Kenenisa Bekele: how soon will he totally annihilate the distance WR's?

Vipam: Geb will beat Bekele at worlds.

MacKenzie and middle distance

I am not attacking either one of you as you both have intelligent responses and interesting post; however, I strongly disagree with you both. The Kenyans outnumbered Bekele at the World X-Country in all four races the last two years (the Kenyans were the team that forced the pace) and Bekele won. It wouldn't surprise me if Geb did try and beat Bekele and not medal at all at the Worlds. Bekele may lose one race when he try to double in the 5000m and 10000m but he will definitely win two medals a gold and perhaps another gold. Bekele is playing his I am not invincible card as long as people fall for it, remember food poisoning episode at the Worlds and an easy repeat.

I EXPECT BEKELE TO LOSE IN ONE BIG MEET BEFORE THE WORLDS (to show a sign of weakness) and GO ON TO PERFORM GREATLY AT THE WORLDS.

Just watch and see!

Vipam

He says he's not running the 5k:

"In Paris at the World Championships I will only compete in the 10,000m because doubling up with the 5000m would be too difficult"

You think he's bluffing?

I don't know if you guys have actually watched the race on TV or if you have just seen the results. In my opinion, if Chebii (who finished 4th) would have timed his kick for home a bit better he would have definitely won the race. The way he opened up this gap was amazing and Kenenisa had no chance to go with him. If Chebii would have kicked with 200m to go instead of 250m to go, he would have won it. And I'm sure he will next time!! Reading some of the messages it sounds like Keninisa was so much better than say Sammy or Chebii - I don't think so.

I will second that, Haile will beat Bekele at world.

Assessor wrote:

Bekele did last year what Tergat never did, nor could do- won both races easily. If Tergat could run 26:29,

Your point is moot, since Tergat never attempted both races. It's like saying that Bekele's not even close to Tergat because he hasn't won 5 straight titles. Also, it's 26:27.

Kenenisa, Hicham, Edith Masai, Gete Wami, and Paula Radcliffe will all SHOCK the athletic world in 2003!!!

Vipam

It's halfway through 2003...let's check on Vipam's predictions.

Kenenisa: Collected another XC double, then OUTKICKED Geb at 10,000m. Shocking? Yep - a runner who can do that can be one of the greatest ever.

El G: Stepped up to the 5,000, ran 12:50 (faster than any time in 2001 or 2002) in a narrow loss to Cherono. Shocking? Somewhat - El G has awesome speed, and with the mileage (upwards of 100mpw, I believe) he does anyway, he SHOULD be able to run great 5,000 times. Nonetheless, he had talked about this after his 2001 gold at Worlds, then he hadn't tried the 5,000 in 2002, which justifiably made people wonder if he could really do it. Which event is he running at Worlds?

Masai: I don't know. Someone help me out on this one.

Gete Wami: Out (pregnancy).

Radcliffe: 2:15:25 in London. Shocking? Yep - an American MAN who could do that would be on the Worlds team. This performance is analogous to Geb or Khannouchi breaking 2:04.

middle distance

yes regardless of what Kenenisa is saying he have every intention of doubling in the 5000m and 10000m. If he wins the 10000m he will definitely go for the double!

v

Vipam

last chance for the opposition to retain some type of psychological leveling field by beating Kenenisa today. If the young ethopian wins against another strong field he may just demoralize his opponents psychologically.

outsprintingthewind

It finally seems that this site members and orginator has finally grasped what psycho Vipam has been saying for over a year-Kenenisa is incredible. Whats Geb problem saying he wants to win the 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m at this Olympiad (St. Denis site under stories/news), there is no 3000m in the Olympics?!

outsprintingthewind

I look for Kenenisa Bekele and Paula Radcliffe to attempt the 5000m and 10000m double at the 2003 World Championships (especially if the they win their first contested event)!

Vipam

Geb will show what he has tomorrow at the St. Denis meet and I bet he pops a 12:50 or faster. The matchup with Bekele and Geb July 11 will be better than their first track matchup. I am going with Geb over Bekele this time because I think Geb will force the pace (sub 12:40 pace and try to hold it) from the gun to try and break Bekele. I know Vipam, MacKenzie, and red dragon will go with Bekele but does anyone else think Geb can win?

SilentStorm

As much as I would like to hope the race will not just be a Kenenisa vs Geb matchup on July 11. The race also includes Sammy Kipketer, Abraham Chebii, and Eluid Kipchoge. With the right (Pace and a perfect move) tactics one of the Kenyans can steal the race.

Vipam

As a side note, this weekend I saw a DVD of Daniel Komen's 12:45 5km where he ran the legs right out from under Haile. After reaching 2 miles in a very quick pace he injected a 58 second lap and then kept up the pressure, causing him & Geb to pull away from the field. With a lap to go, Haile was right on Daniel's tail and you would fully expect him to be able to out kick the young Kenyan and yet he was unable to. This is an example of racing and superior tactics on the day. No single runner is so dominant that they cannot fall prey to superior tactics. I think that this is why this year's world championships will be so very, very exciting.

One "tactic" you don't mention is that Geb had just returned from his honeymoon and had not done much training. Still, I saw that race on tv and when Komen kicked with 200 left, Geb totally rigged up and had to jog in.

Even though Chebeii has outkicked Geb, Geb is tough and he'll learn and come back from it. Bekele has to be the favorite, with Chebeii being the best chance of crashing the ethiopian party, even if Sammy is all in all better, Chebeii has all the tools to pull big upsets with his leaving the cannon type acceleration. Geb still has a great kick, but other guys kicks are good enough that he will have to use other tactics for his kick to always be successful. Race should be up there with any of the fields they've ever had at Zurich.

Did you mention Haile and Kenenisa racing on July 11, where?

Hope my guy(Haile) beat Kenenisa.

Golden Gala meet in Rome. I hope Haile wins too. Unfortunately, I think Chebii will beat both Haile and Bekele.

broomfieldrunner wrote:

Did you mention Haile and Kenenisa racing on July 11, where?

Hope my guy(Haile) beat Kenenisa.

My good friend Rich Castro says "no way". You should listen to him. ;-)

Perhaps you would like to make a bet on this broomfieldrunner?