His bit about trying to get out of her camera shot was humorous and relatable, but it felt like he was centering himself (and it came across like he was a little bothered about being passed). A simple congrats for Assefa’s mind-blowing record would have worked, too!
This is from the LetsRun piece I linked to when talking about the spelling of Tigst:
"I kept checking my watch as I could hear her getting closer, and then her lead vehicle [was] coming up on my side,” Ward wrote in a text message to LetsRun.com. “I couldn’t believe that she was on 2:12 pace! I first had a thought to stay out of her way, and then I wondered if I could help. She looks so smooth. And then, the last 5k, she certainly helped me!”
I think it's fair for him to center himself in his own Instagram post and sure the 9th grade comment wasn't necessary, but I also think it's understandable that he was surprised a woman caught up to him while he was running a 2:11 marathon. I thought he came across as pretty good sport, though I get that some will disagree.
Great newsletter this week, as always. Thanks Alison.
thanks, as always, for your work. regarding "Tigist" vs "Tigst" Assefa, it would be "ትግስት" in the Fidel (the Ethiopian syllabary) if I'm correct. the respective characters reflect the sounds "ti," "gi,"si," "ti." so, it just depends on one's preference in the process of transliteration. whatever the spelling choice, she is one fast woman.
That makes sense, given that we used different alphabets, but it's just interesting to me that we're still sorting this out and coming to a consensus a year after she ran 2:15:37. She's still that new on the scene, because she hasn't raced much at all.
Oh wow, I read Ward’s post much differently! I thought it was unnecessary to add that he hadn’t “been passed by a female racer since the 9th grade.” His bit about trying to get out of her camera shot was humorous and relatable, but it felt like he was centering himself (and it came across like he was a little bothered about being passed). A simple congrats for Assefa’s mind-blowing record would have worked, too!
This is from the LetsRun piece I linked to when talking about the spelling of Tigst:
"I kept checking my watch as I could hear her getting closer, and then her lead vehicle [was] coming up on my side,” Ward wrote in a text message to LetsRun.com. “I couldn’t believe that she was on 2:12 pace! I first had a thought to stay out of her way, and then I wondered if I could help. She looks so smooth. And then, the last 5k, she certainly helped me!”
I think it's fair for him to center himself in his own Instagram post and sure the 9th grade comment wasn't necessary, but I also think it's understandable that he was surprised a woman caught up to him while he was running a 2:11 marathon. I thought he came across as pretty good sport, though I get that some will disagree.