Is the US the best 5,000m country in the world for men? (video)

McRunnin wrote:

High hopes wrote:

Bingo! No one outside of the US runs the 5000 indoors. A few Brits go to Boston to try and run a time on the magic track, but no world class runners run the 5k indoors. Five it a few weeks, once we're done with Oslo and Stockholm then see how many outdoor sub-13s Ethiopia has.

I'll take Jon's point about medals but the US is leaning heavily on Chelimo for it's medal count. Fisher did well last year but he also got a bit lucky with a watered down field - no Cheptegei, no Kiplimo, no Aregawi, no Barega, no Kejelcha. Ethiopia always leaves medals on the table with its selection policy

Even when Ethiopia has entered their best guys in the 5,000 in recent years, they haven't done well for their talent:

• 2022: Kejelcha 8th, Barega 12th, Edris 13th (all behind Grijalva, Ahmed, and Fisher)
• 2023: Kejelcha 5th, Gebrhiwet 6th, Aregawi 8th (all behind Grijalva)
• 2024: Gebrhiwet 5th (behind Fisher and Lobalu)

Maybe Ethiopia's top 5,000m guys the past few years have been too tired by the time championships come around from having to run fast enough to impress their country's selection committee (as Gault suggested), or maybe a lot of them are 5,000m time trial merchants.

rojo wrote:

That is the question I asked on the podcast this week:

Video:youtu.be/aB9AqSucmew?si=rNIzAKd4HgTgYg...

My research says no - Ethiopia is. But we're probably #2 though.

Think about how hard the 5000 team will make if everyone is healthy. Fisher, Young, Hocker Teare, Blanks, Nur, Wolfe, Jacobs, Kincaid, Beadlescomb, etc.

# of Sub-13s in 2025
1) USA - 5
2) Eth- 3
3) AUS 1
4) RSA 1
5) MEX 1
6) KEN 1
7) FRA 1

# of sub-13s in 2024
1) ETH - 9
2) KEN - 4
3) USA - 4
4) UGA - 3
5) GBR - 2
6) AUS - 1
7) BEL - 1
8) CAN - 1
9) DJI - 1
10) ESP - 1
11) FRA - 1
12) GUA - 1
13) RSA - 1
14) SUI - 1
15) SWE - 1

rojo wrote:

That is the question I asked on the podcast this week:

Video:youtu.be/aB9AqSucmew?si=rNIzAKd4HgTgYg...

My research says no - Ethiopia is. But we're probably #2 though.

Think about how hard the 5000 team will make if everyone is healthy. Fisher, Young, Hocker Teare, Blanks, Nur, Wolfe, Jacobs, Kincaid, Beadlescomb, etc.

# of Sub-13s in 2025
1) USA - 5
2) Eth- 3
3) AUS 1
4) RSA 1
5) MEX 1
6) KEN 1
7) FRA 1

# of sub-13s in 2024
1) ETH - 9
2) KEN - 4
3) USA - 4
4) UGA - 3
5) GBR - 2
6) AUS - 1
7) BEL - 1
8) CAN - 1
9) DJI - 1
10) ESP - 1
11) FRA - 1
12) GUA - 1
13) RSA - 1
14) SUI - 1
15) SWE - 1

snowflakes wrote:

rojo wrote:

That is the question I asked on the podcast this week:

Video:youtu.be/aB9AqSucmew?si=rNIzAKd4HgTgYg...

My research says no - Ethiopia is. But we're probably #2 though.

Think about how hard the 5000 team will make if everyone is healthy. Fisher, Young, Hocker Teare, Blanks, Nur, Wolfe, Jacobs, Kincaid, Beadlescomb, etc.

# of Sub-13s in 2025
1) USA - 5
2) Eth- 3
3) AUS 1
4) RSA 1
5) MEX 1
6) KEN 1
7) FRA 1

# of sub-13s in 2024
1) ETH - 9
2) KEN - 4
3) USA - 4
4) UGA - 3
5) GBR - 2
6) AUS - 1
7) BEL - 1
8) CAN - 1
9) DJI - 1
10) ESP - 1
11) FRA - 1
12) GUA - 1
13) RSA - 1
14) SUI - 1
15) SWE - 1

The best 5000m country right now is Norway

Bonkers wrote:

McRunnin wrote:

Even when Ethiopia has entered their best guys in the 5,000 in recent years, they haven't done well for their talent:

• 2022: Kejelcha 8th, Barega 12th, Edris 13th (all behind Grijalva, Ahmed, and Fisher)
• 2023: Kejelcha 5th, Gebrhiwet 6th, Aregawi 8th (all behind Grijalva)
• 2024: Gebrhiwet 5th (behind Fisher and Lobalu)

Maybe Ethiopia's top 5,000m guys the past few years have been too tired by the time championships come around from having to run fast enough to impress their country's selection committee (as Gault suggested), or maybe a lot of them are 5,000m time trial merchants.

This is wild, especially since these guys are not just time trial merchants. They're known for having good kicks in addition to having some of the best PBs in the world. The fact that those names didn't get a single medal is insane.

I don't think America is the best at 5k yet, but we're coming...our 1500 guys are so good and still so young, I think you'll see more and more quality milers move up to the 5k as pros because it's a better chance to make teams. Strand, Martin, Murphy and Langon are all guys who could move to the 5 sooner than later. The depth is only going to grow.

ndxc02 wrote:

rojo wrote:

That is the question I asked on the podcast this week:

Video:youtu.be/aB9AqSucmew?si=rNIzAKd4HgTgYg...

My research says no - Ethiopia is. But we're probably #2 though.

Think about how hard the 5000 team will make if everyone is healthy. Fisher, Young, Hocker, Teare, Blanks, Nur, Wolfe, Jacobs, Kincaid, Beadlescomb, etc.

# of Sub-13s in 2025
1) USA - 5
2) Eth- 3
3) AUS 1
4) RSA 1
5) MEX 1
6) KEN 1
7) FRA 1

# of sub-13s in 2024
1) ETH - 9
2) KEN - 4
3) USA - 4
4) UGA - 3
5) GBR - 2
6) AUS - 1
7) BEL - 1
8) CAN - 1
9) DJI - 1
10) ESP - 1
11) FRA - 1
12) GUA - 1
13) RSA - 1
14) SUI - 1
15) SWE - 1

as someone who came to age running in late 90s / early 2000s, it is crazy to think the USA is now this good at the 5K.