Galen Rupp... guts - respect.

...and as it was pointed out, Farah and Rupp were not doing intervals together this summer. That would have helped too, for Rupp.

Totally agree. And we may never see another American competing at this level.

alanson wrote:

Totally agree. And we may never see another American competing at this level.

What? Last I checked Jager has a shot at gold. True, Rowbury and Simpson all should have a chance at a bronze, at least.

I have avoided participating in all the BS about Rojo's Salazar witch hunt, but it's good to see many others calling him on it. There was zero solid evidence of anything, and it was all just incredibly bad journalism. Not exactly the actions you'd expect of someone who supposedly wants the sport of T&F to grow and thrive.

longjack wrote:

probably rupp's effort was about the same or a bit better than his AR.

i hope he has something left for the remainder of the season.

i am curious what the boy can do.

If Rupp gets a chance later in the year to run a very fast time (for instance, challenge his 10k record), let's pray to God that he didn't tell anyone (like Kara) after this WC race that he felt really tired and burned out. Because then we might get some more "RUPP DOPING SCANDAL WITH IRONCLAD EVIDENCE" headlines from BBC/Pro Publica/LetsRun.com.

(well, since he is likely not talking to Kara, instead we'll get:

Kara Goucher: "well, after his 10k WC race in China, I saw him collapsed on the track looking exhausted. He was clearly physically spent. Then I read his lips on the TV as he told Alberto- 'I'm exhausted. This race and this season has taken a lot out of me'. And this was after not even breaking 27:00. And THEN....a few weeks later.....he runs near his AR in perfect conditions with a rabbit!! You don't do that in this sport.....you just don't do it. Clearly he received a doping boost after the WC's. There is no other explanation.

PS I am saving this sport for Colt, so he can win a gold medal against a clean field some day. You're welcome Colt, and you're welcome world." )

LOL.

BTW, if you want to know you "suddenly lose" world class sprinting speed, ask Lagat. Rupp beat him like 2 out of 20 tries and then, bam, half of the top americans can beat him any day.

Rupp simply hasn't raced much this year, he very likely lacks the RACING fitness that comes from races. Any yes, racing in the upper 70's with 60+ humidity for a 10K which is finishing at 26:40 pace for the second half is a nightmare for conditions.

rojo wrote:

Rupp's run last night was fantastic and that's why we gave him great praise in our recap. It reminds me of Ritz's run in 2009. No one really gave him props as his 6th place finish only got him 6th and the leaders were way ahead.

1 Kenenisa Bekele 26:46.31 SB «

2 Zersenay Tadese 26:50.12 SB «

3 Moses Masai 26:57.39 SB «

4 Imane Merga 27:15.94 SB «

5 Bernard Kipyego 27:18.47 SB «

6 Dathan Ritzenhein 27:22.28 PB

For 2009, the IAAF reports that the temps were 25 celsius with 44% humidity so that's 77 degrees. In 2009, Bekele closed that race in 13:06!!!! Last night, the weather was officially reported as 26 celsius and 61% humidity so that's 78.8 degrees (So you can see why people still don't put Farah in Bekele's class).

Anyway, what did Ritz do a few weeks later in 2009? Run 12:56.

.

Yes, it's almost the exact same as Ritz getting 6th, when he was 25 seconds behind the last medal and 36 seconds (or over half a lap) behind the winner.

The only difference is that with half a lap to go, Rupp was still in a position to medal and with 1 lap to go he was right off the winner. In a perfect world Ritz could have and should have run under 27:00 for 10K, maybe even low 26:5x. But he was never at the same level as Rupp for 10K because Rupps coulda shoulda time is certainly under 26:40 and he's been dominant at 10K for about 7 years now in the us. Untouchable.

Ritz ran a heckuva race form himself in 2009. Rupp ran a heckuva race for himself yesterday. But the level of the performances do not compare.

On the other hand, didn't Rupp just get his clock cleaned by someone who paced his own 26:44 pb in Eugene?

elfie had a great race. An amazing effort from a sickly weakling suffering from asthma, anaemia, allergies, a bad thyroid gland and tiny balls.

POD.

Can he get ready for the 5K heats? It's hard to imagine a pathway to a medal there for Rupp, except maybe a very slow jogfest. But after watching his incredible race for all but the last 350 meters, he looks like the best bet for a strong U.S. showing if he can be ready.

quote]laughing stock wrote:

LOL.

BTW, if you want to know you "suddenly lose" world class sprinting speed, ask Lagat. Rupp beat him like 2 out of 20 tries and then, bam, half of the top americans can beat him any day.

Rupp simply hasn't raced much this year, he very likely lacks the RACING fitness that comes from races. Any yes, racing in the upper 70's with 60+ humidity for a 10K which is finishing at 26:40 pace for the second half is a nightmare for conditions.[/quote]

Agree. Try having twins and see what happens to your kick at the end of 27 minutes with Farah, Tanui, Kamworor. I don't think the parents on this board have any confusion about Rupp's minor loss of kick; only admiration for his gutsy race.

wtfunny wrote:

On the other hand, didn't Rupp just get his clock cleaned by someone who paced his own 26:44 pb in Eugene?

Sure, but you are dismissing a couple factors.

1) Good runners beat and also lose to other good runners, that doesn't mean he ran terrible as much as he didn't have a finish to beat them on a given day.

2) Some runners run great in heat, others terrible. East Africans tend to perform well in these conditions and westerners do not. Some people run great in mud or cold conditions, others do not. If Rupp was running on the night of his 10K AR in the same conditions as Beijing, he may have blown up at the end.

Great post, sc42. As a parent, I certainly concur. It was not only gusty, but Rupp showed excellent fitness. Many-a-night of broken sleep for dads and moms...

Sponge wrote:

Can he get ready for the 5K heats?

He looked so defeated and tired at the end of the 10K its hard to see but who knows.

Rupp will get a good rest, and will be hungry in the 5K. Let's see if he can make the final.

Stressball wrote:

To comment on your "How do you legally suddenly develop world class speed and then lose it? Seriously, how do you do it? " statement: Have you ever considered that a prolonged period of public ridicule that escalated during the most important training period of the track season could induce a level of stress of a sufficient proportion to interrupt training and thereby negatively influence race performance? Stop trying to plant seeds, Rojo. For once.

Come on, we all know the BroJos are f'ing dillwads. They attack Rupp, Nike, NOP every chance they get. It was NONSTOP attack mode in June. Now their holy madonna Radcliffe has extremely suspicious blood values and what's the response. Testing results are complex???!! We like Paula.

Why no "Paula's a Doper" coverage on the front page? Christ, there was still a John Caprioti Threat link right below the banner on the front page.

The BroJos and Trump 2016 - they all take themselves seriously but everyone knows they're an f'ing joke;-)

Anyone get annoyed with NBC's non-coverage of Shannon Rowbury's heat, but they showcased our "darling" Jenny Simpson??

Same with not showing Kerron Clement's heat. Pissed.

Here we go again with the typo fanboy spooge fest. Good grief you guys are losers. The guy finished 5th, got smoked. Next please

I confess I don't understand your point at all. I don't think anyone suggested Rupp or any other competitor in this race, other than the top three finishers, of course, deserved any medal or trophy for competing. When you think about it, top three for medals is pretty arbitrary, and I've never liked medal counts as the be all and end all of Olympic or WC success. We can all think of certain performances where the athlete competed very well but did not medal. I was thrilled at Evan Jaeger's Oly performance in 2012, to take but one example.

Setting aside the whole drug controversy, if that's possible,as the OP points out and I agree, Rupp ran a gutsy, competitive race. Sure, I'd have loved to see him win gold, but this isn't something like the U.S. basketball team in the Olys. distance running is not America's sport, it's the World's sport. We are one among many, and I join the OP in congratulating Rupp on a very fine race in hot conditions.