Brussels 5000 loaded to the brim!

I cannot believe the # of Kenyans in this race.

http://www.sport.be/belgacommemorialvandamme/2009/eng/startlist/

5000 M MEN ABDOSH Ali ETH

5000 M MEN BEKELE Kenenisa ETH

5000 M MEN BETT Josphat KEN

5000 M MEN CHEBII Abraham KEN

5000 M MEN CHEPKOK Vincent KEN

5000 M MEN CHERUIYOT Jonas KEN

5000 M MEN CHESARI Jacob KEN

5000 M MEN EBUYA Joseph ETH

5000 M MEN ESHO Benson KEN

5000 M MEN FARAH Mo GBR

5000 M MEN KIPCHOGE Eliud KEN

5000 M MEN KIPLIMO Joseph KEN

5000 M MEN KIPTOO Mark KEN

5000 M MEN KOMON Leonard KEN

5000 M MEN LONGOSIWA Thomas KEN

5000 M MEN MERGA Imane ETH

5000 M MEN NDIWA Mangata KEN

5000 M MEN ROTICH Lucas KEN

5000 M MEN SOLINSKY Chris USA

5000 M MEN TEGENKAMP Matt USA

Also:

4 X 1500 MEN ALGERIE

4 X 1500 MEN AUSTRALIA

4 X 1500 MEN BELGIUM

4 X 1500 MEN ENGLAND

4 X 1500 MEN KENYA

4 X 1500 MEN MAROC

4 X 1500 MEN MIXED TEAM

4 X 1500 MEN SPAIN

4 X 1500 MEN USA

teg or solinsky have to now believe that they can run sub 13:00. similar to when Bannister first broke 4:00....

big difference between thinking you can and believing you can. Ritz has to make believers out of them.

how cool would it be if one of them break Ritz's record?

kevinb wrote:

teg or solinsky have to now believe that they can run sub 13:00. similar to when Bannister first broke 4:00....

big difference between thinking you can and believing you can. Ritz has to make believers out of them.

how cool would it be if one of them break Ritz's record?

I don't think it's an issue for Teg. He ran 13:04 two years ago and has spoken about how he's light years ahead of where he was then. He also ran 13:07 earlier this year, in a windy race that was filled with surges, significantly harder to run fast than Dathan's time trial race.

Solinsky still has work to do. 13:0x would be a great race for him. If he can hang with Matt up until the last lap, good things will happen.

If one of these guys is going to break Ritz's record, it will be Teg. Solinsky won't get within four seconds this year.

Agreed. This field is insane. They'd be smart to run similar to Ritz - that is, at a realistic pace. Of course the hard part is maintaining when the guys in front start dying - its so easy to slow down with them.

I can't wait though, the American distance scene is exploding! Teg and Solinsky need to capitalize on Ritz's opening the door for them.

Wow!

Only Edwin Cheruiyot Soi is missing.

Here is my line up for Kenya men's 4 x 1,500m;

1. Harun Keitany

2. Augustine Choge

3. Gideon Gathimba

4. Asbel Kiprop.

They should be able to do it in under 14 minutes 20 seconds.

it could have been even more fun if bernard lagat and ritz were in the race.

just a sidenote joseph ebuya is kenyan not ethiopian.

14 kenyans

3 ethiopians

2 USA

1 GB

20 in the race, which they had 22 with lagat and ritz, teg should definetely go for sub 13,

i say

bekele wins in 12:44

teg 7th in 12:55

solinsky 11th in 13:02

First of all, why so many runners? There are 20 in this (2 rabbits?) as opposed to the 15 in Zurich. And why so many Kenyans? Hard to believe there aren't more Ethiopians (e.g., Bekana Daba) or other Africans. Where's Kipsorio (Uganda) or the Kenyan transplant James Kwalia C'Kurui (Qatar)?

Maybe this is some deep, dark IAAF conspiracy to unseat Bekele so as not to shell out a portion of the $1 million jackpot. ;-)

Cheap appearance fees for fast runners?

Teg is slower than Ritz this year. Doesn't matter what type of race it was. The "filled with surges" comment doesn't matter because he also ran 11 seconds slower. You could maybe bring that up if they ran the same/similar time.

Teg didn't look all that great at World's. I was expecting him to make a move during the last 600m, but he didn't seem to have that extra gear this time around.

I'll predict a 13:02 for Teg, and 13:08 for Solinsky.

Kenya is going after Bekele's money since they can't get his Medals.

lagat, yesritz, irrelevant - 12:56 or not he still got stomped by bekele. lagat was the one right on his shoulder the last 50m in the last 5000 they ran together

douglas burke wrote:

it could have been even more fun if bernard lagat and ritz were in the race.

just a sidenote joseph ebuya is kenyan not ethiopian.

14 kenyans

3 ethiopians

2 USA

1 GB

20 in the race, which they had 22 with lagat and ritz, teg should definetely go for sub 13,

i say

bekele wins in 12:44

teg 7th in 12:55

solinsky 11th in 13:02

o.O wrote:

Kenya is going after Bekele's money since they can't get his Medals.

That's exactly what it seems like. The field last week was stacked with Kenyans (or transplants) as well, and we see how far that got them.

Late season races by Kenyans are something to be feared - especially those guys who missed the WC or OLys and are hungry.

After all Daniel Komen made his name with a race in September.