That was the worst 5000m final in an Olympics ever

So, if the badminton teams can be DQed for lack of effort, why can't they yank these guys off the track or DQ them afterwards? This race was contrary to the ideals of the Olympic Games.

JAVMAN83 wrote:

This whole bit of "racing" crap is why I don't respect them as they haven't earned it.

Except for the whole, like, preliminary rounds thing..

the last 2,000 meters was in 4:58

5:08 for cam levins.

good race.

Like I said in the other thread... I have no issue with this race. It was exciting, it was typical of a championship final. I like watching fast races, but I also like watching big kick finishes.

That being said, this race was handed on a silver platter to Mo. I don't know why the 12:4X Ethiopians wouldn't work together to run 13:00~ pace.

gebremeskel.. should have won that race. he was ready to kick.. but was boxed in. Poor tactics on his part.

Horrible tactics. If this race was on the roads.. g meskel would have won the race. Excellent tactics by farah.

I've run hundreds of distance races, not one tactical. And that goes for everyone I ever ran against, though admittedly that was 30 years ago.

Hopefully in four years, someone like German Fernandez will be in the race and keep the pace honest.

The Ethiopians probably think they all have a chance. Ethiopians have always run as a team but this is embarrassing... It is not like they did not know what they needed to do.

Better yet...establish times for each kilometer to be met by the leader of the field. If they don't reach that time, they re-start the race!!! That'll help enforce an honest effort rule.

kjhkjhlkjhlkjhlkjhljkhljkh wrote:

That being said, this race was handed on a silver platter to Mo. I don't know why the 12:4X Ethiopians wouldn't work together to run 13:00~ pace.

Because Mo would win at that pace as well. The only way to beat Farah is to make the race really slow and hope you have the kick of your life.

This is how championship races are run and why guys like Ron Clarke never win the big ones.

Television wrote:

I enjoyed the race. If you don't like these sorts of races then you don't like elite distance running. Calling the best athletes pussies for not running in a way that would damage their chances of winning is ridiculous. If you want to watch a race were people go all out all time I suggest you watch NASCAR. If you like tactics and nuance, watch running.

I'm getting sick of explaining my position on this one. What about the race did you enjoy? It wasn't exciting at all (unless you were British), it wasn't all that impressive of finish considering what others have done in the past in much faster races. I love tactical races too, I just like them like Bekele in 2008 or Kipchoge in 2003 WC. 2000 Olympic 10000m, tactial, with an insanely close finish. Today we knew the medals at 250 out. Nothing changed.

Funny you complain about "the race". Who is "the race"? I only saw runners on the track, and the best man on the day won it. Perhaps the others messed up their tactics, but that's their fault - doesn't take anything away from the winners.

Mo Farah probably has to thank Galen Rupp, who came to the front, blocking any challengers on the bend with about 600m to go. He could have perhaps held back a little longer, but unlike the 10,000m, there were some better kickers in this race, so he probably did not have a chance at a medal in this race, anyway.

jknasjngasjl wrote:

This is how championship races are run and why guys like Ron Clarke never win the big ones.

That's right to some degree. Clarke had other issues that kept him from performing is best on race day.

There is a reason we see all those pace makers in diamond league races. A steady diet of this kind of race is not very entertaining, imo. Maybe I'm not a purist. But I doubt I'm in the minority. That was boring.

J.R. wrote:

It was a race full of losers.

The least worst loser finished first.

So roughly 20 Olympians are losers............what would that make you??

Pre would have blown a gasket if had run in this race. What ever happened to "honest effort?" This race reminded me of the Individual Sprint cycling event in the velodrome.

to have a great race you need at least two great contender... it was not the case today...

Dennis Reynolds wrote:

Television wrote:

I enjoyed the race. If you don't like these sorts of races then you don't like elite distance running. Calling the best athletes pussies for not running in a way that would damage their chances of winning is ridiculous. If you want to watch a race were people go all out all time I suggest you watch NASCAR. If you like tactics and nuance, watch running.

I'm getting sick of explaining my position on this one. What about the race did you enjoy? It wasn't exciting at all (unless you were British), it wasn't all that impressive of finish considering what others have done in the past in much faster races. I love tactical races too, I just like them like Bekele in 2008 or Kipchoge in 2003 WC. 2000 Olympic 10000m, tactial, with an insanely close finish. Today we knew the medals at 250 out. Nothing changed.

Your argument is illogical. Because the lead never changed in the last 400(as a matter of fact, it did) it is not exciting?

Moron

Yes Pre would have blown a gasket . He would also have been blown away by that field. Salazar trained both Mo and Rupp to be able to hang on to any fast pace but also to be able to run sub 53 if if it was very fast. No one was going out to set themselves up by taking it out hard in the Olympic final and we got a true championship 5k with the last mile being under 4 minutes. Rupp was obviously feeling the effect of earlier races but the way Mo controlled over the final stages was awesome .Salazar has had a load of stick from various trolls on this website and I hope they are sick to the core at him proving he is one of the best coaches ever.

Slowest since 1968. Perhaps the tactical nature of these races comes from the fact there is great parity among the runners - more so than at any previous time. No one is confident that they can win on stamina alone, and all of them have pretty good speed.