I do understand that as well, but finally there is one major difference: the recovery time. Even the 10000m is short enough for elites to continue their track season throughout the fall. Bekele set the WR after winning the world title. My point is, even if you miss the Olympics/WC, you still have chances to race the best in the world or continue your season and even get into races that are arguably more competitive than the Olympics were (like some races in the former Golden League/New Diamond League). However, this doesn't work with the Marathon because of the needed recovery time. People do not run a marathon at the Olympics and then are able to keep racing, or if they luck out of not getting into Olympics, they don't have a chance to race the Olympians in another marathon because they will be recovering etc.
My suggestion is that if the marathon were to stay for the Olympics/World Championships, score it like World Cross Country. Have a team of up to nine people with six that score (of course still keep it that you have to run the qualifying standard first to be in the Olympics). That would be much more interesting to make the marathon a team race and it would allow more deserving people from Ethiopia and Kenya to be in the Olympics. Like Cross Country, still give out individual medals and then team medals.
Team Kenya could be Samuel Wanjiru, Geoffrey Mutai, Patrick Makau, James Kwambai, Duncan Kibet, Emmanuel Mutai, Abel Kirui, Eluid Kiptanui, and Martin Lel.
Team USA would probably only be Hall, Meb, Ritz, Nick Arciniaga, Gotcher, and maybe Kahlid Khannouchi if he got back to sub 2:12 shape, because of the lack of people that have run under 2:12. The USA would still have enough people to score but wouldn't have as much of a chance to win because of their lack in depth in marathoning.
I think that this would be so much cooler if the Marathon was like World Cross at the Olympics/World Championships.
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It's the Athletes choice to run it...I'm sure Wanjiru or Baldini wouldn't like the Olympic Marathon being taken away, or even Geb, and countless others. All marathons take a long time to recover. And also, if you run the Olympic Marathon, you can run the Fukouka Marathon, which actually make 2 competitive Marathons in the 2nd half of the year instead of one actually making more competition.
Fukouka has been won by all three current Olympic Medalists and Gebrsalassie. So it's clearly competitive Marathon. Without the Olympics, though, it's unlikely an athlete would schedule a Marathon like Fukouka this far down the line so really same competition+ Olympics so it's actually a better thing.