Yeah, I don’t understand why people are so high on El Bakkali. 12:55, or faster, would be a massive PR. A 3:32 and sub-8:00 in the Steeple doesn’t confirm prowess at 5000m. If he does run with his eyes closed, he’ll either keep going straight at the first turn or trip over the rail.
He ran 13:10 indoors at age 21 and ran 7:33 in 2023. He could easily break 13.
They're all there, bar Jakob, Andreas, Nordas, and a few others.
In the 21 strong field, 14 already are sub 13:00.
Balew 12:56.26
Blanks 12:48.20
Catrofe 12:57 (rd)
Gressier 12:54.97
Kejelcha 12:38.95
Krop 12:45.71
Mehary 12:45.93
Ndikumenayo 12:47.67
Sime 12:51.85
Tefera 12:55.78
Wildschutt 12:55.02 (ind)
Yihune 12:49.65
Young 12:45.27
Ismaël 12:46.43
Dark horses:
Daguinos (France), 3:35.12, June 10, 2025. Red hot!!
El Bakkali 3:31.95, 7:33.87, 13:10.60. This guy can run 12:45-12:55 (eyes closed).
Schrub (French doctor). 13:04.27 last year...and greatly improved 1500 of 3:35.84, in 2024 also. He can run as fast (or faster than) Ritz (12:56).
Young (12:45.227). Can he duplicate his monster 12:45.27 at Bislett, 12/06/2025.
Ismael 12:46.43? Who’s that supposed to be?
Nordas? NORDAS is missing?? Dude’s been smoked by Cooper Teare, Jack Rayner, Gulveer Singh, Denis Kipkoech and Andrew Alamasi all by 5-10 seconds this year.
Etienne Daguinos is only a dark horse in your dreams. Sure he beat NORDAS by 27 seconds in a road 10k last fall, but a 3:35/7:43/13:15 guy has no chance to factor in this race at all.
And Nico Young is in the same “dark horse” category as Daguinos to you? The guy who just ran a winning 12:45 against an even stronger field a week ago? Bro…
You're right about El Bakkali, and he's a great runner in his own right, running 3:31.90 without specific preparation, which points to 3:29.00/7:25.00/12:40-12:45 with more specificity.
He's an absolute monster.
Don't let your overwhelming fandom cloud your judgement. El Bakkali is not running 3:29.00. I can assure you that his coach, Karim Al-Tilmisani, most certainly had prescribed specific 1500m preparation prior to that 3:31 in Doha. Al-T is not one to let any of his athletes go into a competition with any stone left unturned.
Yeah, I don’t understand why people are so high on El Bakkali. 12:55, or faster, would be a massive PR. A 3:32 and sub-8:00 in the Steeple doesn’t confirm prowess at 5000m. If he does run with his eyes closed, he’ll either keep going straight at the first turn or trip over the rail.
Somewhat similar (ish) to Jager at 3:32.9, 8:00, 13:02.
I'm thinking super spikes have less of an advantage compared with super shoes for the road otherwise you would have seen people like Ritz run 1245 instead of 1256 and people like Lopes and Mamede sub 27:00. Nenow, 27:20.56 (Brussels September 1986) would have been a 26:55 runner with super spikes? Debatable.
The advantage is not only when racing. The advantage is when training AND racing.
He ran 13:10 indoors at age 21 and ran 7:33 in 2023. He could easily break 13.
I don't see El B easily breaking 13, but I do think he can and might in this one. I think his maximal PBs are around 3:31.0/7:30/12:55.
Girma obviously is faster on the flat at more like 3:29/7:23/12:50, but he is a less efficient hurdler at high speeds (obviously the Olympics was a disaster) and he takes on the burden of leading in these races.
Comparing this field to GST is ridiculous. Kudos to Nico and Graham wanting to travel to Europe to race the best. These two know they belong in these fields and will gain incredible experience racing against the top distance runners in the world. This will become the normal and USA distance is on the way up. Exciting times for USA distance.
Looks like another apparent world record attempt according to pace lights. 7:38 through 3000. Very unlikely to happen as nobody will take it up once pacers drop plus supposed to be warm.
They're all there, bar Jakob, Andreas, Nordas, and a few others.
In the 21 strong field, 14 already are sub 13:00.
Balew 12:56.26
Blanks 12:48.20
Catrofe 12:57 (rd)
Gressier 12:54.97
Kejelcha 12:38.95
Krop 12:45.71
Mehary 12:45.93
Ndikumenayo 12:47.67
Sime 12:51.85
Tefera 12:55.78
Wildschutt 12:55.02 (ind)
Yihune 12:49.65
Young 12:45.27
Ismaël 12:46.43
Dark horses:
Daguinos (France), 3:35.12, June 10, 2025. Red hot!!
El Bakkali 3:31.95, 7:33.87, 13:10.60. This guy can run 12:45-12:55 (eyes closed).
Schrub (French doctor). 13:04.27 last year...and greatly improved 1500 of 3:35.84, in 2024 also. He can run as fast (or faster than) Ritz (12:56).
Young (12:45.227). Can he duplicate his monster 12:45.27 at Bislett, 12/06/2025.
Ismael 12:46.43? Who’s that supposed to be?
Nordas? NORDAS is missing?? Dude’s been smoked by Cooper Teare, Jack Rayner, Gulveer Singh, Denis Kipkoech and Andrew Alamasi all by 5-10 seconds this year.
Etienne Daguinos is only a dark horse in your dreams. Sure he beat NORDAS by 27 seconds in a road 10k last fall, but a 3:35/7:43/13:15 guy has no chance to factor in this race at all.
And Nico Young is in the same “dark horse” category as Daguinos to you? The guy who just ran a winning 12:45 against an even stronger field a week ago? Bro…
I never put Nico Young in the dark horse category, intentionally, but simply wrote about him following my comments on several dark horses including Daguinos, whom you are correct that I might overestimate his ability to run sub 13.00.
Re. Nico Young : I should have put a category separation for N.Y. example: addendum: Nico Young, bla, bla...
Dr Schrub is legit, though, and I think can equal Ritz's pb, 12:56, still finishing 10 seconds, possibly, or more behind the top runners.
Official youtube stream says 20 min to go. VPN through India might work because it is linked for Indian residents via the Paris Diamond League page. Also Neeraj Chopra is competing.