And he didn't come from nowhere. There are thousands of Kenyans competing every other weekend, hoping for a breakthrough. And you never hear about them outside Kenya.
It's funny how the Kenyan fans simultaneously like to claim that track participation in Kenya is actually quite low (all the kids just want to play for Real Madrid!), and then again there are 'thousands of Kenyans competing every other weekend'.
And I'm still wondering why you only ever call out my 'factual errors' instead of, for example, Rekrunner and Canova claiming that EPO doesn't work.
Why do you keep trolling me, and why are you talking about doping in a thread seemingly asking for non-doping information about Brian Komen?
To correct two factual errors you make about me:
- No, I do not ever apologize for the intentional doping with banned substances or methods of athletes, whether by athletes or any of their support staff. Calling me a "doping apologist" seems to be one of the necessary myths fabricated in order to feel good about clinging to other myths.
- Similarly I do not claim generally that "EPO doesn't work", but rather ask for evidence of it "working" for elite athlete performances, or ask for explanations of seeming contradictions. When I recommend WADA-legal altitude training, this is in part because "EPO works", and for altitude trained athletes, we can say EPO is already "working". Will synthetic EPO "work" even more at altitude? Maybe. I only ask for evidence of it "working" for elite athlete performances.
It's funny how the Kenyan fans simultaneously like to claim that track participation in Kenya is actually quite low (all the kids just want to play for Real Madrid!), and then again there are 'thousands of Kenyans competing every other weekend'.
Kenya is not a monolith. There is someone like Emmanuel Wanyonyi who was teased/harassed for running because the idea that nobody in his tribe runs vs other parts of Kenya where running is a huge part of the culture. What’s pretty clear is there is a large group of pretty good Kenyans working to get noticed/join a camp/become a pacemaker etc. So there is a chance for a Diamond in the rough similar to how in the Dominican amazing baseball prospects can be found.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Totally fair Q I’ll defend Coevett asking but of course some factual errors. Renato said this of him last year: “Different is the case of athletes of amateur level. Amateur not for the level of their performance, but for the situation around them. To this group two typology of athletes belong : athletes with great talent and potentiality, training alone in very soft way, before finding some good coach who put them in some management (for example, the case of Brian Komen, 25 years, never running till last year, who won one of the AK meeting in 3'35" supported by James Kwalia, who was a my athlete winning bronze medal in 5000m in Berlin 2009, before going in the management of Hussein Makkè, and who won his first competition in Europe with 3'33", but of course doesn't have the requested number of OOC tests, so can't run Trials). Because of their talent, these athletes in short time are recruited by some good management, and automatically move inside the group of athletes of international level.”
Coevett wrote: He is almost 26, but World Athletics only lists his races from last year.
Fact Check: His birthdate is listed as 10 August 1998. Yesterday’s race occurred 3 months before his upcoming birthday when he will turn 26. World Athletics lists his race results from both last year and this year.
Coevett wrote: Until yesterday his pb was 3:33.89 in his 3rd listed race.
Fact Check: His PB before yesterday was 3:32.29, which he ran 20 April 2024 in Nairobi. That remains his PB today. His best time last year, which he ran in his third listed race, was 3:33.84, not 3:33.89.
Coevett wrote: Presumably he wasn't tested at all last year. Will he have the required 3 tests in time to be able to compete in Paris if he makes the team? I think the deadline passed last week.
Fact Check: The deadline for 3 tests is not until 4 July 2024. Only the first test was due last week, on 3 May 2024.
Verdict: Coevett’s first post contained 4 factual errors. He was wrong about the years for which the World Athletics site lists his race results, his PB before yesterday (which remains his PB today), his time in his third listed race, and the deadline for the required 3 tests.
Coevett, you find strange something in Kenya frequently can happen.
Brian started running last year only, winning a race in Kitale in 3'44" in a murrey track with a lot of holes. How his name clearly shows (Komen), he's a kalenjin coming from Mont Elgon.
James Kwalia, my athlete years ago with PB of 7'28" and 12'54", WR Junior holder of one Mile with 3'50"43, and bronze medal in WCh 2009 in Berlin (5000m behind Bekele and Bernard Lagat, same race where Mo Farah finished number 7, if I well remember), is one of the retired athletes who try to help the wide number of talents running from 800m to 10000m in the area, without proper facilities.
I put him in touch with Hussein Makkè, and from the end of April had the opportunity to compete in Europe. He won on 18 June in Poznan in 3'33"84, and remained in Europe for 2 weeks, running Ostrava with a lot of mistakes, being the first time in a race with many of the top more expert specialists in the world. Also, he had to adapt to a different food and to a new situation, since never had the opportunity to travel abroad before.
This year, Kwalia decided to improve the experience of Brian running some indoor, with not very good results because was in a period of aerobic training, without any specific workouts of speed (he needed to increase the aerobic level, because never had a structurated plan before April 2023).
The guy is very strong in the final sprint, and can run a fast 800m (but never, still now, tried the distance in some qualified meeting), also if is more a type 1500 - 5000m runner in the future.
After his 3'33" of last year, AK put his name in the list for ADAK for having the prescripted 3 OOC tests, so he doesn't have this type of problem, something that can still happen in the case of 5000 and 10000m, since maybe some athlete NEVER running track, but with the possibility to run Olympics because of their PB on the road, doesn't have the requested number of OOC test, since (due to the very high number of Athletes with the standard in the Olympic events) ADAK goes to test the best marathon runners, but doesn't test OOC athletes running 10 km on road, chosing to increase the tests with Marathon runners that can have the option to represent Kenya in Olympics.
Coevett, you find strange something in Kenya frequently can happen.
Brian started running last year only, winning a race in Kitale in 3'44" in a murrey track with a lot of holes. How his name clearly shows (Komen), he's a kalenjin coming from Mont Elgon.
James Kwalia, my athlete years ago with PB of 7'28" and 12'54", WR Junior holder of one Mile with 3'50"43, and bronze medal in WCh 2009 in Berlin (5000m behind Bekele and Bernard Lagat, same race where Mo Farah finished number 7, if I well remember), is one of the retired athletes who try to help the wide number of talents running from 800m to 10000m in the area, without proper facilities.
I put him in touch with Hussein Makkè, and from the end of April had the opportunity to compete in Europe. He won on 18 June in Poznan in 3'33"84, and remained in Europe for 2 weeks, running Ostrava with a lot of mistakes, being the first time in a race with many of the top more expert specialists in the world. Also, he had to adapt to a different food and to a new situation, since never had the opportunity to travel abroad before.
This year, Kwalia decided to improve the experience of Brian running some indoor, with not very good results because was in a period of aerobic training, without any specific workouts of speed (he needed to increase the aerobic level, because never had a structurated plan before April 2023).
The guy is very strong in the final sprint, and can run a fast 800m (but never, still now, tried the distance in some qualified meeting), also if is more a type 1500 - 5000m runner in the future.
After his 3'33" of last year, AK put his name in the list for ADAK for having the prescripted 3 OOC tests, so he doesn't have this type of problem, something that can still happen in the case of 5000 and 10000m, since maybe some athlete NEVER running track, but with the possibility to run Olympics because of their PB on the road, doesn't have the requested number of OOC test, since (due to the very high number of Athletes with the standard in the Olympic events) ADAK goes to test the best marathon runners, but doesn't test OOC athletes running 10 km on road, chosing to increase the tests with Marathon runners that can have the option to represent Kenya in Olympics.
Thanks much for sharing, Renato. Crazy how an untapped talent like this can be found and make noise so quickly. Hope to see him again on the DL circuit soon, and yes I’ve noticed he is getting increasingly better running in groups. He seems to have the requisite urgency to avoid getting pushed too far back and run the extra distance when necessary.
I don't know who Hoady is either. Spade Detector is a reasonable poster, yes, but the other one? Oi. Never have I seen a more hard core drug cheat apologist. He makes apologies for everyone and everything, from "the steroids were in the beef" to "the PEDs were in the vitamins" to "he kissed someone" to "the EPO was in the puddle" to "she just went to a hospital" to "she's in menopause" to "he only doped once" to "it was only a small amount" to "the drugs made her slower" to "the experts are wrong" etc. etc. etc. and then goes off topic with ludicrous walls of text. Just look into any doper thread, especially any Shelburrito thread.
Looks like this veiled (off-topic) personal attack was about me, but it is fundamentally wrong:
*I* did not "make" any of these "apologies" -- they were all made by others. Some of them were even accepted by an anti-doping agency or tribunal. Some of these are arguments attempt to establish non-intent or no-fault, which can lead to reduced or waived sanctions for the rule violations.
As I said above, I do not "apologize" for anyone's doping with the intent to enhance performance against the anti-doping rules.
Brian trains up near Eldoret with one of our guys. Not sure / don’t care about all the details, but he is a locally well known beast - nobody surprised.
Don’t know his coach, but, allegedly, he jumps in with us periodically to help out. 6 x 400 a few weeks ago at 53s - he may have been a tad faster (our #1 was at 53s). 2 minutes rest on reps. Good dude and obviously decent runner. The guys definitely look up to him and I hear about it every time he jumps in.
It is not that hard to get to 3:33 when you train at 8K’ with a lot of fast people who don’t think twice about running 3:42. Multiple guys running 3:39-3:41 at 5-6K’ and just don’t get the chance out of country.
I just find it crazy that a Kenyan can win a DL event and position himself as an Olympic medal favorite, and you can literally find NOTHING about him online - not his manager, not his coach, nothing about his background.
Some people are terrific responders to drugs. Ask Gen, Bekele, El G…
I don't know who Hoady is either. Spade Detector is a reasonable poster, yes, but the other one? Oi. Never have I seen a more hard core drug cheat apologist. He makes apologies for everyone and everything, from "the steroids were in the beef" to "the PEDs were in the vitamins" to "he kissed someone" to "the EPO was in the puddle" to "she just went to a hospital" to "she's in menopause" to "he only doped once" to "it was only a small amount" to "the drugs made her slower" to "the experts are wrong" etc. etc. etc. and then goes off topic with ludicrous walls of text. Just look into any doper thread, especially any Shelburrito thread.
Looks like this veiled (off-topic) personal attack was about me, but it is fundamentally wrong:
*I* did not "make" any of these "apologies" -- they were all made by others. Some of them were even accepted by an anti-doping agency or tribunal. Some of these are arguments attempt to establish non-intent or no-fault, which can lead to reduced or waived sanctions for the rule violations.
As I said above, I do not "apologize" for anyone's doping with the intent to enhance performance against the anti-doping rules.
Factually incorrect and fundamentally wrong. You have a long established history of making these excuses here, regardless of who made them first.
You also have a long established history of making excuses even for banned intentional dopers, f ex Kiprop and Houlihan.
I just find it crazy that a Kenyan can win a DL event and position himself as an Olympic medal favorite, and you can literally find NOTHING about him online - not his manager, not his coach, nothing about his background.
Some people are terrific responders to drugs. Ask Gen, Bekele, El G…
The most likely explanation. If Kenyans are truly so naturally talented that this guy can get down to 3:33 (possibly sub 3:30 if he had had a few DL races) with just 12 months training, then, no Kenyan would need drugs, and the favorites for Olympic gold would certainly not be a Norwegian and a Scotsman.
What Komen has apparently done is greater even than Kiptum. You would expect him to go well under 3;30 this year, and absolutely annihilate the WR in the next couple of years.
Unless of course, 12 months of full throttle EPO enables you to achieve what would normally require years of training, and now he is in the testing pool, he will have to microdose or pop.
WTF is downvoting me? This is probably the only sport in the world in which a guy can come from nowhere in his mid-twenties and become one of the best in the world, and not only does nobody have a clue about him, nobody seems to care either.
Because you never can get your facts correct. And because you have a reputation of the letsrun liar no. 1.
Doping or not doping, when a guy like Komen can run 3:33.84 soon after he started to train at age 24, for me this clearly shows there are big structural differences between him and "western" runners (might be a combination of altitude, genetics, lifestyle, nutrition and so on). A white European who starts at his age to train will just not have such results.
I wonder what the reason could possibly be, hmmm...Use your brain, moran.
Coevett, you find strange something in Kenya frequently can happen.
Brian started running last year only, winning a race in Kitale in 3'44" in a murrey track with a lot of holes. How his name clearly shows (Komen), he's a kalenjin coming from Mont Elgon.
James Kwalia, my athlete years ago with PB of 7'28" and 12'54", WR Junior holder of one Mile with 3'50"43, and bronze medal in WCh 2009 in Berlin (5000m behind Bekele and Bernard Lagat, same race where Mo Farah finished number 7, if I well remember), is one of the retired athletes who try to help the wide number of talents running from 800m to 10000m in the area, without proper facilities.
I put him in touch with Hussein Makkè, and from the end of April had the opportunity to compete in Europe. He won on 18 June in Poznan in 3'33"84, and remained in Europe for 2 weeks, running Ostrava with a lot of mistakes, being the first time in a race with many of the top more expert specialists in the world. Also, he had to adapt to a different food and to a new situation, since never had the opportunity to travel abroad before.
This year, Kwalia decided to improve the experience of Brian running some indoor, with not very good results because was in a period of aerobic training, without any specific workouts of speed (he needed to increase the aerobic level, because never had a structurated plan before April 2023).
The guy is very strong in the final sprint, and can run a fast 800m (but never, still now, tried the distance in some qualified meeting), also if is more a type 1500 - 5000m runner in the future.
After his 3'33" of last year, AK put his name in the list for ADAK for having the prescripted 3 OOC tests, so he doesn't have this type of problem, something that can still happen in the case of 5000 and 10000m, since maybe some athlete NEVER running track, but with the possibility to run Olympics because of their PB on the road, doesn't have the requested number of OOC test, since (due to the very high number of Athletes with the standard in the Olympic events) ADAK goes to test the best marathon runners, but doesn't test OOC athletes running 10 km on road, chosing to increase the tests with Marathon runners that can have the option to represent Kenya in Olympics.
World's number 1 doping apologist here everyone, with more world salad that the weak minded gobble up.