I know this sounds stupid, but it’s not a guarantee that Jakob could do what Nico just did after running all the rounds of the 1500. Nico is a real contender to win, he closed in 1:54 flat-1:53 high in a 12:45 race.
Jakob is injured. He is not currently the favorite.
True, we’ll have to see whether he bounces back as usual or not.
Nobody has mentioned this but Mehary and Kuma Girma, two teens were right behind Nico and ran 12:45-12:46. Impressive, but do you really think those two are challenging Jakob? We need some relative comparisons here. You American fanboys are ridiculous
I think most people are excited about Nico contending for a medal period. Girma and Mehary are medal contenders in Tokyo absolutely. You realize last year the top 4 had Lobalu (beaten badly here despite PBing), Fisher (doubling back), Kwemoi (lol).
Nico is quickly becoming one of my favourite athletes. His run in Paris was so gutsy, it makes him easy to root for. And kicking down a strong field to win a DL 5k in 12:45 is so impressive. This was the kid who didn't have a kick in college, right?
Maybe, but it's not any better than Gebriwhet running 12:36 last year and then not even medalling. Or Aregawi closing a 12:40 in similar splits. Jakob is still a level ahead.
Just because the Ethiopians don’t peak well, doesn’t mean that Nico won’t either. Time and time again the Ethiopian’s race splits have been much better early/mid season vs in the actual championship races. Most of them also have worse leg speed than Nico, meaning he should be able to close better than most in a championship style race (also just look at how he closed that GST 3000, he’s got insane wheels this year). That being said Jakob is still the favorite, but he’s going to have to really work for it to win.
Oh boy, you guys are extremely biased. Is George Mills gonna make Jakob work for it too?
Alright, just gotta criticize Hagos here. Guy skips the GST meets (personal reasons, sure), all to...leave Yomif completely out to dry after free-loading off him last year? Mills, Girma, Mehary all did some help at the front (even if the latter two didn't push it much). I'm certainly rooting for Telahun Haile Bekele, Barega or Aregawi to snipe that last Ethiopian 5K spot. I'm presuming Kejelcha will stay on in the 10,000, but I'm not impressed with Hagos one bit.
Alright, just gotta criticize Hagos here. Guy skips the GST meets (personal reasons, sure), all to...leave Yomif completely out to dry after free-loading off him last year? Mills, Girma, Mehary all did some help at the front (even if the latter two didn't push it much). I'm certainly rooting for Telahun Haile Bekele, Barega or Aregawi to snipe that last Ethiopian 5K spot. I'm presuming Kejelcha will stay on in the 10,000, but I'm not impressed with Hagos one bit.
Yeah. It doesn't seem like the Ethiopian guys like to work together anymore like they did a decade ago. A lot more in house fighting to see who's top dog. This is an individual sport, so I'm not hating on them. It's just different from when guys would openly pace Bekele and Geb.
"I am only 18 so it is exciting to be here, it is my first time in Oslo and I like it very much. I feel really good about that run, I very much enjoyed it and I did not expect that time - it is a nice personal best that shows my training has gone well. It was amazing to run against and beat so many great competitors, and I am very happy with my finish - it gave me a good feeling to finish so strong. Next, I will race in the Eugene Diamond League and I hope to run like that again, tonight gives me big confidence."
-So perhaps the Ethiopians will use the Kenyan 10K Trials there as their own selection race, too unofficially. Because there's no other event at Pre Mehary would be running.
Alright, just gotta criticize Hagos here. Guy skips the GST meets (personal reasons, sure), all to...leave Yomif completely out to dry after free-loading off him last year? Mills, Girma, Mehary all did some help at the front (even if the latter two didn't push it much). I'm certainly rooting for Telahun Haile Bekele, Barega or Aregawi to snipe that last Ethiopian 5K spot. I'm presuming Kejelcha will stay on in the 10,000, but I'm not impressed with Hagos one bit.
Yeah. It doesn't seem like the Ethiopian guys like to work together anymore like they did a decade ago. A lot more in house fighting to see who's top dog. This is an individual sport, so I'm not hating on them. It's just different from when guys would openly pace Bekele and Geb.
At least partly explained by the fact that there just isn't a clear top performer. I'm sure Sileshi Sihine wanted to win gold in all his silver medal races, but that never really looked possible.
(How crazy good is that career, though. 10,000m bronze in Paris 2003, silver in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 - that's every global championship 10,000m from 2004 to 2008 including two Olympics.)
Alright, just gotta criticize Hagos here. Guy skips the GST meets (personal reasons, sure), all to...leave Yomif completely out to dry after free-loading off him last year? Mills, Girma, Mehary all did some help at the front (even if the latter two didn't push it much). I'm certainly rooting for Telahun Haile Bekele, Barega or Aregawi to snipe that last Ethiopian 5K spot. I'm presuming Kejelcha will stay on in the 10,000, but I'm not impressed with Hagos one bit.
None of them really helped at the front. Kejelcha stepped aside, let them lead, but they immediately let the pace slow
Alright, just gotta criticize Hagos here. Guy skips the GST meets (personal reasons, sure), all to...leave Yomif completely out to dry after free-loading off him last year? Mills, Girma, Mehary all did some help at the front (even if the latter two didn't push it much). I'm certainly rooting for Telahun Haile Bekele, Barega or Aregawi to snipe that last Ethiopian 5K spot. I'm presuming Kejelcha will stay on in the 10,000, but I'm not impressed with Hagos one bit.
Yeah. It doesn't seem like the Ethiopian guys like to work together anymore like they did a decade ago. A lot more in house fighting to see who's top dog. This is an individual sport, so I'm not hating on them. It's just different from when guys would openly pace Bekele and Geb.
Tbh, you're going back quite a bit further than a decade to the days of Sihine. They've never really worked together since then, and I guess you'd say why should they? It's an individual sport. Even Mills taking it on for the last km tonight, he wasn't doing that to help the field run a quick time, he was doing it because he wanted the British record and could probably feel it slipping away.