Could Bekele have won the Zatopek Triple in 2008?

I don’t know if that’s really true, and it’s not the case for me. On the contrary I thought maybe bekele boi had seen so much prime-Bekele domination that he was thinking of him as unbeatable. All I meant to show with the video is that even the greatest distance runner in history operating at the peak of his powers isn’t invincible or impervious to difficult conditions. He wasn’t going to beat Wanjiru in Beijing on a whim.

You can’t compare times from one era to another. Best to look at proximity to the world record at the time. Zátopek’s Olympic marathon was 2:21 slower than the WR, Virén’s marathon was 2:58 slower than the WR. Zátopek was better.

Zátopek broke the Olympic record in all three events. He won the marathon without preparing for it. From Olympics.com:

“Zatopek decided to enter the marathon, having never run the distance before. Lining up against the world record holder and champion Jim Peters of Great Britain, he began the race as a clear underdog.

Approximately an hour into the race, Zatopek - who was famously talkative during his runs - turned to Peters and asked him whether he thought the pace was OK. Attempting to call his bluff, Peters told Zatopek that he felt the pace was in fact too slow.

But the ruse didn’t have the effect Peters had hoped it would. Upon hearing this news, Zatopek suddenly upped the pace and ran off into the distance putting two minutes between himself and the chasing pack.”

Peters wound up not finishing the race.

Viren would have beaten Zatopek in each race, I think basically everyone understands that. Zatopek completed the triple though, so he gets *greatness points* for it that Viren does not.

Good luck carrying the crushing burden of your genius.

No way, first the competition is too great now and no way would be beat that performance by Wanjiru, Viren was the best in his day and in 1976 he ran the day after winning the 5000m and ran a great race but finished 5th.

Wanjiru’s run was great and he was and likely would have more solidified a legendary career but I think we need to let go of the idea that it was one of the greatest marathons of all time. Gharib ran 2:07 low behind Wanjiru’s 2:06 mid. Wasn’t a blowout and can’t be credibly compared to Kipchoge or Kiptum’s runs.

Great question. Maybe not gold for Bekele, but I think top 5 was a possibility. Zatopek's achievements were great. Post WW2 Europe. Racing on primitive (cinder? clay?) tracks. Leather spikes. Heavy shirt and pants. And a great man to boot - read about him giving Ron Clarke one of his Olympic golds.

First you have to remember that Gharib was a beast too. Two WC golds.

Second: Kipchoge has never run faster than 2.04,11 (Chicago 2014) without supershoes or supershoe prototypes.

Literally one of the stupidest posts ever on letsrun, and I like Bekele.

Thank you, kind sir, for wishing me luck with the burden of my genius. It is indeed an awesome task, but I forge onward.

And thank you also for acknowledging the real facts of Viren's 1976 Olympic accomplishments versus those of Zatopek in 1952 . This in no way is to take away from the fact that Zatopek was a wonderful man, runner and sportsman, but the facts are what they are.

Ta ta.