Who the f*** is Micah Kogo?

Lou: You've backed down quite a bit from your earlier guess that half the seats in the stadium were give-aways. I agree with you (who wouldn't?) that some sizeable number of the tickets at Zurich each year are comps. That's entirely to be expected. But, as someone who has had excellent homestretch tickets at least 14 or 15 times over the years, I can also assure you that a good percentage of these were purchased at full face value (mine certainly were). The demand for tickets at Zurich is very real. That's one of the reasons that they're building a while new stadium--to add more seats!

Your thesis is that the popularity of track in Europe is declining and that the full stadiums we see on TV mask this reality. Your thesis may, in fact, have some truth to it--but it depends on what we measure, and how. The most obvious truth is that that are way more big meets in Europe than in the US, and they are routinely well attended (by US standards, at least).

I think you're missing the point, at least the one I was making. This isn't about dispairing about African superiority, that's well established, it's about the fact there is so little excitement about this performance and the reason for that. When Rono emerged it caused great interest, and years later he's still being discussed. Would anyone expect the same will be true of Kogo?

For someone to run the 6th fastest time ever is a magnificant achievement, people should be excited about it, predicting great things for him and looking forward his future contests. But they aren't, it's gone unnoticed in the media and unnoticed on this board outside of this thread.

Hopefully he will now go on to make a name for himself in championships and the like, but many before him have achieved great times only to be replaced by another set of runners who no-one knows the next season.

Well here's some anecdotes which may suggest a trend, in GB at least:-

- our weekly Aths mag now sells, depending on the time of year, well under 10,000 copies per week.Of those 10k, v few will know anything about Micah Kogo (yet, at least). That will include overseas readers, as apparently it claims to be the only weekly Aths mag in the world, the German one went monthly due to lack of demand

- Golden League meets no longer available in the UK on free to air TV or on Eurosport, how much that's tied in with UK athletes rarely getting into GLs is hard to pin down

- tabloid papers here almost ignore the sport outside of the OG and doping stories. 'Serious' newspapers increasingly downsizing the coverage, 1 big paper didn't even report 2 Brit women getting 3rds in Brussels on Friday in undeniably world class fields. Their agenda is mainly drugs/Radcliffe/indulged UK sprinters, and Radcliffe's pregnancy term offers little that's newsworthy day by day.

- I was in Ullevi stadium throughout the Euro champs and for all one hears about how wonderfully knowledgable the Swedes are about the sport, I saw precious little home town interest in events without Swedes or in foreign athetes, and there was a big exodus each night before track finals once the Swedish participants had finished. Not having a go at Swedes here but it makes me wonder how much thier supposed passion for the sport is based on thier current handful of world class field/multi eventers. Most nights there were 30,000 folk in the stadium.

- the European Federation (EAA), which surely above anyone else has it's finger on the pulse in Europe has various initiatives/working groups etc all seeking to address what it recognises as a decline.

I don't think any of this impacts too directly on Micah Kogo running 26.35 on Friday by the way, except that if commercial revenues don't stand up then the financial rewards for running 26.35 for 10k will presumably eventually decline; as it is, I would guess that for slotting in 6th on the all time list his immediate financial gain is pretty modest by USA/Euro standards.

If the death of *your* athletics means Africans are doing amazingly while racist Americans and Europeans don't care, then I say let your athletics die.

My athletics includes the best runners, from any country. Bravo, Kogo!

stupid letsrunners wrote:

If the death of *your* athletics means Africans are doing amazingly while racist Americans and Europeans don't care, then I say let your athletics die.

My athletics includes the best runners, from any country. Bravo, Kogo!

I was actually expecting more of this sort of knee-jerk response but was pleasently surprised that most people did actually read what I'd written properly, can't expect it of everyone I suppose. Please re-read what I've actually written.

I've repeatedly praised Kogo's extraordinary time and perfectly accept African domination. It's not where they are from that is the issue, it's the lack of excitement generated by such performances, even amongst keen students of distance running on this board. The African athletes who have been around for a while and who everyone knows are carefully watched, their every performance analysed. People will go out of their way to see legends such as Geb, Bekele, Tergat or Shaheen run, and slightly lesser known performers like Kipchoge and Ramaala are also a big draw. This is because athletics fans are familiar with what they've done and they've established a reputation over a number of years, normally building up to their best performances over a few seasons.

don't expect people here to get excited. they only care about US performances. some of the people onm the tfn message board were happy that for once it was a fast race without bekele or geb....

It doesn't matter that he was unknown. Noah Ngeny was relatively unknown for awhile, Daniel Komen came out of the blue (and quickly disappeared). Like there are tons of great football and basketball players in the U.S., there are tons of great runners in Africa.

I woke up to the world in my early days of high school (my Rono story up above), many here are convinced that their American boys are going to turn the tables. They aren't.

I'm a big Pre fan, but he died just before Rono burst on to the scene. If you were lucky to have seen both Pre and Rono run, you'd notice the difference. Pre was a grinder, Rono was a gazelle. In a race I'll take the gazelle every time.

At the Pre meet this year, Goucher and Lincoln let the Africans take the lead and courageously tried to catch them. They both ran great races, but three laps in I knew they couldn't catch them and they had to run for time. You have to try and beat the Kenyans from the front of the pack, not from behind. Goucher "kicking" down the stretch was kind of agonizing to watch, despite his great time. He was struggling.

Compare that to watching Legat in the mile in the same meet, or El G a few years earlier, they are freaking effortless.

Americans need to wake up to this. It's genetics, it's form running, it's flexibility, it's smoothness. Al Salazar could set up 100 altitude houses and have his athletes live there for five years then have them hit the track vs. the Kenyans and still get dusted royally.

To quote an old Earth, Wind, and Fire song, "That's the way of the world."

I suggest other Americans wake up to it.

Death in Athletics - Your comments are all pretty sound in my book.Any solutions?

Does anyone reckon that in maybe 10 years the IAAF may look to 'consolidate' the track enduro programme to address the trend that the countries who by and large finance the sport can't really cut it in the longer events on the track - so maybe have just 1 middle distance event, 1 long distance event, and the marathon to keep the Japanese happy. I;m guessing that in 10 years more East African and perhaps Chinese women will dominate the way their guys do. IAAF have already already made the 10k less accessible by going to straight finals (ie c 25 entries - compare that to the 100 and 200m)so maybe that's the thin edge of the wedge.

How old is he?

Have any of you, in your 20s, made a huge leap? I once did a 71sec jump in 10000m. Not that I'm world class, but I was training my arse off when I went from 32:22 to 31:11. This happens at the top from time to time, also. Salazar - what did he do before his 2:09 win in NY, in 81 was it? Anyway, there are countless examples of this. I'll come up with some more tomorrow...

Runs For REEBOK!!

Kogo triumphs in four-man sprint, and Wami loses to Tufa in Nijmegen

http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=36797.html

Nijmegen, The Netherlands - Micah Kogo of Kenya, the world’s fastest 10,000m runner of 2006 (26:35.63), won today’s 23rd edition of the Zevenheuvelenloop over the distance of 15 kilometres in a thrilling four-man sprint finish, with a time of 42:42.

The 20-year-old Kenyan beat Abebe Dinkessa of Ethiopia (42:43), Kenyan Bernard Kipyego and Eritrea’s World Road Running champion Zersenay Tadesse, who both clocked 42:44 for third and fourth place respectively.

The women’s race was won by Mestewat Tufa of Ethiopia in 47:22.

"I was afraid of Tadesse"

After a night and morning of heavy rain, 20,000 competitors started the 15km race with the rain falling lightly, in a temperature of 8 degrees CT.

The men’s contest, after a rather slow start in the first five kilometres (14:27), became a five men affair with Kogo, Dinkessa, Kipyeago, Tadesse, and Kenyan Charles Koech. This group of five stayed very close together over the rather hilly course which is set in the most eastern part of The Netherlands. They were cheered on by thousands of spectators who sheltered from the rain under the autumn coloured trees. However, Tadesse, who was running his first race after capturing the World title, was dropped slightly and for some of the time was four seconds off the pace.

After passing 10 kms (28:42) and going downhill the pace increased but the four men stayed together, and Tadesse rejoined the others and started pressing the pace. As such, the split times of over three minutes per kilometre went down, and the 13th kilometre was run in 2:40.

Charles Koech began to have trouble at this point and lost contact, while the other four battled on together to the very final metres of the 15km when the strength of Kogo’s sprint finally told on his opponents.

Kogo, who was running his first race in The Netherlands said afterwards he was very happy with the victory – “I was afraid of Tadesse but I knew I could beat him. The beginning was rather slow but the last two kilometres were awfully fast. I have this year’s fastest 10,000 metres (26:35.63 – 1st Brussels Golden League) time, and I now will prepare for a season on the track next year.''

Micah Kogo is a relatively new kid on the block, who started running only three years ago.

An Ethiopian affair

The women’s race was a battle between Mestewat Tufa and Gete Wami. The two Ethiopian women, despite Wami suffering from menstrual pains, were already far away from their opponents after 5kms (15:55).

At 10kms, the two were over one minute ahead of Kenyan Edith Masai, who eventually finished third in 49:02.

In the end Tufa managed to open an advantage on her more illustrious compatriot, the 1999 World 10,000m champion, winning in 47:22, with Wami, who had secured the Berlin marathon title in September in an Ethiopian record (2:21:34), just nine seconds behind.

Wim van Hemert for the IAAF

RESULTS

23rd Zevenheuvelenloop at Nijmegen (The Netherlands), Sunday 17 November 2006

Men – 15km

1 Micah Kogo Ken 42:42

2 Abebe Dinkesa Eth 42:43

3 Bernard Kipyego Ken 42:44

4 Zersenay Tadesse Eri 42:44

5 Charles Koech Ken 42:58

6 Brahim Lahlafi Mar 43:14

7 Richard Limo Ken 43:52

8 Kamiel Maase Ned 44:06

Women – 15km

1 Mestewat Tufa Eth 47:22

2 Gete Wami Eth 47:31

3 Edith Masai Ken 49:02

4 Hilda Kibet Ken 49:31

5 Deribe Alemu Eth 49:44

6 Petra Kaminkova Cze 52:23

7 Merel de Knegt Ned 52:54

8 Jana Klimesova Cze 53:25

No one still cares.

i care, micah kogo could be the kenyan galen rupp.

and if micah kogo decides to enroll in an ncaa school next year, i think he could become an individual ncaa champion in both cross country and track in the 5 and 10k, just my opinion.

doug225550 wrote:

and if micah kogo decides to enroll in an ncaa school next year, i think he could become an individual ncaa champion in both cross country and track in the 5 and 10k, just my opinion.

You could probably add the mile and steeple to that list if the scheduled allowed him to effectively compete.

However, since he has accepted money to run already, has he given up any eligibility to run at an American University in an NCAA sanctioned meet? I'm hazy on the rules here.

I have lost interest in the sport from a viewing point.would not be bothered if i missed watching world cross country ect.

I care.

bindy wrote:

No one still cares.

Men – 15km

1 Micah Kogo Ken 42:42

2 Abebe Dinkesa Eth 42:43

3 Bernard Kipyego Ken 42:44

4 Zersenay Tadesse Eri 42:44

That's an amazing race. Kogo, Dinkessa and Tadesse have all run 26:37 or faster. Kipyego has had success on the roads in the US. What a finish. I always look forward to the Seven Hills.

Brahim Lalafiis back.. finished 5th