Bekele is BACK

george oscar bluth wrote:

Kicker12345 wrote:

27:51 roughly for bekele, breaks the course record by 45 seconds or so. This is a tough course with lots of hills and looked very windy. He beats lamdassen by about 55 seconds, meucci by about 60 and jesus espana by over 90. Looks like we have a new favourite for the distance events in London.

No, we have the same favourite. If you didn't think that Bekele was going to win the 10000m this year, you don't know much about running.

I know plenty about running. You would be hard pushed to make Bekele the favourite before today. Given his lengthy absence, injury problems, and woeful performance in Edinburgh, Farah or Jeilan seemed a more likely gold medallist. That's all changed now though, today showed he's had a good Spring. Another good three months of health and he'll be very very tough to beat in London.

Kicker12345 wrote:

I know plenty about running. You would be hard pushed to make Bekele the favourite before today. Given his lengthy absence, injury problems, and woeful performance in Edinburgh, Farah or Jeilan seemed a more likely gold medallist. That's all changed now though, today showed he's had a good Spring. Another good three months of health and he'll be very very tough to beat in London.

Agree to disagree. Expecting him to win the World Champs last year would have been a stretch, as he had been out for so long. But, he showed he still had it a couple weeks later with a dominant 10000m victory, proving that, so long as he stayed healthy through 2012, no one, certainly not Ibrahim or Mo, was going to beat him on the biggest of stages. His run today is nothing shocking and changes nothing. He's the best 10000m runner of all-time, of course he can dispense a field like that with relative ease. Notice that others have agreed that Bekele has been the favourite all along.

lol

What are you trying to say? wrote:

I <3 Tacos wrote:

You do realize this is a hilly road 10k right?

Do you have reading comprehension problems?

Seriously dude, get a clue.

Kicker12345 wrote:

I know plenty about running. You would be hard pushed to make Bekele the favourite before today. Given his lengthy absence, injury problems, and woeful performance in Edinburgh, Farah or Jeilan seemed a more likely gold medallist. That's all changed now though, today showed he's had a good Spring. Another good three months of health and he'll be very very tough to beat in London.

You've got to be kidding.

Having some doubts about Bekele is one thing. Saying, "You would be hard pushed to make Bekele the favourite before today." is quite another.

1) Bekele is clearly the best 10000 m runner of all time.

2) Bekele is only turning 30 this year.

3) Bekele had the fastest time in the world last year.

Ummm...I'd say most people considered him the favorite before today. I know I did and most of the (running) folks that I know did as well.

+1

Bekele is the man. Can't wait for London...

he ran 26:41 or so last year after world's. a healthy bekele was always going to be the favorite at world's this year. but let's see what it all means on the track.

yooooooooo wrote:

show me a focking video

!v=1145092

Next time, say "please".

The reason I wouldn't have him as favourite BEFORE today was because of his injury problems and recent run in edinburgh. You can be pretty sure Farah and co would show up in 26:30-40 shape in London, but the chances of bekele being in better shape than that were below 50pc, UNTIL TODAY. In my opinion, that made farah or jeilan the favourite. Knowing the shape bekele is in now, and the fact that he seems to have a handle on his injury problems, of course he is now the favourite. He is the far superior athlete to any of them at his best. It's just a question of if he can get to london in that shape. Lets hope he does.

Let's hope he does. It is also Rupp's best hope for a good place, because it will mean that the pace will be very high. Bekele will not want Farah or 2-3 Kenyans with him on the last lap in the 10000, or Lagat in the 5000 for that matter. Despite his recent indoor losses, I am sure Farah will be in top form in London, but Bekele now looks like a favorite, even against the field. Not only was his victory margin impressive today, or the fact that he won over runners to whom he lost badly in Edinburgh, he also looked super-fluid and relaxed all the way through.

I am curious whether we will see a matchup of Mo Farah - Bekele in any of the Diamond League events prior to the Olympics.

I just watched the video of his race.

That was utterly phenomenal. He looked incredibly powerful. It seemed like he was sprinting the whole way.

now that bekele is back and the ethiopian marathoners have teh top half dozen times of the year...looks like there is a good change kenya wins zero golds in mens athletics in London - how much would that suck for them.

maybe kiprop in the 1500 is still a likely gold, but not by much - a championship 1500 is much luck - I would never bet on that race.

a good CHANCE Kenya wins zero golds, I meant to type.

agip wrote:

now that bekele is back and the ethiopian marathoners have teh top half dozen times of the year...looks like there is a good change kenya wins zero golds in mens athletics in London - how much would that suck for them.

maybe kiprop in the 1500 is still a likely gold, but not by much - a championship 1500 is much luck - I would never bet on that race.

Rudisha 1:41.01 from kenya is almost a lock in for gold.

Kicker12345 wrote:

The reason I wouldn't have him as favourite BEFORE today was because of his injury problems and recent run in edinburgh. You can be pretty sure Farah and co would show up in 26:30-40 shape in London, but the chances of bekele being in better shape than that were below 50pc, UNTIL TODAY. In my opinion, that made farah or jeilan the favourite. Knowing the shape bekele is in now, and the fact that he seems to have a handle on his injury problems, of course he is now the favourite. He is the far superior athlete to any of them at his best. It's just a question of if he can get to london in that shape. Lets hope he does.

So the general consensus is that everyone else already considered Bekele to be the favorite and you are just now getting on board.

What about the WR holder and World Champion in the 800? Gold and Silver medalists in the 1500. Soi, Kipchoge, or Choge in the 5,000. The fastest marathoners of all time. Surely, they've got a strong chance at picking up some hardware.

agip wrote:

now that bekele is back and the ethiopian marathoners have teh top half dozen times of the year...looks like there is a good change kenya wins zero golds in mens athletics in London - how much would that suck for them.

maybe kiprop in the 1500 is still a likely gold, but not by much - a championship 1500 is much luck - I would never bet on that race.

Rudisha is the favourite over Aman/Kaki/Kszcot.

WHAT A GUY!

Watch that video and tell me he isn't the best.

henrybish wrote:

I just watched the video of his race.

That was utterly phenomenal. He looked incredibly powerful. It seemed like he was sprinting the whole way.

How often do you get to see someone like Bekele blow by hobby joggers and charity runners? Cool video.