hate to agree with him, but i do think tergat is the goat.
his wr marathon is just insane, and deserves all of the "goatness" it can get.
hate to agree with him, but i do think tergat is the goat.
his wr marathon is just insane, and deserves all of the "goatness" it can get.
That makes Korir the second best ever? He was only one second back. Tergat is awesome, Geb is awesome, Bekele is awesome. I just think Geb gets the nod becuause head to head with Tergat he owned him.
true, but geb has never "owned him"
if you're referring to the 10,000 meter olympic race in the two pics at the bottom of the following link; than no, geb ahs and did not "own" him.
Tergat is certainly among the best, but to consider him better than Geb is ridiculous. It is debatable only if you are totally delusional, for reasons cited by other posters above. Before it is all said and done, Geb will probably eclipse Tergat's time in the marathon as well, extinguishing the last remaining morsel of debate. No disrespect to Tergat - he's awesome, but Geb owned him on the track.
Cross-country stands in Tergat's favor, but that's a sideshow compared to track. There is only one major cross-country event per year!
On the roads, Geb is steadily eclipsing Tergat. He now holds the world Half marathon record, and will probably hold the marathon record within the next year or two. I love Tergat, but I think it is absurd to suggest he might be better than Geb.
430miler - I'm not sure I would say Tergat is better than Geb, or Geb is better than Tergat. At this point, Tergat is/was better at the marathon and XC, whereas Geb was better on the track (although Tergat was pretty damn good on the track and Geb is damn good in the marathon).
One thing that I seem to notice from your posts, both on this thread and others, is that you don't seem to have confidence in Bekele in longer distances? What indication do you have that he wouldn't be great at distances of 15K and up? As dominating as he is the 5000, he's even more dangerous in the 10000, and he is totall dominating in 12K XC. Time will tell, but I think the odds are that he will hold records in longer distances too.
its not that dont have confidence in bekele in longer distance, its that i dont think hes ready to move up in distance; as we've seen recently with young dathan ritzenhein, its just not the time in your career to move up because you havent peaked in the shorter distance.
i think bekele's 10k record is done (he wont break it again) but he is SO young and i think he is capable of shaving as much as 5 seconds off of his 5k track record.
as far as geb's concerned, i think the main reason why i prefer tergat over him is his style. tergats stride is so easy, long, effortless, and by far THE BEST.
geb's stride is much shorter, because he is shorter, and he just doesnt seem near as relaxed as tergat; not meaning he is in any way more aerobically deficient, but i prefer tergats stride.
i have often tried to mimic gebs stride in my 10k races so i can break 34:00, but i always seem to go into lactic acid when i am mimicing his stride. when i stride like tergat, i feel good and fast, and avoid lactic acid at all costs.
sorry for my ramblings, but i had to answer 430fans query, as i truly think form and stride is the reason for more love towards tergat; and as said earlier, runners come in all shapes in sizes, strides and forms, take your pick to which suits you best.
actually most olympic medalists in the marathon are usually in their mid20s. he needs to get a move on.
wrong. they are in their upper 20's to LOW 30's. they can aompete in their mid 20's, but i believe the peaking age is around 31-32
Olympic Marathon champs and age they won their medal
1992 - Hwang (22)
1996 - Thugwane (25)
2000 - Abera (22)
2004 - Baldini (33)
Looks like I am right and you are wrong. Being over 30 and winning a gold medal in the Olympics marathon _these days_ is more the exception than the rule.
Paul Tergat real age is 39. Expect him to retire on June 17 2007. At age 40!!!!
how is his real age 39?
his real age is 37.
to the430miler:As with every thread you've made or shown up in, attempting to credit your "running knowledge" with profound posts, please try and work on that grammar. Half your elite-giddy comments just don't make any sense. With that, your arguments beyond the facts and accomplishments of Tergat's career (which,again, fail to match the impact and dominance of Haile's) are just nonsense. You value a runner because of their height and their subsequent stride??? What does that even mean? The way someone looks while they run and how much lactic acid that causes you to build up has no place in deciding "greatness." also:
the430miler wrote:
there are many more aspects of his physiological career
physiological career?? what is that?? running and "greatness" is about things runners have done, not who they are or how they look or what spikes they wear that you want to buy...
seriously, I love the enthusiasm, but you gotta straighten out your ideas and presentation. "Tergat has the world record by a MINUTE"??? you're better than that.
sorry bout that. let me elaborate...
his marathon pr is 1 minute faster than geb's.
actually, tergats is 61 seconds faster.
heres the link...
you are such a TOOL!
seriously, how is his real age 39?
bump
come again? wrote:
seriously, how is his real age 39?
That would make him 36 when he set his world record. Possible but not likely. The age I'd really like confirmed is Geb. I've heard he is a few years older than his 33 claimed.
bpence wrote:Although everyone gives the advantage in cross country to Tergat, they've met only 4 times in that discipline (all WXC) and have split the series 2-2.
Tergat is a 5-time world champion over cross country. That counts in my book. More to the point, did Geb beat Tergat in '93 and '94? Geb ran it both those years but there's no record of Tergat running it those years (his IAAF profile starts with his 1995 win).
I think it's unbelievable that we're discussing something that happened 13 years ago, when these guys were still among the best in the world at what they did. That's rare in any sport, but especially running.
ok you are an idiot go back to sucking off Moen you pussy
Haile Gebrselassie IS the greatest distance runner ever. By a wide margin. Absolutely no question about that. If someone really tries to find a different Nr. 1, then there are serious arguments only for Paavo Nurmi (WR at all distances from 1500m to 20000m, Olympic Gold over 1500m, 5000m and 10000) and Emil Zatopek (Olympic Gold over 5000m, 10000m and Marathon at the same Games).
I don`t know what Gebrselassie still has to do, to convince everybody interested in the question.
Setting 50 World Records in a span of 30 years?
Highlights in EVERY YEAR since 1992, with the only exception of 2004!!
1992: World Junior Champ
1993: World Champ
1994: World Record
1995: World Record, World Champ,
1996: World Indoor Record, Olympic Champ
1997: World Indoor Record, World Indoor Champ, World Record, World Champ
1998: World Indoor Record, World Record
1999: World Indoor Record, World Indoor Champ, World Champ
2000: Olympic Champ
2001: World Champ (road)
2002: World Record (road)
2003: World Indoor Record, World Indoor Champ
2005: World Record (road)
2006: World Record (road)
Looking seriously at his career, there is only one question: is he the greatest in the history of athletics? Maybe he still is behind Carl Lewis with his 7 individual Olympic gold medals. But maybe Haile already should be the Nr. 1 in the history of the modern sport (all events).
Paul Tergat is one of the greates runners in history. No doubt. But a long way behind Haile.