Who has the best finishing kick ever?

Alberto Cova.

3 finishing kicks to win the EC, WC and OG.

Can't get better than that.

Mo without question. Bekele is good, but he's no Mo. Hell, according to Mo, Mo is no Mo. He has a different road racing name which we all ignored.

looked really close wrote:

Kev2 wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiqPRpKVY5E

close, but not sub 50 last lap for him.

I think I got him on the stopwatch at 49.8. ?

Ummm...everr heard of Pele?

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

Bekele has way more global medals especially gold than anyone else with times to boot, no discussion on him and mo never will be

this however is about kick, someone can be the goat kicker and be 2nd or 3rd a lot ala Lagat(does have some wins too)

I just feel like Bekele had the most dominate kick ever, look at how many races he put away by 200m to go in just 150-200m, and also his ability to do it from the front and off fast paces

El G literally kicked his arse though!

probably because he was still developing his kick for one, and two people do get out kicked from time to time even El G.....

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

Here’s just one comparison Bekele had a better a kick, Bekele in ‘08 10k 53.4 last lap cruised last 75-80m, winning time 27:01 last K in 2:27

Mo in 2012 ran 27:30 with a 2:28 last K and 53.8 last lap

We happen to have a Mo 27:01 race as well in 2015, his last lap was 54.15 off a 2:29 last K

Bekele could close faster than Mo off a faster pace = better kick

This guy gets it.

@round and round: How in the world do you not see that a 53.87 last lap by Bekele in the ‘08 Olympics to finish in 12:57 while he’s wagging his finger and SMILING is not patently superior to whatever Farah closed his 13:41 in? Like seriously? How are you not conscious of the heuristic operating in your mind that leads you to believe that Mo Farah could have prevailed that day? They are not equal performances. One is a masterpiece. The other is a participation medal.

Farah never beats prime Bekele in any scenario ever. Never. Not once. Not even on a bad day. It doesn’t happen. (In before London 10k gets bandied around because I’m pretty sure “also ran” Farah was in a dozen races against Bekele but 200m off the lead and off-camera for the better part of a decade.)

After the Athens 5k (against the fastest miler in history...) Bekele stopped leaving things to chance.

See: the second half of 2003 WC 10k

See: sub-5:00 final 2k in his WR 5k — solo

See: final 100m of his 10k WR

See: Great North Run (2013?)

See: every time he annihilated the best competition in history in any scenario on any surface

See: poor, poor Sihine, a 12:46/26:39 guy who would have been among the greatest championship racers and time trialers ever, get constantly relegated to silver

Bekele is the best kicker ever.

El Guerrouj’s long kick was undoubtedly effective, and his tactics sublime, but I agree with others in that Lagat was potentially a better raw speed kicker. Hard to say on this one.

The correct answer is a Daniel Komen.

He kicked when the gun went off and stopped 7 minutes 20 seconds later. Nobody has come close.

Moby wrote:

Ryun was a monstrous kicker, as was Geb. Those two come to mind first.

But Abdi Bile closing the 1987 WC 1500 in 1:46.0 has to put him in contention

I think you'll find Bile's last 800m was 1:46.8/1:46.9, rather than 1:46.0. His last 400m was 51.5.

Samuel DeChamplain wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nulJrt7i5I

imo Rui Silva one of the best kicks ever 50.3 last lap and last 450 was really crazy

all-time Bekele easy off a fast or slow pace he was always consistent and deadly, from the front or off the leaders shoulder...

Rui Silva's last 400m in Athens 04 was 51.4, not 50.3.

He went through the bell with the clock showing 2:43.3, and finished in 3:34.68, so that's 51.3, or 51.4 if rounded to nearest tenth.

Yet it was faster than El G's last lap of 52.0

Low-Income Runner wrote:

looked really close wrote:

close, but not sub 50 last lap for him.

I think I got him on the stopwatch at 49.8. ?

Cacho's last 400m in Barcelona was 50.5, certainly not 49.8! His compatriot, Jose Luis Gonzales did run a last lap of 49.9/50.0 in the 1987 European Cup final, so perhaps you're thinking of that.

Cacho's last 800m was 1:48.5. His last four 100m went - 13.1, 12.2, 12.4, 12.8.

mills

stormy denials sketch looks just like Nick Symonds

I agree.

It also depends on how someone defines, 'finishing kick'. To me it doesn't necessarily mean the fastest last lap, although it can be, but rather the change in pace when the athlete decides to 'go' at the end. This could be at 400m out, 200 or 100m.

Someone like Cram or El G were very good at gradually increasing their top speed around 400m out, and then maintaining it as long as possible.

Someone like Ryun, Ovett or Coe, could change pace very quickly. Ryun tended to go at about 300m out, Ovett at 200m out, and |Coe in the last 100m.

Ryun had one of the greatest ever kicks, as shown in his 1500m in Dusseldorf in 67, running the back straight in 11.7.

Ovett's kick looked never better in his Wold Cup win in 77, again in Dusseldorf, where he kicked hard with 200m to go and ran the next 100m in 11.9/12.0, and last 200m in 25.1.

For me, the most consistently best kicker over the last 100m for 800m and 1500m races, was Coe. He ran an 11.3 last 100 in the European Cup semi of 1981, where he was level with Kirov, the Olympic 800m bronze medallist in 1980, at the start of the straight, and 1.5 secs in front by the finish.

His last 100m in the Moscow Olympic final was the fastest last 100m in a global Championship 1500m final ever, 12.1, last 200m 25.0.

In this 79 race, he kicked once at 150m and again at start of straight, running the last 200m in 24.1 (most of it in lane 2!) and last 100m in 11.9, easing up at the end.

In these 2 races from 81, he ran 1:44.0 with a kick at 100m to go, which was 12.3.

And finally a last 100m in 12.0 (24.8 last 200m) in the 81 World Cup final, pulling more than 10m clear of the best 2 lap runners in the world at the time.

Deanouk wrote:

Cacho's last 400m in Barcelona was 50.5, certainly not 49.8!

C'mon man!...he pulled up with 5 meters to go. I had him at 50.47 - so easily a sub-50 if he would have sprinted through the line. Ramzi did the same thing at Bejing pulling up before the line. These hot shots winning gold at the big time Olympic games like to pull up and celebrate...nothing new there.

I like Spanish Runners wrote:

Deanouk wrote:

Cacho's last 400m in Barcelona was 50.5, certainly not 49.8!

C'mon man!...he pulled up with 5 meters to go. I had him at 50.47 - so easily a sub-50 if he would have sprinted through the line. Ramzi did the same thing at Bejing pulling up before the line. These hot shots winning gold at the big time Olympic games like to pull up and celebrate...nothing new there.

He eased off a bit with about 10m to go. It wasn’t 0.7sec worth of easing up. If he hadn’t he still wasn’t going to run 49.8 or break 50sec. Maybe 50.2.

last 2000m in 4:56-7 !

that's a long kick... absolutely amazing, smooth stride. he was and thin back then too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVXsHej-OYU

dude, i'm not saying Mo Farah's kick is more lethal than Bekele's. Not at all. Bekele's kick is the strongest. i'm also not saying Mo Farah would have won against Bekele in that 2008 final. He'd have been crushed. Bekele is a better runner. (Farah/Rupp did convincingly outkick Bekele in 2012 Oly's though...)

I'm adding a different perspective and saying Farah is a more 'successful' kicker. i am more impressed by bekele time trialing a 12:37 5k WR than Farah kicking to win a 5k in 13:41, but I think Farah's ability to hang in there and outkick his competition for the massive amount of gold medals is arguably more important. I'd rather have a gold medal than a world record (i know i know, all the letsrun guys prefer fast times)

He's not a better runner that Bekele and Geb or Kipchoge etc by any stretch. His kick is less lethal, but it's been more successful at winning medals. you just cannot argue that. he has more olympic golds than bekele....wikipedia him and look at his medal count since 2010. it's impressive.

i don't even like him

Easily Usain Bolt’s last 50 meters

this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNSWTwB-_bk