The US has people like Rupp, Centro, Chelimo with more global medals and people here criticize them A LOT. If Kejelcha was American he would be destroyed in this place every major Championship
Agree. Yomif Kejelcha is one of the top athletes in the world, but he doesn't have killer mentality and lacks confidence. Look how many times he looks at his watch during the last 2000m of the stretch of the race.
Idk. Seems to me that Kandie made a move first that sent Barega out of the pack. Then as Kejelcha noticed that Kandie was struggling in front he pushes the pace, but Gebrehiwet responds and easily fills the gap.. Kandie manges to almost catch up. Then Kejelcha surges again and puts some meters on Kandie, but then signals to Gebrehiwet to move to the front so they can work together to shake off Kandie and myabe get the WR but Gebrehiwet declines.. They were not below WR pace either at that point. Might have been a slight misjudgement but hard to know how much he had left at that point.
Idk. Seems to me that Kandie made a move first that sent Barega out of the pack. Then as Kejelcha noticed that Kandie was struggling in front he pushes the pace, but Gebrehiwet responds and easily fills the gap.. Kandie manges to almost catch up. Then Kejelcha surges again and puts some meters on Kandie, but then signals to Gebrehiwet to move to the front so they can work together to shake off Kandie and myabe get the WR but Gebrehiwet declines.. They were not below WR pace either at that point. Might have been a slight misjudgement but hard to know how much he had left at that point.
It's great that these 3 Ethiopian track superstars ran in this 1/2 marathon and ran so fast
Today at Valencias HM with 2km to go Kejelcha decides to make a move. Inmediatly he drops Kandie and seems to be on route to a WR. The problem? Gebhriwet was still behind him. Instead of maintaining the pace and go for the race suddenly he decides to slow down and let Kandie join the group again. The result? Kandie wins and no world record for him. For anyone watching the race it was incomprehensible. Dont misunterstand me, I think he is one of the best athletes in the world. His mile indoor record and his times in 5000m are no joke, but he keeps failing when the stakes are high, for any fan of him it must be very frustrating.
Anyway, I am very happy for Kandie today, he lead the race from the 5k and kept pushing the pace even though he knew it was detrimental for his chances of winning, thats a true fighter if you ask me.
Losing a race is not choking. That's a curse of letsrun- a runner can't get outrun or have a bad day without some loser much slower calling him out.
The bottom line- when you get a group of world class runners together only one of them can win.
If it was as windy in the 3k as in the mile the day before, Kejelcha had the advantage from drafting as well as running on fresh legs, so it may be that he is not nearly that close to Jakob in the Olympic 5000m as he was, but he certainly gave Jakob all he could handle at Pre.
If it was as windy in the 3k as in the mile the day before, Kejelcha had the advantage from drafting as well as running on fresh legs, so it may be that he is not nearly that close to Jakob in the Olympic 5000m as he was, but he certainly gave Jakob all he could handle at Pre.
Even with horrible tactics - letting Jakob pass him on the inside for no discernible reason. Kejelchas big problem is he often lacks conviction and that is combined with the fact that his tactical instincts are poor. He has a similar engine to Cheptegei at this point, but whereas Cheptegei knows exactly when to move and kick as well as protect the shortest line Kejelcha has no idea.
He is clearly very well accomplished, but it's hard not to think he has underachieved at major championships thus far. He has been favored to medal many times and has often disappeared or finished well back.
2023 -- 12:41 in Bislett, but 5th at WCs even without Kiplimo or Cheptegei running
2022 -- 8th at Worlds 5000
2021 -- 8th at Worlds 10,000 after running 26:52 for 2nd at the Ethiopian trials
It's getting to be a pattern. When someone that is the 6th fastest 5000 runner of all time has zero 5000 medals on the track in about 4-5 tries, that's underperforming. Highest finish in the event is 5th.
Today at Valencias HM with 2km to go Kejelcha decides to make a move. Inmediatly he drops Kandie and seems to be on route to a WR. The problem? Gebhriwet was still behind him. Instead of maintaining the pace and go for the race suddenly he decides to slow down and let Kandie join the group again. The result? Kandie wins and no world record for him. For anyone watching the race it was incomprehensible. Dont misunterstand me, I think he is one of the best athletes in the world. His mile indoor record and his times in 5000m are no joke, but he keeps failing when the stakes are high, for any fan of him it must be very frustrating.
Anyway, I am very happy for Kandie today, he lead the race from the 5k and kept pushing the pace even though he knew it was detrimental for his chances of winning, thats a true fighter if you ask me.
You must learn what choking is before you accusing him of being the greatest choker ever. Tactics and being out kicked is not choking.
A self proclaimed choker was Fernando Mamede of Portugal. Example: runs 27:45 in a heat and looks like he is jogging then can’t break 28:15 in final. Runs 27:13 WR then runs that 28:15+. This just one example of his failures in meaningful race. He admitted it.
Kejelcha is always in the fight in finals. Name one race in recent memory where he was 30 seconds to minute behind the winners in a final.
Look up Mamede. Then if Kejelcha is in that mold then you can call him a choker.
He is clearly very well accomplished, but it's hard not to think he has underachieved at major championships thus far. He has been favored to medal many times and has often disappeared or finished well back.
2023 -- 12:41 in Bislett, but 5th at WCs even without Kiplimo or Cheptegei running
2022 -- 8th at Worlds 5000
2021 -- 8th at Worlds 10,000 after running 26:52 for 2nd at the Ethiopian trials
It's getting to be a pattern. When someone that is the 6th fastest 5000 runner of all time has zero 5000 medals on the track in about 4-5 tries, that's underperforming. Highest finish in the event is 5th.
2022, indications are he picked up an injury so I'll give him a pass. Yes, 2021 was somewhat mystifying as to where his form was and what happened within the race.
I thought this year it came down to tactics which he flubbed horribly. Good for him taking ownership at the DL Final that he botched it by letting it go slow and not going to the front more decisive and think Jacob Kiplimo had similar struggles in the Tokyo 5K. It's definitely a pattern for him, and if he's healthy he better be pushing that thing hard from decently far out and not letting it devolve into a battle of kicks with Krop and Grijalva.
This post was edited 49 seconds after it was posted.
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