The event left them fatigued with legs and arm muscle pains. Efforts by the Physio Teams to resuscitate the athletes to their full normal form has not been successful.
Yeah obviously they just ran a hard 10k. Has the team tried waiting a little longer, like you know, until the 5k prelims?
Why on Earth did Ethiopia pull Kejelcha out of this race...
I want to repeat this post for emphasis. I think many of us on these boards admire Kejelcha's routine competitive fire and empathize with his several silver medal efforts. The man has an amazing résumé and seeing him in the 10,000m, not his best race, saddened me.
With the news of today's scratches and Ethiopia's ridiculous sabotaging of Kejelcha's best gold medal opportunity, the 5,000m, although still a race I'm excited about, seems sadly diluted.
Didn't Cheptegei say in an interview that if he won the 10,000 at this Games he didn't care about the 5000? I'm not too surprised. Kiplimo, a bit moreso, but not too much either. It feels weird saying a 12:40 guy wouldn't have been a factor, but that's just my gut instinct based on how he ran in the 10.
I cannot understand not trying to defend an Olympic title in your last major world track championship. This is the 2nd time in the last few years Cheptegei has skipped the 5000. I know he was unlikely to win, but then again, he is stronger than Jakob and still relatively fast at the end of races so he had a shot. Oh well.
Why on Earth did Ethiopia pull Kejelcha out of this race...
I want to repeat this post for emphasis. I think many of us on these boards admire Kejelcha's routine competitive fire and empathize with his several silver medal efforts. The man has an amazing résumé and seeing him in the 10,000m, not his best race, saddened me.
With the news of today's scratches and Ethiopia's ridiculous sabotaging of Kejelcha's best gold medal opportunity, the 5,000m, although still a race I'm excited about, seems sadly diluted.
Kejelcha doesn't have multiple silvers, unfortunately. Only major medal is a silver in Doha 2019. I do think he has another one in him.
Avoiding drug test or tested positive after the race? My guess is the latter.
Last time a global track endurance medallist tested positive in the MANDATORY tests on medallists conducted after the medal winning race at the event? Hmm. So assuming they were clean as at the date of the 10,000 final I think it would be odd if between that race and the 5000 heats they were due to run they then started (or, in the views of some, resumed) doping.
I note a few have shown total doubt that the recovery from the 10,000 can be a factor. I guess from their strong views they are fully appraised of what an acceptable recovery period from a 26.43 10,000 in warm weather with an 83 last 600 would be.
Chep withdraw 4 full days before the final, in the event he's defending gold, after a gold and an OR... and with your main threat (JI) running his 1st final this same night with much less time to recover.