The Magnificent Seven: Bekele, El Guerrouj, Lagat, Komen, Gebrselassie, Ingebrigtsen...Katir?

Shouldn't Aouita's marks be cancelled after he was implicated in a doping scandal while coaching in Australia?

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Oy vey...I can't put Katir there. Someone like Venuste Niyongabo deserves it over him. Mo Farah too.

Like it or not, Katir and Ingebrigsten were verifiably tested, unlike Mo (oh, my training partner buying EPO means nothing) and the EPO heyday frauds on that list. Sure, the usual suspects will now fall all over each other to show how woke and tolerant they are, but the fact is that list is loaded with obvious cheats protected by politics as much as anything else. Sure, howl about Jakob and Katir as well, but at least they actually get tested and it can be verified they were actually the ones tested, unlike anyone else listed.

Can you adjust the scores for those wearing supershoes?

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

I disavow the numbers! Where do people think Katir would've finished had he opted for the 1500. Here are your tiers:

A- 1st beating Jakob

B- Outkicks Tim for Silver/ narrowly pips Kerr for Bronze

C- 4th-6th (Out of the medals but in the 3:29-mid, sub 3:31 realm)

D- 7th-12 in the final

E- Eliminated in Semis

F- Eliminated in Heats

My order of likelihood: C, D, B, E, A, F

very much agreed here

excellent content provided by JWH

Kiplimo has such a monster range - wonder when he will bring the 5000 in line with his 3000 and 10000. And his half! incredible

I think it would be more interesting to measure distance runners by their performances over a wider range of events. Limiting our test to 2 events does a disservice to the most complete diatance runners who manage to attain all-time narks in more than 2 events.

Take Bekele for instance. His 5k, 10k, and marathon composite scores are exceptionally high. Let's talk about how the other greats stack up to Bekele in this regard. Theres a reason why Bekele and Gebrselassie are considered the GOATs of distance running, and its not jsut bc theyre the most decorated.

Great list and yeoman's work putting that together, JWH.

Fascinating that Coe is the only pre-1990's athlete on the list. A testament to his brilliance that he's still in the top dozen even pre- EPO, better tracks, shoes, etc.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

Star wrote:

Aouita held the 1500m, 2000m, 3000m, 2 mile and 5000m record all at the sane time.

No, it was a crazy time. Reagan was in office.

Beat me to it :)

Star wrote:

Said Aouita held both the 1500 and 5000 world records.

None of those greatest 7 did that.

And to piggyback on your post, Said Aouita would likely have run 3:27 in today’s shoes at Monaco, and likely 12:50 or faster.

For me, Kipchoge is the Marathon 🐐 (still cannot fathom that 14.28 split that cracked that quality field wide open in such humidity) and Bekele is the long distance 🐐. I am loving Stewie in the mix.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Oy vey...I can't put Katir there. Someone like Venuste Niyongabo deserves it over him. Mo Farah too.

The numbers don’t lie, my friend. Farah = 2497 and Niyongabo = 2454.

Katir is better than them 😉

Well, being 4th in the European indoor champs in March of this year certainly seals that! Running 3:28 and 7:27(?) only 4 months later certainly shouldn’t be considered THAT suspicious, right? RIGHT?

rhimby wrote:

Nope. Bekele comes out on top, with his 10k (1295 points) and his marathon (13:15 points) which is 2610 in total. I don't think any distance runner is over that.

If you credit EK with his 1:59, then he’s at 2640.

So Kipchoge=🐐

If you credit Bekele for his 5k, 10k, and his marathon

Or if you discredit the marathon goat for the sub 2hr that we cant count for obvious reasons

Then it becomes clear that Bekele is the GOAT of distance.

Cool post. There are also only seven runners who belong to the illustrious sub-3:30, -7:30, -13:00 club:

1. Komen - 1252 (3:29.46) + 1299 (7:20.67) + 1285 (12:39.74) = 3836

2. El Guerrouj - 1302 (3:26.00) + 1283 (7:23.09) + 1246 (12:50.24) = 3831

3. Ingebrigtsen - 1269 (3:28.32) + 1258 (7:27.05) + 1252 (12:48.45) = 3779

4. Lagat - 1297 (3:26.34) + 1245 (7:29.00) + 1233 (12:53.60) = 3775

5. Katir - 1262 (3:28.76) + 1254 (7:27.64) + 1244 (12:50.79) = 3760

6. Choge - 1252 (3:29.47) + 1247 (7:28.76) + 1233 (12:53.66) = 3732

7. Aouita - 1252 (3:29.46) + 1243 (7:29.45) + 1215 (12:58.39) = 3710

Neither list accurately captures the top 7 in history but they’re still fun to look at.

Who are the seven with highest combined points for 1500m and 10000m?

OozmaKappa wrote:

If you credit Bekele for his 5k, 10k, and his marathon

Or if you discredit the marathon goat for the sub 2hr that we cant count for obvious reasons

Then it becomes clear that Bekele is the GOAT of distance.

Yes, if you use the 3 distance events in the Olympics then it will be Bekele. For middle distance (800/1500) I'm guessing it would be Kiprop (1:43.15/3:26.69).

Another giver of +1 wrote:

Who are the seven with highest combined points for 1500m and 10000m?

1. Gebrselassie - 2562

2. Kejelcha - 2520

3. Farah - 2510

4. Bekele - 2506

5. Barega - 2500

6. Hissou - 2451

7. Cheptegei - 2448

I just looked up the athletes I thought would be at the top and then took a glance at the all-time lists afterwards, so I may have missed someone. Note that the 1500m times used to calculate the scores for Gebrselassie, Kejelcha, and Barega were run indoors.

All juiced to the max, especially the Moroccans (Marrow-cans) and Kenyans and Ethiopians.

Mohammad Farah was juiced to the max by his now banned doping coach Al-Dope-to Salazar.

It will never cease to surprise me that Farah only ran 12:53. I understand why, he was incentivised to win medals rather than break records. Even so, it feels like we never saw what he was really capable of over 5000.