Observationalist wrote:
A bit of back-and-forth, eh? What race did you watch? Thompson had pole till 600m left in Birmingham so how do you contend "unbeatable from 1k out" based on that race?
This is where my logic rests, so I'll keep it present tense. Mo Farah runs well in 2010, but still isn't a player. In fact, despite him being 26 and around for seven years, he's really only known as a mid-pack/10-5th place finisher. Suddenly in 2011 he is the master of the whole game, eh?
So that's the context where I draw from.
Two years ago Mo ran 12:53.1 and 26:46.5. His 2011 master-year. He kicked in Daegu to win in a slower 13:23 and just fell short with silver in quicker paced 27:14. In London he outkicked all to win in a pedestrian 13:42 and tactical 27:30.
2013. Mo ran 3:15 at Oxy, not the A and 2 seconds slower than his meet record from '12. Jump to Pre. Have you heard of any other runners/racers who raced after an illness or jetlag or pollen or a fight with a spouse or... The very fact that you bang on about Mo's virus is a testament to how manipulating Salazar is, because that is his M.O. as a media blazer. The pace had a little bit of heat and a 61 penultimate left Mo gassed and Soi with wheels 13:05.88--Mo's best time of the season, yet his first loss in a long time. And you (and those like you) want to contend that Mo was sick or recovering from illness there to create a context for the outkicking he suffered.
However, it continues to stand that while Mo has outkicked everyone else since then, he has not done so off a pace that comes close to the pace he could hold in 2011 and most recently Soi's move with 200m @ Pre. We just watched Alamirew kick to go 13:06.69, less than a second off Mo's best this year. Alamirew who was a step off Mo at Pre and then on the clock in 12:54.9 a week after Pre.
My diatribe. But at some stage you need to unhook yourself from the Mo Farah matrix that has now run its course...it's 2013. Mo wasn't sick...he's just 30 years old and whatever the juice that catapulted him midpack obscurity was, there's a 23 year old with speed who knows "by the clock" that he can run sub 12:55 "right now".
You're right, it's all a conspiracy. Rupp was making things up when he said he had to carry Mo to the bathroom the week prior to the race just because Mo isn't fit anymore and the Oregon Project is covering it up. Some people here have the weirdest agendas.
Or, I contend that he's unbeatable from 1k out because he closed that last k in 2:22.8 regardless of what Thompson or anyone else did in the Birmingham race. No one is going to out kick Mo if the race turns into a sit and kick affair from a mile or less out. You say he's 30 and insinuating he is doping, while people that aren't dazed and confused know he's the double Olympic Champion and World Champion at 5000 meters. Like it or not he is the greatest distance runner presently.