Mo Farah is one of the greats

Pretty good.

When discussing greats you tend to look at those that have set world records or at least threatened records as well as won championships.

Or had great longevity.

Or won great battles against great competition.

Or was Athlete of the Year ever.

Farah doesn't have any of this.

When people look back to discuss the 5 and 10 it's Geb and Bekele.

When they talk of the 1500 Farah won't come up.

Range - although Farah has better PRs than Aouita, Aouita held the WR in the 1500, 3000 and 5000 simultaneously while medaling in the 800 and getting a #1 ranking in the 10,000.

As great as he seems to be, Farah just hasn't done anything that will stand out against history.

Double Gold next year would change that though.

And maybe through in a sub 26:30 time.

At least he is clean.

Very true. Look at Gebs TWO Olympic golds in the 10k (compared to Farahs one) where he battled the awesome Paul Tergat. Farah has really only been at the top of the world for 4 years now- Geb was for ~15. That's not to say Farah won't or can't do that, he just hasn't done it yet.

Haha, YO (super cereal) wrote:

Farah has really only been at the top of the world for 4 years now- Geb was for ~15. That's not to say Farah won't or can't do that, he just hasn't done it yet.

+1

Farah keeps this up for another 5 years then he gets into the pantheon.

weird to say about a guy with so many medals, but that's life.

and also without a rival it's harder to become an all time great. Against a revolving crew of east africans...harder to care so much.

The funny thing is, Rupp is a pretty good threat to stop Farah from repeat Olympic Gold.

Haha, YO (super cereal) wrote:

Very true. Look at Gebs TWO Olympic golds in the 10k (compared to Farahs one) where he battled the awesome Paul Tergat. Farah has really only been at the top of the world for 4 years now- Geb was for ~15. That's not to say Farah won't or can't do that, he just hasn't done it yet.

No one said he's the GOAT. There are a number of runners who are among the greats, but are not greater than Haile Gebrselassie; Paul Tergat, whom you mentioned, is an excellent example.

Sorry to rain on your Mo parade but he is retiring in 2017. Farah will never top Geb, or even Kenny K.

http://www.espn.co.uk/athletics/story/_/id/12890643/mo-farah-announces-plans-retire-track-2017-world-championships

*Kenny B.

I totally agree. Great runner.

I totally agree. Great runner.

Star wrote:

Pretty good.

When discussing greats you tend to look at those that have set world records or at least threatened records as well as won championships....

Well, One of the things about the "greats" is that they don't all do things the same way. Mo hasn't (yet) doubled in the OG 10k like Geb, but he did double the WC and the OG 5000m, which Geb never even tried. He doesn't have the claim to Aouita's range, but he's not on record as likely being a doper, either.

I'm not a Mo fan, but he's lost one championship race in the track in what, 5 years now? If he wins either the 5 or the 10 this year, that's a pretty damn strong claim for greatness.

He won't even win the Pre 10k

adsfasddsff wrote:

He won't even win the Pre 10k

He will blow those jokers out of the water.

another thing about Mo - you never say 'hey, he's just better than everyone else"

you say that with michael jordan, Usain bolt, michael schumacher, Rudisha at his prime, etc. You don't say that with Mo - he won a few big champ races...never a commanding presence.

agip wrote:

another thing about Mo - you never say 'hey, he's just better than everyone else"

you say that with michael jordan, Usain bolt, michael schumacher, Rudisha at his prime, etc. You don't say that with Mo - he won a few big champ races...never a commanding presence.

Speak for yourself.

Wtfunny wrote:

Star wrote:

Pretty good.

When discussing greats you tend to look at those that have set world records or at least threatened records as well as won championships....

Well, One of the things about the "greats" is that they don't all do things the same way. Mo hasn't (yet) doubled in the OG 10k like Geb, but he did double the WC and the OG 5000m, which Geb never even tried. He doesn't have the claim to Aouita's range, but he's not on record as likely being a doper, either.

I'm not a Mo fan, but he's lost one championship race in the track in what, 5 years now? If he wins either the 5 or the 10 this year, that's a pretty damn strong claim for greatness.

Geb doubled in 1993 - getting a Gold in the 10 and a Silver in the 5.

But doubling Geb ran meant 2 rounds of the 10 and the 3 rounds of the 5.

Farah had a final only 10 and then a semi plus final 5.

"not on record as likely being a doper"

I have no idea what this means.

Geb has no positive tests (neither does Aouita) and Farah is trained by Salazar who many think dopes his athletes.

I did say that getting gold in 2016 would put him in the greatness conversation.

But the fact that Rupp has run faster makes it tough to think of Farah as too great.

You asked for it wrote:

agip wrote:

another thing about Mo - you never say 'hey, he's just better than everyone else"

you say that with michael jordan, Usain bolt, michael schumacher, Rudisha at his prime, etc. You don't say that with Mo - he won a few big champ races...never a commanding presence.

Speak for yourself.

if the rio 10000 were held this year - would you take Mo over the field? I sure wouldn't.

I wouldn't even take Mo over the field at Pre.

But I would take Bolt or Rudisha over the field at their primes. There was little question that they would win. Not so with Mo.

agip wrote:

I wouldn't even take Mo over the field at Pre.

But I would take Bolt or Rudisha over the field at their primes. There was little question that they would win. Not so with Mo.

Three problems with this.

1) I would take Mo over the field at Pre despite his 3k loss. Kamworor is the only scary runner and that's because he's unknown to track and showed a lot of potential at XC. We can make that bet if you'd like.

2) Bolt and Rudisha are GOATs at their events, of course you take them IN THEIR PRIME over the field in any scenario. We're not talking about Farah as the GOAT, just a GREAT.

3) Despite what I just said, All serious track fans would have picked Farah over the field in any 3k-10k he ran from 2012-2014 fast or slow (his prime, possibly still going). I could count on one hand how many times they were wrong. There was little question that he would win when he stepped on the track.

Frankly, I hate seeing Mo win. The sit and kick races bother me to no end when they know Mo is in the field. But don't deny how great he has been these last couple of years.

Wtfunny wrote:

Well, One of the things about the "greats" is that they don't all do things the same way. Mo hasn't (yet) doubled in the OG 10k like Geb, but he did double the WC and the OG 5000m, which Geb never even tried. He doesn't have the claim to Aouita's range, but he's not on record as likely being a doper, either.

Haile Gebrselassie has "doubled" in both 1995 and 1997 when winning the 10000m world title and setting the 5000m World Record 3/4 days after the 5000m world finale.

We all don't know if Said Aouita and/or Mo Farah have been doping during their careers. But to claim Farah is "not on record as likely being a doper" is little bit strange, don't you think? I can't think of any other distance runner (which so far wasn't tested "positive") who's career indicates more the using of illigal substances than Farah's. But for sure I have no proof for this, so I surely will not claim it to be true.