He’s scared to run a real marathon. Just wants to time trial or run a cheater race to have the general population think he legitimately ran under 2hrs.
Please explain what is "good for the sports" and give one example of an elite athlete who put "good for sports" ahead of his/her own goals and dreams.
Imagine you are 37 years old and you have two goals and you want to achieve both:
1. break WR again
2. win Boston / NYC
How would you do it?
It is an interesting commentary on what Kipchoge values more, or what he thinks is harder to get done. He’s fit for a wr I guess, and now is the time and that window is going to close on him before grinding out a win in NY or Boston. This is what the goat is telling us and he knows far better than any of us do.
Boring. I used to watch these Kipchoge time trials, but 5 years of the same thing and I don’t care much any more.
Maybe this gets lots of hype in Europe where admittedly they have a much better endurance sport fan base, but idk. Sucks for the many American fans like myself that would love to see him on a tough historic course and unpaced.
Please explain what is "good for the sports" and give one example of an elite athlete who put "good for sports" ahead of his/her own goals and dreams.
Imagine you are 37 years old and you have two goals and you want to achieve both:
1. break WR again
2. win Boston / NYC
How would you do it?
It is an interesting commentary on what Kipchoge values more, or what he thinks is harder to get done. He’s fit for a wr I guess, and now is the time and that window is going to close on him before grinding out a win in NY or Boston. This is what the goat is telling us and he knows far better than any of us do.
After the breaking 2 and Ineos 1:59 people are surprised he is focused on the fastest marathon possible? Seriously? He is 37. How many more chances does he have to lower the world record and approach that 2 hour barrier?
To break the world record he has to be the fastest marathoner in the world and he's getting old. A person 100% does not have to be the fastest marathoner in the world to win Boston or NY. He can still win those races as his speed declines, but he doesn't have too many more chances to lower the world record. You don't have to agree with his goals, but, to think him winning NY would somehow do more for the sport than edging toward going under 2 hours is just not true. He was wildly successful with promoting running with those attempts.
I wonder what makes him so sure that Berlin is actually the fastest course. As a Berliner myself, I consider September to be summer. It can be really hot in summer, too. It's not impossible to get over 30C (85F) even late in September. While that would be some extremely bad luck, overall the weaver is highly likely to be hotter than ideal. I think Valencia is just as fast course-wise and has less weather gamble. It has a large prize/appearance pool, too.
Bit disappointed really, thought he would go for New York to tick off another Major.
I’m the #1 Kipchoge fanboy, and I have to agree, I’m extremely disappointed. I was in the midst of planning a trip to NY to watch him run😢. Even breaking the wr in Berlin would be of little consolation. He would literally need to break 2 to make this choice worthwhile. Of course if he does run and win Boston and NY in 2023 all will be forgotten, but right now, this is #badforthesport!!
That sounds crazy to me. If he runs 2:01:xx the decision should be completely “forgiven.” Nobody else has shown they can run that fast except Bekele, who’s 40 and won’t do it again. If he lowers his own WR, he wins/solidifies what is basically the biggest title in marathoning. Then there’s the 100 second gulf between his WR and sub-2. If he were to split the difference and run 2:00:49, you’re telling me your reaction would be “Meh, should’ve run NYC”?
After dominating at the Olympics and running 2:02 already this year, who could blame him for thinking he can wait to race Boston and NYC in 2023 (I hope he does). This man has a legitimate shot to become the first 3X Olympic Marathon champion.
I think this actually is about the money. He was going to do another marathon but Berlin made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Doubt it's the money,London could have offered him more than Berlin.
He must feel he can get the world record and possibly sub 2.If he is in that shape he can still win NYC and Boston next year.
My thoughts exactly. This is a sub 2 attempt. I would much rather see him run sub 2 in a real race rather than winning a hilly marathon.
Kipchoge wants to inspire people. If we are honest, that won't happen with a win at NYC or Boston. A sub 2 in a real race would get the whole world talking, not just running fans.
Doubt it's the money,London could have offered him more than Berlin.
He must feel he can get the world record and possibly sub 2.If he is in that shape he can still win NYC and Boston next year.
My thoughts exactly. This is a sub 2 attempt. I would much rather see him run sub 2 in a real race rather than winning a hilly marathon.
Kipchoge wants to inspire people. If we are honest, that won't happen with a win at NYC or Boston. A sub 2 in a real race would get the whole world talking, not just running fans.
That's the only way I will have any interest in this race. He has to go for sub-2. I don't care if he swings and misses, that's all in the game, but I want to see a definitive attempt at sub-2 in a race.
My thoughts exactly. This is a sub 2 attempt. I would much rather see him run sub 2 in a real race rather than winning a hilly marathon.
Kipchoge wants to inspire people. If we are honest, that won't happen with a win at NYC or Boston. A sub 2 in a real race would get the whole world talking, not just running fans.
That's the only way I will have any interest in this race. He has to go for sub-2. I don't care if he swings and misses, that's all in the game, but I want to see a definitive attempt at sub-2 in a race.
agreed. I think he wants that feather in his cap. I think he feels confident he can do it. I'm pretty excited to see if it happens.
Disappointing. Why say you want to win all 6 majors if you aren't going to do it? Seems like that was all talk.
All about timing, be patient. If he wants another WR/sub 2, he's running out of time. He can win Boston and NYC in the future even when he slows down.
I agree, we can’t fully assess this decision until all is said and done. In the end it’s a legit debate as to what is more valuable to his legacy and the sport, a new wr or winning all 7 majors. He may still do all of it, but he’s prioritizing the wr. This may make the most sense in terms of his current fitness, performance in Tokyo, and age. The notion that he’s “scared of hills” is ridiculous. The goat deserves some discretion in these matters. Yes, I’m personally bummed as I would have loved to see him in NY this year, but maybe next year will be the year….
ok. If his thinking is, I can break 2 on a real world course, than I'm good with it all.
Nevertheless, his schedule post Berlin, Sept., 22 should and hopefully look like this: ( All of this is six months plus apart and keeps to his max 2 per year race schedule and allows him to rest/recover and train for Olympic immortality).
Boston in April, '23
NYC in Nov, '23
Olympics, Aug, '24
Anything other than that, well, I'm sure Rojo will make a good buck on the t-shirts.
ok. If his thinking is, I can break 2 on a real world course, than I'm good with it all.
Nevertheless, his schedule post Berlin, Sept., 22 should and hopefully look like this: ( All of this is six months plus apart and keeps to his max 2 per year race schedule and allows him to rest/recover and train for Olympic immortality).
Boston in April, '23
NYC in Nov, '23
Olympics, Aug, '24
Anything other than that, well, I'm sure Rojo will make a good buck on the t-shirts.
Yeah I don't love the decision, but it can be redeemed if this is a calculated move by him in probably his last hurrah to set a World Record. But if he doesn't do Boston in spring 2023 I think we can pretty much dismiss the talk of winning all of the majors as fan service.
My thoughts exactly. This is a sub 2 attempt. I would much rather see him run sub 2 in a real race rather than winning a hilly marathon.
Kipchoge wants to inspire people. If we are honest, that won't happen with a win at NYC or Boston. A sub 2 in a real race would get the whole world talking, not just running fans.
That's the only way I will have any interest in this race. He has to go for sub-2. I don't care if he swings and misses, that's all in the game, but I want to see a definitive attempt at sub-2 in a race.
61:03 first half with the mix up in tokyo. would’ve been more like 60:50. I could definitely see him requesting 59:55-60:15 in berlin
This is probably the last year Kipchoge can take a shot at his WR and try to get to sub 2 on an official course. The cash Berlin puts up for a WR attempt is significantly more than what NYC can pay for a top seed. In 2023-24, Kipchoge can run NY and Boston to get his marathon majors sweep and then get the OG to cap off the greatest marathon career in history.
I don't think that's even true. People remember great historic competitions. Is Letesnebet Gidey's 5000 WR a race that people will remember for the ages? This is a woman who has won 1 of her last like 15 5000s. Answer: Hell no.
People Wanjiru's Olympic race, his chicago win, Shorter's Olympic race, Geb vs Tergat in Sydney, Centro's Olympic gold win, etc.
But let's assume what you wrote is true for a minute. Even if we do that, Kipchoge's already got the damn WR in Berlin. So if he gets it again, what will it accomplish? Almost nothing. Particularly since it will still be way slower than 1:59:40.
The dude skipped out on a several majors to push his limits in artificial time trials and run 1:59:40. There is no need to duck the competition and run 2:01:33.
Weak sauce. I'm on vacation now but when I get back to office I'm going to work on designing a shirt that has a goat mouthing, "I'm scared of NYC."
Honestly, it’s inexplicable that he would choose Berlin over NY at this stage of his career. If Kipchoge really wants to show the world what’s possible. and excite the general global populace, and move the needle for the sport and sport in general, winning NY and setting the course record is going to accomplish these goals FAR better than winning Berlin again and breaking a wr he already holds. He would literally need to run 1:58 in Berlin to equal the global impact of running 2:04 in NY. I think it’s a major miscalculation on his part if the goals he aspires to are as stated.
No casual fan of the sport gives a damn about Kipchoge running 2:04 in New York. As a diehard fan I barely care about him running NY. If anything, some people will be confused why he’s running a marathon 4-5 minutes slower than his best because they don’t realize how difficult the course is. It’s better for him to take the world record down as much as he can before he’s no longer capable of it. World records and world record attempts drive attention to the race and even non-runners will be interested, I don’t think the same could be said about a course record attempt in New York. And he’s still got at least 5 years of world-class fitness left in him, easily enough for him to win in Boston and NYC eventually.
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