In the 800 metres, some athletes develop the reputation for being a kicker because of their apparent speed at the end of the race, when in reality they ran even splits.
Dave Wottle, James Robinson, Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Nick Symmonds and Amel Tuka would take the beginning of the race out slowly, regaining contact with the rest of the field near the last 200 metres.
When he won the 2015 World Championships, he blew away even-paced kickers like Tuka with a remarkably fast final 24.34 200 metre true kick of his own.
His finishing kick was not so much a burst of speed, but his extended ability to repeatedly accelerate just enough to discourage anybody from passing him during an intense final lap or so of his races.
His Nike Oregon Project teammate Matthew Centrowitz Jr. employed a similar form of holding the lead to win his 2016 gold medal in the 1500.