I remember seeing him as an 18 year old back in 2015 when he finished 4th at the WCs thinking he could have been the next dominant distance runner after Farah and it's really never materialised for him at the major champs.
2 x WC Silver medals in 10 years really doesn't do his talent justice, but you what you deserve. He just isn't a championship runner.
He can run the times when there's pacemakers on the circuit but when he has to do it all himself, he can't reproduce.
I remember seeing him as an 18 year old back in 2015 when he finished 4th at the WCs thinking he could have been the next dominant distance runner after Farah and it's really never materialised for him at the major champs.
2 x WC Silver medals in 10 years really doesn't do his talent justice, but you what you deserve. He just isn't a championship runner.
He can run the times when there's pacemakers on the circuit but when he has to do it all himself, he can't reproduce.
I wonder if part of that is because he's a very big talent but isn't Bekele level talent. Farah was a lock for any GB team and could just train for championships.
It's a lot tougher to make the Ethiopian team - you have to chase times earlier in the season which might leave people a bit flat for championships.
I remember seeing him as an 18 year old back in 2015 when he finished 4th at the WCs thinking he could have been the next dominant distance runner after Farah and it's really never materialised for him at the major champs.
2 x WC Silver medals in 10 years really doesn't do his talent justice, but you what you deserve. He just isn't a championship runner.
He can run the times when there's pacemakers on the circuit but when he has to do it all himself, he can't reproduce.
I wonder if part of that is because he's a very big talent but isn't Bekele level talent. Farah was a lock for any GB team and could just train for championships.
It's a lot tougher to make the Ethiopian team - you have to chase times earlier in the season which might leave people a bit flat for championships.
I greatly respect Kejelcha, but you have to do it when it counts. The great Ron Clarke set seventeen world records but won a single Olympic bronze medal. This is enough to be in the pantheon of the great practitioners of running but it would be silly to rank Clarke with Bekele, Geb, Nurmi, Zatopek - who all won multiple Olympic golds. I view Kejelcha the same way. Another comparison is Mo Farah, who did not run all the most blazing records but WON when it counted. After all, we have the Olympics and World Championships for a reason.
I greatly respect Kejelcha, but you have to do it when it counts. The great Ron Clarke set seventeen world records but won a single Olympic bronze medal. This is enough to be in the pantheon of the great practitioners of running but it would be silly to rank Clarke with Bekele, Geb, Nurmi, Zatopek - who all won multiple Olympic golds. I view Kejelcha the same way. Another comparison is Mo Farah, who did not run all the most blazing records but WON when it counted. After all, we have the Olympics and World Championships for a reason.
The dude ran 1:59 for a marathon and you're saying he has to do it when it counts. It counted today. It took an otherworldly performance to beat his already otherworldly performance.