Are you kidding me? Mo Farah ducks competition again - won't run DL final

Area Man wrote:

In every other sport, people are happy when a favorite athlete gets a big contract ora lot of prize money. Running is the sole exception, the only sport where people get despised for earning money, where fans want to see athletes live in poverty. It's cruel.

Athletes in other sports actually compete for the money.

Area Man wrote:

dkny64 wrote:

For which he is no doubt being paid a very large appearance fee.

In every other sport, people are happy when a favorite athlete gets a big contract ora lot of prize money. Running is the sole exception, the only sport where people get despised for earning money, where fans want to see athletes live in poverty. It's cruel.

I'm all for Mo making lots of money. What I dislike about Mo is that he seems to put maximizing income from appearance fees ahead of building his legacy as a competitor [which could actually make him more money in the long run.]

Geb and K Bekele in their best years made lots of money. They also made many world record attempts and participated in plenty of fast, non-championship races.

Mo is a very talented runner who's demonstrated he knows how to win major championship races. Could he have broken Komen's 3000m WR last year? Maybe, but we'll never know because he was too busy taking a big pay day to run that pointless Great North exhibition against a masters runner [Geb] and a guy coming back from injury [K Bekele.] And to top it all of he didn't even win.

braveheart wrote:

I've got three words for you.

"Not Farah Certified"

The phrase is "Not Duck Certified."

Farah is not 100%. He doesn't want to race and lose. For schmucks like us, it doesn't matter if our lifetime PB is 32:00 for 10km and we go out and get crushed running a 33:30. No one will give a damn. For Farah, it calls into question is supremacy and may detract from sponsorship. It's a savvy move.

Farah was a reasonably prolific racer when he was in great shape and never ducked the competition. Yes, Bekele and Gebreselassie raced a ton in their heyday, but even Bekele raced sparingly after he started to slide (think post Beijing Olympics). Geb is one of the few that kept racing even when he started losing, but he had ridiculous consistency and also had the excuse of being forty years old when he started to slide.

Give the man a break.

asdfasdfasdfasdfasdf wrote:

Farah is not 100%. He doesn't want to race and lose. For schmucks like us, it doesn't matter if our lifetime PB is 32:00 for 10km and we go out and get crushed running a 33:30. No one will give a damn. For Farah, it calls into question is supremacy and may detract from sponsorship. It's a savvy move.

Farah was a reasonably prolific racer when he was in great shape and never ducked the competition. Yes, Bekele and Gebreselassie raced a ton in their heyday, but even Bekele raced sparingly after he started to slide (think post Beijing Olympics). Geb is one of the few that kept racing even when he started losing, but he had ridiculous consistency and also had the excuse of being forty years old when he started to slide.

Give the man a break.

I don't have a problem with Mo not racing when he isn't at his best. I do have a problem with him picking off easy wins against lesser competition [at Euros] and saying he can't run a DL 5000m because it conflicts with Great North [unless Great North features a deeper field this year than it did last year.]

5 gold medals and a silver in 6 championship races is not enough to prove Farah's worth as a competitor?

What you are really saying is you want him to run for time and records. Records are not terribly realistic thanks to greats like Geb and Bekele and possibly EPO use. Since Farah's rise to world prominence in 2011 he has NEVER ran a race just to get a fast time. He is not a time-chaser. He runs only to win. You need to accept that.

Also, it is not only Farah who does not chase times. No one else in the WORLD does either. The one Paris 5k where people specifically ran fast was to so they would by selected for their Olympic teams, not for a fast time per se.

Athletes get paid appearance fees (for the superstars) and for places, not times. The only way you're going to regularly see athletes run fast is if there were a time bonus paid which is not practical since the meet promoter could not budget for it -- 2 athletes or 10 athletes could run a specified time.

ffs wrote:

Karma Police wrote:

Dodging competition? You mean like he did at the London Olympics?

i knw right!! these kid trolls have no idea how to make money...He's not yet fit, no way near 3'28 speed and they want him to man up with guys who didn't run London. Hilarious the forethought that a guy who has been injured-passed out afrte a half-then got airlift to a hospital and ran a marathon in April-and should be dominating the world again!!!!

Ask Bekele if he's running track this summer...Right after Paris he said he was going after his 10k wr. Now, nah-i've done it all dnt need to.

Hilarious that a woman who gave birth 9 months ago at the age of 40 should race herself fit and put herself on the line in two championships in a row, doubling up in the second of those championships.

I'm beginning to think Mo is after the money, and is protecting his image to do so. Of course, its up to him what races he does and when, but surely when you're in the best running years of your life, you WANT to race as much as possible. Plus by racing he will race himself fit. Like Lynsey Sharp did. True, Mo has been ill, but he seems to all intents and purposes to have recovered and to have little reason not to get in some good races at the end of the season. He will surely have gained a lot of fitness from running the 5k and 10k at the Europeans.

Well said - there was more money back when it was the golden league as well

When you have won the Olympic and World double double you have feck all left to prove. Not all runners are time trial specialists especially if nobody is going to put up the money for it

...adn one more thing he lookes a bit rusty in the European 10,000m but in the 5,000m he was back to his best and nobody is close to him at the moment

ukathleticscoach wrote:

...adn one more thing he lookes a bit rusty in the European 10,000m but in the 5,000m he was back to his best and nobody is close to him at the moment

That 5000 was won in over 14:00 minutes. It was slower than the 10k so of course he looked better in it. Your comment about nobody being close to him is equally retarded. Never heard of Ndiku or that French steepler?

asdfasdfasdfasdfasdf wrote:

Farah was a reasonably prolific racer when he was in great shape and never ducked the competition. Yes, Bekele and Gebreselassie raced a ton in their heyday, but even Bekele raced sparingly after he started to slide (think post Beijing Olympics). Geb is one of the few that kept racing even when he started losing, but he had ridiculous consistency and also had the excuse of being forty years old when he started to slide.

Give the man a break.

Bekele didn't start to slide. He had a stress fracture and then several injuries after that. And he still came out and competed even when knowing he was out of shape. Farah hasn't even been injured and is avoiding competition.

If you have to avoid competition in order to save your confidence then you're not actually confident.

How many LR posters over 30 with a family would turn down $250K to prove a point?

Anyone?

The only events that matter in athletics are the Olympics and World Champs.

The only reasons you run any other races are:

a) To get paid

b) To get a qualifying time

c) The race is part of your training plan

d) Go for a record of some sort

Mo doesn't need to prove anything to anyone in a random DL race.

braveheart wrote:

Did anyone see the front page?

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/08/mo-farah-wont-run-marathon/

I can't believe it. Are you kidding me?

So he skips the Kenyan comp at CGs as he's not ready. Crushes the white guys at Euros and now won't race the Kenyans in the DL final.

Yes, I know he'll race in the UK in the 2 mile. But the 2mile is a made up event so a 3:28 guy can win easily.

Man up Mo.

Mo is finished.

He looked like sh|t in that painstakingly slow Euro 10k. Passing out in hotel rooms and half marathons. Very suspect.

Prediction: DNS the rest of the season unless he's put up against some prep-elite caliber two milers. Mo will sit on some kids and "crush" a 24-second last 200, grimacing the whole way as a champion does-- broken tape with an underwhelming 8:42 victory.

In the interview Mo said he will go for a fast time in the 10k at the beg of the season and for a fast time in the 5k at the end of the season

i'm looking forward to 2015 already

Marsh wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

...adn one more thing he lookes a bit rusty in the European 10,000m but in the 5,000m he was back to his best and nobody is close to him at the moment

That 5000 was won in over 14:00 minutes. It was slower than the 10k so of course he looked better in it. Your comment about nobody being close to him is equally retarded. Never heard of Ndiku or that French steepler?

Well has anyone put a fast pace to him in championship races in the past years. Nobody is up to the job. Although slow that last 1km was fast in that and there is nobody who can close that fast

He might lose to that steelplechase nut over the barries or 1500m, over 5,000m+ - no chance

Farah is still the best 5/10,000m runner in the world

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Well has anyone put a fast pace to him in championship races in the past years. Nobody is up to the job. Although slow that last 1km was fast in that and there is nobody who can close that fast

He might lose to that steelplechase nut over the barries or 1500m, over 5,000m+ - no chance

Farah is still the best 5/10,000m runner in the world

Wrong AGAIN.

That last 1000 was in 2:22. PLENTY of guys can close that fast off of 14:00+ minute pace. Every top 1500m and 5000m should be able to do close to that or even better.

And this is amongst the reasons that track won't ever get popular. It's not just Mo but he is the latest example of a champ who doesn't go against the best with the exception of when required in a world champ type race.

You see (or at least used to see) it a lot in the 100/200 races where the top guys avoid each other like the plague. As for the marathon, nobody realistically expected him to win in his debut so even though it was London with the big names, it's an easy escape but good for him for trying that one.

Mo may not be the only one who does this but it stops the sport from being really popular and stops the individuals in the sport from being popular. Hats off to guys like Rudisha who will step it up against whoever, whenever.

Look at other individual sports like Golf, Tennis and race car driving. Top guys in golf and tennis are in the same tournament a good number of times per year. NASCAR is on a weekly basis. Track doesn't get this in most cases.

LvG wrote:

The only events that matter in athletics are the Olympics and World Champs.

The only reasons you run any other races are:

a) To get paid

b) To get a qualifying time

c) The race is part of your training plan

d) Go for a record of some sort

You forgot

e) Because you like running and racing.