Now Mo Katir, in contrast.
Born February 17, 1998, a year earlier than Luis. At 17, he ran 8:48 for 3k, which wouldn't put him anywhere near our national high school leaders, so he didn't show special talent at the 3k early on, this future mid 7:20s indoor 3k runner. At 19, in 2017, he ran a 3:52.79 1500m, about a 4:10-4:11 mile. That would put him about 50th-100th in the states for high school, but he was nineteen, and it would make him just a good Division III runner for college at that age. Two years later, at 21, in 2019, the future 3:28 1500m runner was running 1:51.84 for 800m in Spain, which is about 3:28 pace. You would not expect a 1:51 guy at that age to run 3:28 two years later. At 22 years old, he was down to 3:36.59 in 2020. That is an unexpected drop, for sure, sixteen seconds in the 1500m from age 19, basically moving from a D3 level to among the best D1 runners nowadays, but still, that can happen. Then from 22 to 23, he drops eight seconds at 1500m after plateauing the previous year to among the best in world history. That is our problem, the reason that we all expected him to test positive. He basically plateaued at the level in the 1500m but continued to drop time at 3k/5k. In the 5000m, he ran 13:50 in 2018, then one minute faster, 12:50 three years later. Two years after that, he's better, five seconds faster, but he basically plateaued in 2021-2023 after a stratospheric improvement from 2020 to 2021. So, no surprise he was doping. He never showed global level talent until 2021. Prior to that, he was a good college level runner at best. The only surprise may have been that they caught him before he was retired.
800m 2019 1:51.84 Madrid (ESP) 12 MAY 2019
1500 Metres
2017 3:52.79 Lorca (ESP) 28 MAY 2017
2018 3:40.84 Castellón (ESP) 26 JUN 2018
2019 3:37.20 Castellón (ESP) 23 JUL 2019
2020 3:36.59 Castellón (ESP) 24 AUG 2020
2021 3:28.76 Stade Louis II, Monaco (MON) 09 JUL 2021
2022 3:29.90 Hayward Field, Eugene, OR (USA) 19 JUL 2022
2023 3:28.89 Bislett Stadion, Oslo (NOR) 15 JUN 2023
3000 Metres
2015 8:48.27 Ciudad Real (ESP) 28 JUN 2015
2016 8:31.67 Alcobendas (ESP) 18 JUN 2016
2018 7:56.62 Barcelona (ESP) 11 JUL 2018
2019 7:53.81 Valencia (ESP) (i) 18 JAN 2019
2020 7:44.13 Estadi Joan Serrahima, Barcelona (ESP) 22 SEP 2020
2021 7:27.64 International Stadium, Gateshead (GBR) 13 JUL 2021
2022 7:35.73 Gallur, Madrid (ESP) (i) 02 MAR 2022
2023 7:24.68 Arena Stade Couvert, Liévin (FRA) (i) 15 FEB 2023
5000 Metres
2018 13:50.19 Huelva (ESP) 08 JUN 2018
2021 12:50.79 Stadio Luigi Ridolfi, Firenze (ITA) 10 JUN 2021
2022 13:22.98 Olympiastadion, München (GER) 16 AUG 2022
2023 12:45.01 Stade Louis II, Monaco (MON) 21 JUL 2023