Wanjiru's Olympics>Geb's WR

Men's race (10km):

1. Edwin Soi, KEN, 28:57

2. Samuel Wanjiru, KEN, 29:09

3. Wilson Kiprotich, KEN, 29:22

4. Moses Aliwa, UGA, 29:41

5. Stefano Baldini, ITA, 29:46

6. Salvatore Vincenti, ITA, 29:50

7. Martin Toroitich, UGA, 29:51

8. Felix Limo, KEN, 29:53

9. Richard Sigei, KEN, 30:30

10. Ottavio Andriani, ITA, 31:13

Haile never beatten on such comptition

Geb knew he could'nt beat wanjiru at Beijing so he ran the 10km where he would be expected to finish 5th or 6th and he could do that without disrupting his Berlin prep too much.

Remember Geb has started London twice and has never won, he has never looked like taking apart a truly good field.

Guys like Cheryuoit, Lel and Wanjiru have done son on multiple occaissions, and if they had the pacing setup and race like Geb had in Berlin they would run at least 2.04

I completely respect Wanjiru, and I think his performance at the Olympics was one of the gutsiest performances ever. He really made news with that race and showed how phenomenal he is as a marathoner. But Geb just broke 2:04. He is the first person ever to cross that line seeing 2:03...and that means something. When a world record is broken, i feel as tho the entire running community takes notice, saddles up, and says, now its my time to break it. Breaking a WR ensures that the sport keeps striving forward, it fires people up and reminds the running world that such performances are still possible. I think breaking 2:04 is more important to the running community than another gold medal, however fast it was compared to most olympic marathons. Plus, can\'t we be excited about a WR, at least our sport isn\'t like swimming where every race you have at least one person break a record... its a unique thing, and one to be impressed by and excited about.

HEy there Joe wrote:

Any given day anyone can win a gold medal but to set the WR no matter how long it stands for means you are the top of the sport.

Actually, you can only win Olympic gold every 4 years. Olympic gold is forever, WR only lasts until someone else beats it. Not to mention...he broke his own world record, which isn't quite as exciting.

I give them both much credit, but I still think the marathon performance of the year goes to Winjiru.

Remember haile at the age of 21-22, smashed 5000 and 10000WR.

NOW HAILE IS 38 OR ABOVE AND HE IS STILL SMASHING WR.

Had he run on Beijing, he might win or loss.

It does make difference.

Please do not compare haile and wanjiru.

Wanjiru has been beaten many times in different occasion. haile at the age of 20's, he was untouchable @ track and field. DO NOT FORGET HAILE SMASH MORE THAN 27 WORLD RECORDS I THING THAT IS ENOUGH FOR YOU.

by the way i do respect Wanjiru

mesfin wrote:

Remember haile at the age of 21-22, smashed 5000 and 10000WR.

NOW HAILE IS 38 OR ABOVE AND HE IS STILL SMASHING WR.

I don't remember Haile breaking any world records in 1991.

You can't have it both ways if you're going to exaggerate his age.

For the marathon, I don't generally think of winning Olympic Gold as being better than breaking the world record.

Wanjiru's race was, however, exceptional.

To break a record, you have beaten everyone's best time ever run on their best day. At the Games, either everyone does not show up or is not at their best, especially in the marathon.

Case in point: Geb did not run in Beijing so Wanjiru did not beat the best.

Past Champions did not face Kanouchi nor did they face Tergat at this best.

Because of the conditions and the fact that Geb could have run Beijing and may have been beaten I think Wanjiru's performance was better but that is very subjective.

The clock is completely objective and the clock says Geb is the fastest ever.

toro wrote:

Because of the conditions and the fact that Geb could have run Beijing and may have been beaten I think Wanjiru's performance was better but that is very subjective.

The clock is completely objective and the clock says Geb is the fastest ever.

You are half right. The clock measures TIME. It does not measure course length, or difficulty of course, or ability to have pacers, or weather.

Wanjiru's performance was superior.

I would feel completely different if an athlete that was not given a chance to run in the Olympics (not selected by his country) had broken the World Record a month after the Games. Geb chose not to run in the Olympic Marathon which forfitted his right to be in consideration as the best in 2008.

what about this idea?????????

Gebrselassie the fastest, but is he this year's No.1?

Leo johnson

September 30, 2008

WE'VE had "how fast would Usain Bolt have run had he not started celebrating over the last 20 metres of the Olympic 100". Now, Haile Gebrselassie's world record in the Berlin marathon raises further hypotheticals.

Would Gebrselassie have won the Olympic marathon? Should he rank No. 1 in the world for 2008 ahead of Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru?

More relevant to Melburnians, will Gebrselassie set the 27th world record of a superb career when he runs the 15-kilometre Great Australian Run on November 30?

The last is probably the least contentious. Given a speedy and complete recovery, the world record — held by Felix Limo of Kenya at 41 minutes 29 seconds — is well within the Ethiopian champion's reach.

Yesterday, Gebrselassie called for a fast course in Melbourne. "Tell the organisers to make the course as fast as (Berlin) and I'll try my hardest to give them a world record," he said in Berlin.

The course, starting and finishing in the formula one grand prix precinct at Albert Park, should suit. The weather and pacemakers are another matter.

As to whether Gebrselassie would have won the Olympic marathon and should he rank No. 1, the answers are "maybe, but impossible to know", to the first, and, "no", to the second.

Gebrselassie, 35, skipped the Olympic marathon because of concerns about the likely conditions in Beijing and finished sixth in the 10,000 metres final won by Kenenisa Bekele.

Fears of Beijing's conditions turned out to be based on "worst-case scenario plus 50%" . In their attempts to assuage concerns, organisers had promised to re-schedule endurance races in the event of extreme conditions. But the only "extreme" was the torrential rain that pounded the women's road cycling race.

Gebrselassie could have won the Olympic marathon. He is one of the greatest distance runners ever, if not the greatest, but there are gaps in his resume. Unlike Bekele, "Geb" has not won a world or Olympic 5000, nor a world cross-country title. And although Gebrselassie has won six of his nine marathons, the three defeats have come in London, where the competition is deeper than other big-city races and the tactics in the latter stages more akin to a championship race.

Should he rank No. 1? Again, there is an argument for: he won a marathon in Dubai in January in what was second-fastest time ever, behind his previous world record, and now he has reduced the world record to two hours three minutes 59 seconds.

Against that, Wanjiru won the Olympic marathon in 2:06:32, the fastest time in history in championship conditions and perhaps the greatest marathon ever run. The temperature was mid-20s at the start, about 30 at the finish. Wanjiru set off at world-record pace, with no pacemakers, and surged until he had dropped all his rivals.

The field was deep and the racing fierce rather than orchestrated in the manner of world-record attempts. We can never know if Wanjiru would have beaten Gebrselassie; but, in this writer's opinion, he is a clear No. 1 for 2008.

Mrr82 wrote:

How bout give Wanjiru grief for dodging Bekele for many years to come by moving up to the weaker event, the marathon in these recent years.

Another fine post from the guy who is still doing his altitude training on the treacherous alpine slopes of Lincoln, Nebraska. Remember that great post?

Wanjiru has dodged Bekeke? For many years? How old is Wanjiru? 21? Are you completely out of your mind, Mrr82? Again?

Anyone care to state the odds that Wanjiru and Geb will go head-to-head within the next 13 months and where? This would be a race director's dream. Maybe we could get Bekele in the mix doing his debut marathon.

How large would the appearance fees have to be to make this happen? Could any race afford to pay such fees? Or would Geb, Wanjuri & Bekele avoid such a matchup in 2009 regardless of the money offered?

Geb's run a marathon 56 seconds faster than any human ever has. That's pretty damn impressive.

Camoo wrote:

Uh...plenty of people remember Olympic marathon gold medalists. Japan surely remembers Takahashi and Noguchi, and Baldini is a hero all over Italy, just to name some recent ones. Sammy Wanjiru, between his Olympic gold and his close 2nd in London, is the #1 marathoner of 2008, not Gebrselassie.

Americans remember Frank Shorter--even a lot of non-runners might remember him as well.

If Wanjiru never breaks the WR, which is a possibility, the Olypics COULD have been the race of Wanjiri's life, I don't think so, but it is possible, then Geb is better. If Wanjiru ever breaks the WR he then takes the cake. Who is best in 2008, we'll never know.

Geb is a coward..Never races where there are real men..I remember he always complained of "rain" in London..then wait ..it the following year complaint "pollen"...Olympics comes it "polution" lol... Another great time trial for Geb... They entered James Kwambai becoz he had a PR of 2:10! Charles Kamathi on his third marathon...the first one Kamathi ran 2:13, then 2:07.

Wanjiru has ran only 3 marathons..all sub 2.07 even in olympics!!!... this is a guy with guts...he faces real men and makes them pay for it..Not Geb with his TIME TRIAL !!!

NEXT YEAR GEB WILL TOE LINE TO LINE WITH THE PHENOMINAL SAMMY WANJIRU.. IT WILL BE A RACE WITH A REAL MAN IN IT.

Camoo wrote:

Uh...plenty of people remember Olympic marathon gold medalists. Japan surely remembers Takahashi and Noguchi.

Takahashi was also a world record-setter, and she is by FAR the more publically-beloved of the two.

Eric B. wrote:

Okay, smart guy. If everyone remembers world record holders, without google, who were the three previous record holders prior to Khalid? I guarantee you can't do it without cheating.

Wrong, smart guy, this is quite easy. Just because you don't know the history of this sport don't assume nobody else does either.

toro wrote:

For the marathon, I don't generally think of winning Olympic Gold as being better than breaking the world record. Wanjiru's race was, however, exceptional.

To break a record, you have beaten everyone's best time ever run on their best day. At the Games, either everyone does not show up or is not at their best, especially in the marathon.

The 2nd paragraph here says it well. I'd add that, like it or not, the weight of the Olympic marathon is less than it used to be. Was the field in Beijing significantly better than London this year? Debatable. Wanjiru lost in London. He won in Beijing. Each was a single race, one with a larger cash prize, the other with a symbolic piece of metal on a ribbon. Which is more important? These things are relative. A world record is a world record and absolute. It beats every run everyone in the world has ever done.

Eric B. wrote:

Okay, smart guy. If everyone remembers world record holders, without google, who were the three previous record holders prior to Khalid? I guarantee you can't do it without cheating.

I bet anyone on this board can name more Olympic champions than world record holders.

Solid logic.

da costa and lopes I knew, the other one I forgoted.

Why before Khalid?

Just picking some random date that you think people can't remember before?

Honestly the only people that care about the marathon, are marathon runners. You may love the event to death. But an olympic marathon gold means shit unless you deeply want it. Same with a WR. Both are extremely overrated by you tools. No one cares in the rest of the world. But they're something that YOU want.