Did you know Haile G was punched by another athlete in the 10k final at 1992 World Juniors?

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8 years ago 05/22/2015 12:33pm EDT

I was watching a video about Gebrselassie today and couldn't believe this footage when I saw it:

He and a Kenyan athlete, Josephat Machuka, were battling in the home stretch. Geb passed him right before the line and Machuka punched him when he realized he wasn't going to win.

It's a ridiculous clip. This isn't a guy battling for position; it's just an act of horrific sportsmanship. I'm actually surprised he was able to summon the energy to land a good blow on Geb. At that point in the race, I'd be so exhausted there's no way I could do something like that.

Anyway, thought I'd pass it along for anyone who hadn't seen it. I've never seen something like this happen while a race was still going on.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 12:38pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

yup, there have been long discussion threads about it on here. Watched that clip several times.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 12:39pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Seriously. This happened nearly a quarter century ago. It has been re-hashed dozens of times along with the Tanui shoe incident.

The Kenyans hated Geb's sit and kick while stepping on their heels act.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 12:40pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Yes

He'd probably been deliberately clipping his heels as happened with Tanui

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZZ0Sg0WEV0

8 years ago 05/22/2015 12:56pm EDT

re: ukathleticscoach

Okay, probably should have searched some old threads before posting about this again.

This race happened a year after I was born so I wasn't familiar with it until now.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 1:19pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Jonathan Gault wrote:
it's just an act of horrific sportsmanship

Some people think that running on the heels of someone else for the whole race and never helping with the lead is poor sportsmanship.

And one year later Geb does the same thing to win his first world championship but stepped on the leader's shoe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE7o6gnP98g

I'm a big Geb fan but he had a rocky start in building goodwill with his racing etiquette.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 1:23pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Yes, old news. Just watched this the other day as well though.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 1:32pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

That Tanui race is a the perfect example of how one needs to have more than just PURE HATE to win a 10,000.

Geb was such a little weasel.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 1:45pm EDT

re: GebbyGeb

Geb was such a little weasel.

As fast as he already was by then, maybe he was just a bit green as an international racer in those days.

Hammou Boutayeb - Now there's a weasel.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 2:15pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Machuka was a certified nutcase. He seriously tried to set a WR in the 10000 prelims in the 1995 WC. Needless to say, he wasn´t a factor in the final.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 6:00pm EDT

re: are you a noob?

are you a noob? wrote:
Seriously. This happened nearly a quarter century ago. It has been re-hashed dozens of times along with the Tanui shoe incident.
The Kenyans hated Geb's sit and kick while stepping on their heels act.

True, but the Kenyans like to poke people and 'tap' an opponent's shoe/foot during races. But it's not PC to mention this.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 7:16pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Jonathan Gault wrote:
Okay, probably should have searched some old threads before posting about this again.
This race happened a year after I was born so I wasn't familiar with it until now.

Studying interesting history usually means you will be familiar with stuff that happens even before you were born.

Maybe you should remove the guru from your screen name for a little while.

Have you heard of Roger Bannister?

8 years ago 05/22/2015 7:41pm EDT

re: Jonathan Gault

Jonathan Gault wrote:
Okay, probably should have searched some old threads before posting about this again.
This race happened a year after I was born so I wasn't familiar with it until now.

How do you call yourself LRC guru?

8 years ago 05/22/2015 8:04pm EDT

re: Not the real John Gault.

Not the real John Gault. wrote:
How do you call yourself LRC guru?

LRC guru, not running guru.

8 years ago 05/22/2015 8:36pm EDT

re: Read the title...

Read the title... wrote:
Not the real John Gault. wrote:
How do you call yourself LRC guru?
LRC guru, not running guru.

But he was only 10 when letsrun started so he can barely know what's going on here.

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