BEKELE'S SUPERB RACE MANAGEMENT

I think he did a good job.. but he trusted his kick a little too much. when i saw lagat on his sholder... i though oh oh! this could be dangerous.

he was flirting with fire. he had not burned off lagat's kick. but he assessed that he may not have anything. kipsoro is also dangerous kenenisa had a 75% chance of winning that sprint finish and he was lucky to win. he may have lost.

Feres Meta wrote:

but he trusted his kick a little too much...he was flirting with fire...he had not burned off lagat's kick.

I agree that Bekele is in general a superb race tactician, but in the 5k final he definitely let Lagat hang around too long. This may have been more a function of how tired Bekele was after all the Golden League 5k/3ks and the WC 10k and 5k heat. And he has big race coming up on Friday to stay in the Golden League hunt.

I disagree on the basis KB did enough fast pacing the last 4 laps to take the steam out of his challengers. This is what allowed him to outkick Lagat. KB's last 4 laps were run in about 3:58.3, which was not a lot unlike his Bejeing 5K, except that race was an amazaing last 5 lap effort off of a faster earlier pace.

I thought Lagat showed great fitness to be so close after a sub-4:00m last mile! KB ran comfortably for 8.5 laps and then did what he knew most could not do, run sub-4 to close.

Feres Meta wrote:

I think he did a good job.. but he trusted his kick a little too much. when i saw lagat on his sholder... i though oh oh! this could be dangerous.

he was flirting with fire. he had not burned off lagat's kick. but he assessed that he may not have anything. kipsoro is also dangerous kenenisa had a 75% chance of winning that sprint finish and he was lucky to win. he may have lost.

I concur - he really flirted with fire to keep that large group on his tail with one lap to go. I see how close Lagat came to passing him and then after the race Bekele goes "it was easy for me" and I am asking 'why didn't you try to break it up ealier then?'. That's why I think he was along the lines of 'let me win this things without exerting too much effort'. Still too dangerous.

Bekele was very fortunate to win the 5000. His race management was just OK. He is lucky that Lagat is 34. If Lagat and Bekele were the same age, Lagat would have taken Bekele on the last lap. Bekele looked as if he would lose, but I give him credit, he is a true champion.

chet wrote:

Bekele was very fortunate to win the 5000. His race management was just OK. He is lucky that Lagat is 34. If Lagat and Bekele were the same age, Lagat would have taken Bekele on the last lap. Bekele looked as if he would lose, but I give him credit, he is a true champion.

Well, Lagat at a younger ages has far less accomplishments than Kenenissa - if you want to compare apples to apples. But putting aside 'woulda, coulda and shouldas', Lagat could not beat a tired Bekele who's run and won a fast 10K, qualifying 5K heat and 5K race in a matter of days and ALSO saving energy for a race in 5 days. And it's not just Lagat but whole field.

What was behind Bekele's strategy?

I was not comparing Lagat's career to Bekele's. Bekele's career is difficult to match for anybody. However, Lagat had to run three 1500s and a 5000 heat, at age 34, so when you insinuate that Bekele had tired legs, I imagine they both had less than fresh legs.

I think what was behind Bekele's strategy was a sense that he'd get no less than a silver medal while not having to destroy himself, and with the jackpot races still ahead. He also probably figured he could possibly outkick Lagat, at least 50/50 chance.

Last week, Bekele said that he wants a challenge. Maybe leaving it to a kick was his way of supplying more challengers?

Here's an interesting thing he just said -

“A coach could only help me with may be 10 or 15 percent of what I do. So I do not really need a coach, I do it on my own. But sometimes I get help from Woldemeskel Kostre (the Ethiopian long distance national coach) when it is about doing some track sessions,” said Bekele, who added: “I also determine my own tactics and I like doing this.” Asked if the coach’ would be happy with his athlete Bekele laughed and said: “Yes, the ,coach’ is happy!” (sic)

Bekele is the G.O.A.T bar none!!

I was jumping up and down cheering him on when he dug deep to pass Lagat in the final 40 meters....... And I'm a Kenyan! The man has transcended petty East African rivalries!

I must agree ... I thought Haile was awesome and high up there .... but looking at Kenenissa's career and accomplishments, I must admit he's the G.O.A.T.est.