Birdbeard you are wrong. Daniel Komen ran 3:29, 3:46, 7:20 and 12:39. This places him as a peer of Geb and Kenenisa when all were in peak form. There is no argument here. Daniel would defeat both of them at 1500m and 3000m. At 5000m is where I do believe Kenenisa has a very slight advantage over the other two. At 10000m the advantage goes to the two Ethiopians. At their peaks they are peers. The issue is that Daniel did not have longevity. However the best runners who have ever lived have taken a crack at 7:20 and they cannot do it. The super spikes may eventually change that.
not taking anything way from Komen's 3,000m but if you actually look at any of Bekele's quick 3,000m races, none were real attempts to go after his record or were plagued with terrible pacing.
not taking anything way from Komen's 3,000m but if you actually look at any of Bekele's quick 3,000m races, none were real attempts to go after his record or were plagued with terrible pacing.
Excuses. Daniel didn’t need them.
yeah, it's an excuse. Komen had good pacing and he hung on for a great record. But watch any of these and can you honestly say that Bekele was attempting to break the record? They were just regular races in which he just finished so fast that they were in that 7:25-7:26 range.
Bekele 7:25,79 3000 metros Estocolmo 2007 - YouTube Kenessia Bekele's dominant 3000m in 2007.avi - YouTube Bekele 3000 m 7 26 69 Sheffield 2007 - YouTube
Bekele was great, but there was at least one runner in history that could have beaten him that day, and that runner is Daniel Komen.
Man, people love to romanticize Daniel Komen. This is a guy that had about 2 peak years of running, never won an Olympic medal, and only held the 5000 world record for under a year. Watch Haile crush Komen in setting the WR in 12:41 in 1997:
None can deny that he is the 3000 meter GOAT -- there were some others that I do think could have given his records a scare and probably beaten him in a 3000 race if they focused on it the way he did: El G, Lagat, Jakob. But not many.
But the idea that he holds a candle to Bekele or even Geb over 5000 is silly, particularly in a 5000 like the Beijing race.
Funny you should link a video of this particular meet, considering it’s the same one where Komen dropped Geb with a 12:45 the previous year.
The Zurich race in 1997 where Geb “crushed” Komen was part of a larger series of incredible performances all within a very short timeframe:
Aug 10 - 13:07 Athens (WC gold)
Aug 13 - 12:44 Zurich (2nd to Geb)
Aug 16 - 3:29 Monte Carlo (1st)
Aug 22 - 12:39 Brussels (WR)
Aug 26 - 3:46 Berlin (2nd to El G)
Look at that string of races and try to think of anyone who could match it. Komen’s 1997 season alone is enough to make him one of the greatest of all time (don’t forget he broke 8:00 for 2 miles in July of that year).
Komen was the first man to break 12:40 and you’re saying he can’t hold a candle to Geb or Bekele over 5k? He may not have had their longevity or championship success, but in terms of pure ability he was absolutely on their level.
Ismael Kirui runs one of the most memorable front running performances in history as he holds off the great Haile Gebrselassie to win the World title and in ...
Man, people love to romanticize Daniel Komen. This is a guy that had about 2 peak years of running, never won an Olympic medal, and only held the 5000 world record for under a year. Watch Haile crush Komen in setting the WR in 12:41 in 1997:
None can deny that he is the 3000 meter GOAT -- there were some others that I do think could have given his records a scare and probably beaten him in a 3000 race if they focused on it the way he did: El G, Lagat, Jakob. But not many.
But the idea that he holds a candle to Bekele or even Geb over 5000 is silly, particularly in a 5000 like the Beijing race.
Funny you should link a video of this particular meet, considering it’s the same one where Komen dropped Geb with a 12:45 the previous year.
The Zurich race in 1997 where Geb “crushed” Komen was part of a larger series of incredible performances all within a very short timeframe:
Aug 10 - 13:07 Athens (WC gold)
Aug 13 - 12:44 Zurich (2nd to Geb)
Aug 16 - 3:29 Monte Carlo (1st)
Aug 22 - 12:39 Brussels (WR)
Aug 26 - 3:46 Berlin (2nd to El G)
Look at that string of races and try to think of anyone who could match it. Komen’s 1997 season alone is enough to make him one of the greatest of all time (don’t forget he broke 8:00 for 2 miles in July of that year).
Komen was the first man to break 12:40 and you’re saying he can’t hold a candle to Geb or Bekele over 5k? He may not have had their longevity or championship success, but in terms of pure ability he was absolutely on their level.
That string of performances should be humanly impossible
Love that race, pure guts from Kirui running alone out front and holding on. While we are on the subject of great races Ill submit '03 World Champs Steeplechase. WR pace early on, animosty between athletes due to Shaheens citizenship change days earlier, and a thrilling final sprint.
Kenya vs "The Traitor". A very weird race.Follow me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GoldenAgeOfDistanceRunning?fref=nfhttp://www.goldenageofdistanceru...
It was an incredible run. He learned the hard way in 2003 and 2004 not to leave a championship 5k to any kickers.
This is why that 2008 race so great. Kipchoge and El G are two of the greatest runners ever. But it stung for Bekele to lose to them them in the 5000 - his event.
And he didn’t want Lagat on his shoulder off a slow pace. So Bekele went out easy and then turned the screws, going faster and faster. It’s like he was saying, keep up with this.
The dominance from start to finish. The quality of opponents. The last 5 laps. Look at the power on the backstretch of the last lap. Wowwwwww!
Unmatched in all my years of fandom.
Willing to banter over other’s favorites if you find a worthy challenger, but for my money the guy who won that race on that day is the greatest distance runner of all time and that was his grandest performance.
Amazing performance, but Rudisha in London 2012 was even greater.
In terms of an actual race, I’ll also vote of Kipchoge’s WC win in 2003 and El G’s 1500 win in Athens as the two greatest races I’ve watched in terms of an uncertain finish until the very end against the best competition on the biggest stages.
For this criteria, I'd say include Gebrselassie vs Tergat Sydney 2000
I agree with you up to a point but have to stick with Ngugi as the most audacious performance in an Olympic final. Ismael Kirui at the 2003 worlds is the only other that even comes close.
Better video of the Ngugi performance (in two parts) Sheer balls.
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How about Bekele’s Worlds 10k victory in 2003? He ran 26:49 but his final 5k was something absurd like 12:57. He and Gebrselassie are still the only ones to run a sub-13 split in a sub-27 10k as far as I know.
Also should mention his 2009 5k win over Lagat in Berlin. Such an exciting race, especially over the last 100 meters.
Look at that string of races and try to think of anyone who could match it. Komen’s 1997 season alone is enough to make him one of the greatest of all time (don’t forget he broke 8:00 for 2 miles in July of that year).
Komen was the first man to break 12:40 and you’re saying he can’t hold a candle to Geb or Bekele over 5k? He may not have had their longevity or championship success, but in terms of pure ability he was absolutely on their level.
I think you're a little blinded by your love of Komen.
You've cherry-picked his best string of races and yet you've still only managed to come up with a 60% win rate; that's hardly GOAT territory.
He was a phenomenal athlete, but the dude never dominated for any significant period of time. Even at his best, he would often lose races.
Geb won 4 World Championship 10,000m in a row - with 2 Olympic golds sprinkled in (along with setting the WR at 5 and 10).
Bekele went something like 8 years without losing a 10,000m race (won 3 Olympic gold medals and 5 WC gold medals), along with WRs at 5 and 10.
Look at that string of races and try to think of anyone who could match it. Komen’s 1997 season alone is enough to make him one of the greatest of all time (don’t forget he broke 8:00 for 2 miles in July of that year).
Komen was the first man to break 12:40 and you’re saying he can’t hold a candle to Geb or Bekele over 5k? He may not have had their longevity or championship success, but in terms of pure ability he was absolutely on their level.
I think you're a little blinded by your love of Komen.
You've cherry-picked his best string of races and yet you've still only managed to come up with a 60% win rate; that's hardly GOAT territory.
He was a phenomenal athlete, but the dude never dominated for any significant period of time. Even at his best, he would often lose races.
Geb won 4 World Championship 10,000m in a row - with 2 Olympic golds sprinkled in (along with setting the WR at 5 and 10).
Bekele went something like 8 years without losing a 10,000m race (won 3 Olympic gold medals and 5 WC gold medals), along with WRs at 5 and 10.
How is your reading comprehension? Komen wins World Championship Gold on 8/13. Then on 8/16 he does lose to Geb BUT he runs 12:44, and you are criticizing him for losing? Then 4 days after running 12:39 Komen loses a mile to Hicham and you are criticizing him despite the fact he ran 3:46? Komen was losing races while not fresh to the best runners who have ever lived, and he was as good as they were.
Bekele was great, but there was at least one runner in history that could have beaten him that day, and that runner is Daniel Komen.
Man, people love to romanticize Daniel Komen. This is a guy that had about 2 peak years of running, never won an Olympic medal, and only held the 5000 world record for under a year. Watch Haile crush Komen in setting the WR in 12:41 in 1997:
None can deny that he is the 3000 meter GOAT -- there were some others that I do think could have given his records a scare and probably beaten him in a 3000 race if they focused on it the way he did: El G, Lagat, Jakob. But not many.
But the idea that he holds a candle to Bekele or even Geb over 5000 is silly, particularly in a 5000 like the Beijing race.
I think you're a little blinded by your love of Komen.
You've cherry-picked his best string of races and yet you've still only managed to come up with a 60% win rate; that's hardly GOAT territory.
He was a phenomenal athlete, but the dude never dominated for any significant period of time. Even at his best, he would often lose races.
Geb won 4 World Championship 10,000m in a row - with 2 Olympic golds sprinkled in (along with setting the WR at 5 and 10).
Bekele went something like 8 years without losing a 10,000m race (won 3 Olympic gold medals and 5 WC gold medals), along with WRs at 5 and 10.
How is your reading comprehension? Komen wins World Championship Gold on 8/13. Then on 8/16 he does lose to Geb BUT he runs 12:44, and you are criticizing him for losing? Then 4 days after running 12:39 Komen loses a mile to Hicham and you are criticizing him despite the fact he ran 3:46? Komen was losing races while not fresh to the best runners who have ever lived, and he was as good as they were.
My reading comprehension is just fine. I don't believe I said anything out of place, so I think maybe you should question own ability to comprehend.
The post is about the greatest of all time. The greatest of all time, in any field, doesn't get beaten 40% of the time when they're at their absolute peak.
People have listed at least 5 different runners - on this very post - with better records and better winning rates against the best in the world for significantly longer portions of time, and yet you still continue to argue that he was as good as them.
The history of running is littered with athletes who bob up and run extraordinary times but then disappear a year or so later. To be eligible for GOAT status, you need sustained dominance as well as a long list of achievements. Komen doesn't make the cut.
