"A lot of good runners haven't really raced much so far this year."
Bekele hasn't raced at all in over one year. That's not the same as taking a long layoff after the 2010 season - he didn't have a 2010 season! It's safe to say that he is "seriously" injured.
Some Kid wrote:
How does an athlete who, as far as I know, has never sustained a major injury in his career suddenly disappear for a year and a half?
I've heard from a very connected and reliable coach that Bekele tested positive in 2009, but instead of outing the arguably greatest distance runner in history, the WADA decided to have Bekele lay low for two years.
Now, before I heard this, I was the most naive person when it came to doping. If he is not back for Worlds, however, no matter the excuse, I'll be 100% convinced that he's, as Letsrun so lightly puts it, "doped to the gills."
Supposedly this is actually far from the first time the WADA has covered up positive tests. I guess it's easier as a fan to assume innocence until proven guilty.
8/10, you got some people fired up
elton wrote:Bekele's 5000m SB trajectory (13:13 in 2001, 13:26 in 2002, 12:52 in 2003) has often been cited as "suspicious," with clear drug implications, by people equally ignorant of his serious injury in 2002.
Well count yourself as one of the insanely ignorant ones.
He went 7:30 in the 3k in 2001 breaking the world jr record and world youth best. Nobody who understands distance running would believe he actually was only capable of 13:13 in 2001 and made some huge jump in 2003. He came alive in August in that 3k putting down a time in line with his 5k in 2003.
You wouldn't make the comment above if you understood that he was already at the level he was in 2003 in 2001. His 5k pr from 2001 is a very poor judge of how good he ended the year.
Find me one person who isn't a complete fool would say that a 12:52 two years after a 7:30 3k at the age of 19 would seem suspicious. (improvement wise) Nobody who isn't on crack would say that. (they might however think running a 7:30 at age 19 is).
WordIsBond wrote:
If you're going to post something like this and tarnish someone's reputation, have the guts to do the following:
(1) use your own name or e-mail address;
(2) state the name of the coach you heard it from;
(3) state why the coach is reliable (e.g., his connection to Bekele).
*(1),(2) and (3) DO NOT apply if said athlete is not a Kenyan, Ethiopian, or a white English speaker.
Some Kid wrote:
How does an athlete who, as far as I know, has never sustained a major injury in his career suddenly disappear for a year and a half?
I've heard from a very connected and reliable coach that Bekele tested positive in 2009, but instead of outing the arguably greatest distance runner in history, the WADA decided to have Bekele lay low for two years.
Now, before I heard this, I was the most naive person when it came to doping. If he is not back for Worlds, however, no matter the excuse, I'll be 100% convinced that he's, as Letsrun so lightly puts it, "doped to the gills."
Supposedly this is actually far from the first time the WADA has covered up positive tests. I guess it's easier as a fan to assume innocence until proven guilty.
Absolute BS. Kenny B has had a lot of injuries during his career.
elton wrote:
MAYEROFF wrote:His 5000 record is now almost 7 years old, and the 10,000 record is in its 6th year of existence, the longest span that the 10k record has not been broken since the WWII era.
In addition to Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie and Henry Rono both held the 10,000m record for (just) over six years each. Furthermore, Ron Clarke held it for seven years, two months, and three weeks - so 26:17.53 will need to stand at least through the 2011 season for Bekele to be the longest-standing record-holder.
I think Bekele held the 10k record for another year...didn't he break his own record that was set a year prior in 2004?
oh please wrote:
I've never been convinced that he will even try to make the switch to roads, let alone have the success that Geb has had.
Why? Faster at both 5k and 10k. Why would you not give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?
the smartest letsrunner wrote:
Why? Faster at both 5k and 10k. Why would you not give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?
track success doesn't necessarily translate into road success. Just because Haile is/was an allrounder from the 3000 to the Marathon doesn't mean that everyone else who is a good 5k/10k runner should be a good marathoner.
I tend to agree with everyone else. I don't think we're gonna see Bekele on the world stage again. i'd rather bet on a 2nd coming of Haile for another World Marathon Majors win.
Mrr82 wrote:
elton wrote:Bekele's 5000m SB trajectory (13:13 in 2001, 13:26 in 2002, 12:52 in 2003) has often been cited as "suspicious," with clear drug implications, by people equally ignorant of his serious injury in 2002.Well count yourself as one of the insanely ignorant ones.
You're misunderstanding. I'm not ignorant of his 2002 injury - I'm the first one to bring it up in this thread. What I wrote is that people unaware of that injury have called his 2002 to 2003 improvement suspicious. Those people are fools.
I said it's been cited as suspicious - not that it actually is suspicious, when you have the facts.
Nutella1 wrote:
the smartest letsrunner wrote:Why? Faster at both 5k and 10k. Why would you not give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?
track success doesn't necessarily translate into road success. Just because Haile is/was an allrounder from the 3000 to the Marathon doesn't mean that everyone else who is a good 5k/10k runner should be a good marathoner.
I tend to agree with everyone else. I don't think we're gonna see Bekele on the world stage again. i'd rather bet on a 2nd coming of Haile for another World Marathon Majors win.
i don't buy into this at all. the whole you might be good on the track but won't be on the roads. thats hogwash. as Salazar said recently, running is running. Bekele is the best ever distance runner on the track and he would be the best ever 5k/10k road runner ever. the only question is just how well would his skills translate up to the marathon. i'm sure he'd show similar ability as Haile. Although XC does seem to differ from track/road running cuz the surfaces are much softer and some people (like Haile) don't achieve the same success in XC. although Bekele was the best cross country runner ever, so i'm not too worried about him switching to different types of running.
i'd love to see Bekele hit the roads after 2012, he'd be switching over younger than when Haile did and i think he'd have a very good shot at the half-marathon and marathon WR's.
Maybe he's already preparing his transition to the roads but wants to keep it secret and so he and his coach made up the injury story.
He wants to be in an amazing shape when he starts doing his first marathons and halves instead of losing many times until he gets used.
elton wrote:
MAYEROFF wrote:His 5000 record is now almost 7 years old, and the 10,000 record is in its 6th year of existence, the longest span that the 10k record has not been broken since the WWII era.
In addition to Bekele, Haile Gebrselassie and Henry Rono both held the 10,000m record for (just) over six years each. Furthermore, Ron Clarke held it for seven years, two months, and three weeks - so 26:17.53 will need to stand at least through the 2011 season for Bekele to be the longest-standing record-holder.
Anyone ever notice that this Mayeroff jackoff starts every post by talking about himself? As the poster above points out, don't expect factual accuracy from this narcissist.
the smartest letsrunner wrote:
Why? Faster at both 5k and 10k. Why would you not give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?
To be fair, on paper KB should be even better than Geb, because not only was he the equal on the track (I'm calling 12:37 & 26:17 equal to 12:39 & 26:22 & 3:31i), but he is clearly superior on XC, which I would think bodes well for the road.
So I guess I'm basing it off of a gut feeling that KB isn't interested in the roads, not that he is lacking the talent. Maybe he doesn't have the same fire as Geb does.
oh please wrote:
Maybe he doesn't have the same fire as Geb does.
I think this is a good point. Bekele has already had a hell of a career, three Olympic golds (including the double, which is an AMAZING feat in this day and age), the XC dominance, the World Championship success and several fantastic Golden League seasons. When compared to most top runners over the last 20 years, Bekele's career has been quite long. So maybe thinking that he's going to keep going like Geb has is somewhat delusional. After all, Geb's career has been phenomenally long, has any other runner ever been at the top for so long?
I think that Geb's durability and fire may be what put him on top of the all-time list over Bekele when we look back at it in ten years.
the smartest letsrunner wrote:
Why? Faster at both 5k and 10k. Why would you not give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?
Nutella1 wrote:
track success doesn't necessarily translate into road success. Just because Haile is/was an allrounder from the 3000 to the Marathon doesn't mean that everyone else who is a good 5k/10k runner should be a good marathoner.
First of all, don't distort my argument. I asked about the half. Look up.
Second of all, I'm not talking about "everyone else who is a good 5k/10k runner." I'm talking about a guy who comprehensively dominated that 5k and more importantly the 10k, and whose, um, world records in the events are completely unsniffed currently.
So, accepting that track success doesn't always mean road success (although for KB you might say he did OK in XC), please answer my question (pay close attention): "why would you NOT give him solid odds to go faster in at least the half marathon?"
And, in the meantime, could you please name some other <26:30 10k runners, or even sub-26:40 guys, who couldn't "translate to road success." Because I think history is kicking your ass right now.
Whoa there, cowboy. I never claimed to know everything, all I said was that I heard from a very reliable and connected coach that Bekele tested positive in 2009. Now obviously I am not going to reveal my source, as not only was I told in confidence, but it would also indubitably ruin the coach's career. I will tell you, however, that the coach is in very close contact with Bekele's coach. I'm not saying anything is definite, I never did. It's just suspicious though. I also heard that one of the same doctors in the Ethiopian camp was integral in the doping of the Germans before the wall dropped. Is this true? I have no idea. If it were, would it be suspicious? Yes. Do I have anything besides my own suspicion and someone else's word? No. It's just a rumor, treat it like so. Besides, one person's opinion counts for nothing.
And for the record, need I point you to the URL at the top of the page? This is letsrun, people make loose doping allegations all the time.
It's not the first time either:
you have no guts. bring it
laxmack117 wrote:
In a interview on the BBC a few weeks ago he said he feels this will be the last year he feels he will be able to break his 5k or 10k records. If he is not back to old form this year then he will probably never get back to that form. Either way he will still be a damn fine runner kicking Americans asses in every race.
If he can even sniff his records again this year he is a sure bet for Gold the next three years.
I assume he will never set another PR on the track but his 10K PR is nearly 40 seconds faster than last year's #1 time in the world.
He doesn't have to come all the way back to win a World Championship Gold.
Some Kid wrote:
... I never claimed to know everything, all I said was that I heard from a very reliable and connected coach that Bekele tested positive in 2009... I'm not saying anything is definite, I never did. It's just suspicious though. I also heard that one of the same doctors in the Ethiopian camp was integral in the doping of the Germans before the wall dropped. Is this true? I have no idea. If it were, would it be suspicious? Yes. Do I have anything besides my own suspicion and someone else's word? No. It's just a rumor, treat it like so. Besides, one person's opinion counts for nothing...
thread=1394157
You never said anything is definite. That's true. What you said was "If [Bekele] is not back for Worlds...no matter the excuse, I'll be 100% convinced that he's, as Letsrun so lightly puts it, 'doped to the gills.'"
He's injured
There really are a load of pathetic muppets on here
Delighting in someones supposed demise will not improve your own sorry performances
Just accept your own athletics failure and stop trying to project