Champions past 10 years:
Webb (won 3 times)
Lagat (won 2 times)
Lomong (2 times)
Centro (2 times)
Manzano
Assume another 7 runners of Finals caliber.
Champions past 10 years:
Webb (won 3 times)
Lagat (won 2 times)
Lomong (2 times)
Centro (2 times)
Manzano
Assume another 7 runners of Finals caliber.
Should've titled it "Winners past 10 YEARS".
If all in their USA best, then Lagat wins 9 times out of 10.
What makes this difficult is that only one American has gone on to win a world title (WC or Olympic) in the past 10 years -- but that was Lagat circa 2007, who didn't even win the U.S. Championship and so isn't eligible for this question.
So in that case we need to weigh, say, a 2006 Lagat (3:29 / 12:59 with a monster last lap in 51.X), a 2012 Manzano (Olympic silver), a 2007 Webb (3:30 winning a few weeks later, 1:43 that summer, 3:46AR), and maybe throw in a 2013 Centro (though we don't have enough data yet on what his year will look like from a fitness standpoint).
I say:
1. 2006 Lagat
2. 2012 Manzano
3. 2007 Webb
4. 2013 Centro
Centro could move up.
If you are going by peak performance only, Webb should be ahead of Manzano.
Tactics would be a different result.
is it a time trial or a real race?
time trial
1. lagat
2. webb
3. lomong
4. centro
5. manzano
actual race
1. lagat
2. centro 2013
3. manzano 2012
4. webb 2007
5. lomong
actual race would leave manzano in the shadows
If Webb ran it EL G style then I say he wins