Helen Obiri just destroyed the CR at 5000m - CLEAN!

Don't know if it was clean, but, nevertheless, a gutsy run. Just refused to let anyone pass her.

Jo72 wrote:

Hassan's 8:18 3k somewhat early in the season is equivalent to 14:15 or so, in any case it was faster than all sub 14:20 runners ran in the 3k (except for G. Dibaba indoors). I think she could get close to the 5k WR.

Times in the 14:20s become a dime a dozen. Gidey ran it last year at 20 yo. Tirop ran it in London, Koko ran it solo, Kipkemboi got there today, 20 yo Gemechu 14:29 with a 30 sec. PB in an uneven championship race. All guaranteed clean runners. They are young and eventually they will get below 14:20.

I still don’t see it. It would take some serious serious blazing and doping.

We all know Ayana is doped. But the way she ran 5000m and 10000m was straight insane. Straight out from the start to the finish line, WR pace, and still would come up short to break 14:11.

Translating from 1 mile time to actually putting it down for 3 miles is totally different. And tirunesh’s WR wasn’t an attempt. It just happened with an insane second half split.

Maybe Hassan gets the 1500m WR with the right pacing (and dope), but 5000m and Ayana’s 10000m? Don’t see it, nor anyone in future. Unless a new kind of dope gets released .

I don't know if she could get it, but she could get pretty close. That's for sure. In the shape she is in now. The 10000m I'm less certain about. But I'm pretty sure if Ayana would have stayed injury free, with a time trail like race with good pacing, the 5000m WR would have fallen.

Wish there were video of the race

David S wrote:

Wish there were video of the race

I don't like Obiri but credit for that effort. She is a strange case because she lumbers along and sometimes you can sense she absolutely doesn't have it and will fade at the end, while in other races she keeps going and wins impressively.

There is almost never a middle ground with her in which she runs well but finishes second.

However, that would have happened in this race had Hassan entered. Obiri is no match for Hassan right now and she benefits more than anybody from Hassan's win in the 1500 today. If Hassan had lost that race she very likely would have switched to a 10,000-5000 double for Tokyo. Now she'll probably do the same program again, especially since the 1500 is more of a glamour race and she would receive more credit.

At least Klosterhalfen entered the 5000 and made Obiri earn it. It seemed very clear that Klosterhalfen was determined to pick the race that Hassan avoided.

Klosterhalfen has very poor strategic instincts at this stage of her career. It is not unlike Hassan several years ago. Klosterhalfen can make the big early sustained moves against lesser fields but somehow doesn't recognize that the same tactic won't work against premier foes. At current level she would be much better suited to draft then show her cards late.

But she doesn't have the springy athletic ability to improve as Hassan did. I think Klosterhalfen's best bet is to work on early sustained speed, like Ayana did. Basically I think that is a great tactic for just about any serious contender. These women's distance races are still slower per lap than they should be. But the number of legitimate threats during the final lap of that 5000 today demonstrated where we are headed. Very soon you won't be able to dawdle along at the old accepted standards.

I'm just enjoying the circus of Dirty Doha.

Yes, Klosterhalfen is more similar to Ayana than to any of the other top runners. This is common with Gidey who also seems a similar type. This was visible already in her frontrunning as a junior at euro XC and world juniors in 2016. NOP realized that she needed to improve her kick and she did improve from ca. 62 last laps in 2017 to 60 sec. last lap (or a wee bit faster in a not too fast 1500m race). But this is not enough against the best whereas she was more successful when in Brussels Gidey surged in the last 3 laps and Koko could simply follow (although she also made mistakes in Brussels with running way too long side by side with Obiri and later Gidey in the last two laps).

I think she simply needs more world class races and confidence.

But they also need to realize that she will never have a Muir/Houlihan/Kipyegon kick and needs to play to her strengths. This would maybe mean even earlier surges, say the last 5-6 laps of a 5k/10k in 3k pace and certainly rather last 1500m than last lap.

I absolutely love how Obiri runs and kicks. She uses her whole body, massive arm action. Brilliant competitiveness. I think Koko didn't think Obiri would have such a big kick after racing the 10,000m last week and perhaps surprised her with her strength at the end there. Regardless, she has to feel great for a bronze at this level.

Scorpion_runner wrote:

I would put everything that I own on the fact that Obiri and Kipyegon are clean. They are too adamant about running clean, and having strict drug tests.

When Rita and Jemima tested positive, obiri, keitany and kipyegon all went hard on both athletes.

Yeah...maybe they were hard on Jeptoo & Sumgong for being careless with their PED program and getting caught. ?. Btw, Keitany was listed on the FB hacked WADA "likely doping/passport suspicious" document, and in case no one has ever told you; Kenya is on the IAAF's "most likely to dope" watch list:

Horrible style. Arms flailing like windmills. Too inefficient to be the best without the usual Kenyan formula.

Actually, she reminds me of Hassan with her awful form, jerking her way down the track. Just shows that with the right kind of input - like Alberto's - these apparent defects won't hold you back.

Slow loser you must be wrote:

Also American football is a waste of athletic talent and should be banned

Well, this statement I do agree with. It's one of the silliest games I have ever seen.

Armstronglivs wrote:

Horrible style. Arms flailing like windmills. Too inefficient to be the best without the usual Kenyan formula.

Ethiopians, significantly along with those from Peru and Nepal are genetically most resistant to chronic and acute altitude sickness. Kenyans are resistant to chronic and acute altitude sickness to a lesser degree. The advantage of living at 5000ft as opposed to the higher elevations (10000ft). One can train well in that 5000ft to 8000ft range. Nike's altitude tents do not mutate genes. Neither will training at altitude several months a year.

The same Hellen Obiri who was dusted and lethargic at the 10000m was dominant in the 5000m, albeit against lesser competition with no Hassan or Gidey. How?