Choge and Keitany run 3:30 at Doha... Already faster than anyone in 2009.

2008?

Keitany is the real deal, very powerful...but didn't lean forward at the finish line.

3.30 this early is very fast. These guys are just coming off their base training.

I think most of the guys overtrain (Alan Webb?) during an olympic year, too much hard track work.

Whoa whoa. Hold up guys. I think he meant 2009

They are psyched up by Golden jackpot.They want to emulate Jelimo;every kenyan runner now wants to be like jelimo.

Letsrun message boarders spent the past two months raving about American indoor performances in the 3:55 to 4:00 range, then all of a sudden you have the africans running 3:30 and 7:28 for 1500 and 3K, and its still only early May!

Different level of aerobic fitness I guess. Why isn't there at least one American running sub-3:35 yet !The more time passes, the more you realize how far behind guys like Webb are trailing.

Sorry I meant 2008. No one ran faster than 3:31 last year.

Mr. Thompson wrote:

Letsrun message boarders spent the past two months raving about American indoor performances in the 3:55 to 4:00 range, then all of a sudden you have the africans running 3:30 and 7:28 for 1500 and 3K, and its still only early May!

Different level of aerobic fitness I guess. Why isn't there at least one American running sub-3:35 yet !The more time passes, the more you realize how far behind guys like Webb are trailing.

The Kenyans saw the fast times at the shorter distances, so their coaches and managers made sure to train extra hard, extra fast, and pay strict attention to ensure the best doping protocols were used.

Mr. Thompson wrote:

Letsrun message boarders spent the past two months raving about American indoor performances in the 3:55 to 4:00 range, then all of a sudden you have the africans running 3:30 and 7:28 for 1500 and 3K, and its still only early May!

Different level of aerobic fitness I guess. Why isn't there at least one American running sub-3:35 yet !The more time passes, the more you realize how far behind guys like Webb are trailing.

Although I agree with your point that there are no Americans near that fast, the only American runners in the 3:55-4:00 range that are being "raved" about are in college, and some freshman in college at that. The Elites (Alan Webb) have not been getting attention, because they havent put out any performances worthy of attention

I hope Choge and Keitany aren't lanced like Ramzi apparently is.

Was Choge on Kenya's Olympic Squad? I know one was Kiprop, but can anybody tell me who the two others guys were on the 1500 team and how they did?

CMS wrote:

Was Choge on Kenya's Olympic Squad? I know one was Kiprop, but can anybody tell me who the two others guys were on the 1500 team and how they did?

This is more to the other guy's point out possible Ramzi-like PED use: Choge is nothing like Ramzi. He has been brilliant since he was what, 17? He ran 3:32 several times when he was 19 (3 years ago), ran 7:28 when he was 18 (read that again) and 12:53 when he was 18. He has actually been quite a disappointment since then. He seemed poised to be able to challenge anyone from 1500 to 5k. But his best times (until today) were all from 3 or 4 years ago.

The splits on this race were crazy:

400 - 53 for the rabbit 54 for the field

800 - 1:53 (59)

1200 - 2:50 (57)

1500 - 3:30

Keitany and Asbel Kiprop have been the top dogs in 1500 in kenya for the last two years or so.keitany missed out on the olympics coz he was not picked by AK just the same way they did not pick paul koech for 3000SC. Choge has superb credentials in 1500M and 5000 ( do you remember the commonwealth's 5000m duel with motram? ).By the way hewas also in the kenyan cross country team for 2008 at edinborough and finished 12th overall.Earlier in the year he had a stellar indoor season ( he beat lagat in Birmingham england over the 1500).His talent and ability are unquestionable.

don't forget the two low 1:43's by kaki and kiprop. That 1:43 low by kiprop makes me a believer. he hadn't yet run a fast 1500m time, but he's done obviously well in championship races. I watched the Olympic 1500m final again and he led for much of the race and still wasn't beaten by much by Ramzi. He also opted for front-running at World's the previous year, taking the lead, I think, with 500m to go and still having the lead with about 150. He's got a 3:28 in him this year.

Itz obvious itz wrote:

Mr. Thompson wrote:

Letsrun message boarders spent the past two months raving about American indoor performances in the 3:55 to 4:00 range, then all of a sudden you have the africans running 3:30 and 7:28 for 1500 and 3K, and its still only early May!

Different level of aerobic fitness I guess. Why isn't there at least one American running sub-3:35 yet !The more time passes, the more you realize how far behind guys like Webb are trailing.

The Kenyans saw the fast times at the shorter distances, so their coaches and managers made sure to train extra hard, extra fast, and pay strict attention to ensure the best doping protocols were used.

It must be hard for the Americans to know that people from Kenya are much smarter than them, since they can get away with doping, and not the Americans.

Can you imagine if the U.S. had an 18 year old run 7:28 for 3,000?

German is is the biggest prospect since Webb and he's not even close...

Can you imagine if German couldn't document his age?

bobm wrote:

Can you imagine if the U.S. had an 18 year old run 7:28 for 3,000?

German is is the biggest prospect since Webb and he's not even close...

I think its best to go with 3-year age ranges. Some guys are truly phenoms and are that young but others are obviously older. Some even admit it years later. This goes all the way back to guys like Joseph Nzau. He wanted to run the roads as a master when he was reported to be 37 or 38. He admitted he was really 40 and that he had been told to lie about his age when he was younger. People close to Haile G admit that he is closer to 40. I think people will be admitting that Kipchoge was not really a junior in 2003. Yes, its unfair that it ruins junior races for other countries. But what can you do? Just tell our young guys not to give up too early.

Choge is a huge talent. That is beyond dispute. So is Kiprop. But I would not be surprised if one of them set those times at 20-21 rather than 18 or 19.

idiot alert wrote:

[quote]Itz obvious itz wrote:

It must be hard for the Americans to know that people from Kenya are much smarter than them, since they can get away with doping, and not the Americans.

No, it's up to officials to decide who gets off. You think Carl Lewis had brains? You are an idiot, we have certainly detected that.