The most talented runner i have ever seen or heard about! wrote:
He had a lot more left in the tank. I think he could have lowered some of his pb's not named the 3000m or 2 mile. Does anyone think he had a 12:35 5000m or sub 26:20 10000m performance left on the table?
He had a long career, but the malaria must have taken a toll?
m!ndweak wrote:
Lydiard Cerutty wrote:
His best distance was the 3000m/5000m
5000m progression:
2004 13:16.26 Rovereto (ITA) 08 SEP 2004
2003 13:28.56 Lille (FRA) 15 JUN 2003
2001 13:01.98 Athina (GRE) 11 JUN 2001
2000 13:01.78 Bruxelles (BEL) 25 AUG 2000
1999 12:55.16 Roma (ITA) 07 JUL 1999
1998 12:54.82 Bruxelles (BEL) 28 AUG 1998 this is when he stopped training as hard and relied on the sauce
1997 12:39.74 Bruxelles (BEL) 22 AUG 1997
1996 12:45.09 Zürich (SUI) 14 AUG 1996
1995 12:56.15 Roma (ITA) 08 JUN 1995
1994 13:31.10 Algiers (ALG) 08 JUL 1994 this is when got noticed and put on the SAUCE
3000m progression:
2004 8:04.57 Antananarivo (MAD) 21 APR 2004
2003 7:52.52 Lucerne (SUI) 25 JUN 2003
2002 7:44.36 Doha (QAT) 15 MAY 2002 isnt on the sauce anymore
2001 7:43.76 Doha (QAT) 18 MAY 2001
2000 7:28.92 Monaco (MON) 18 AUG 2000
1999 7:29.43 Monaco (MON) 04 AUG 1999
1998 7:32.55 Paris (FRA) 29 JUL 1998 this is when he stopped training as hard and relied on the sauce
1997 7:30.49 Oslo (NOR) 04 JUL 1997
1996 7:20.67 Rieti (ITA) 01 SEP 1996
1995 7:38.09 Monaco (MON) 09 SEP 1995
It would be interesting to hear a interview from him now, retrospecting on what he did wrong.
he was a 13:31.10 clean guy, and prob a 8:00 3km......very very very similar to our greatest running nerd, rupp
he then hops on the sauce full throttle and takes 30+ seconds off. to about the PR of rupp again. here is where things change. komen was able to squeeze more from himself than most can on EPO, why? cause he wasnt mindweak he was hungry as balz for that cash money! he runs super fast but isnt selected for the 96 olympics. so then after that he goes on a streak of destruction. trained to hard, chip on his shoulder, too much EPO, bad on his health, add those together and you get a heart that has red lined too many times. he still sauces after that, but has lost drive to train that hard, to push that hard to run after that white mans clock.
i believe that around 2002 he was off the sauce and not training as hard, and thought "why am i doing this, its not fun anymore"
then out of shape, no drive he runs times he ran before he ever tried EPO and became rich
there you have it, a guy with prob no better than 54 400m speed was able to run what he did
just cause EPO can make you drop times with the same effort given, it doesnt mean it stops hurting
+1
As ingebritsen has just broken komens 3000m record, I think it's a good time to reflect on komen and the lost generation of mid-long distance runners who didn't have the longevity of their peers, El-Gherrouj, Gebresalasie, moses kiptanuai. I remember the golden league 96/97 Komen and Haile were going toe-toe breaking records seemingly every other week. Komen got outkicked by Haile and I remember him saying ' he could do better and beat Haile ', at 5000m I don't think he could beat Haile when both were in the race, Komen broke the 5000m WR but Haile wasn't in the field and I remember Haile soon broke it, I think this hastened Komen decline Haile was at his peak sub 13 was par for the course for both of them, but Haile always seemed the man to beat, no disgrace Haile and Bekele the 2 best of all time or my time 95- . Komen was a bit of a enigma he ran a commonwealth 10,000m and ran a crazy fast first lap under 60secs and ended up 11th? I think he just crashed and burned, much like Noah Ngney who was 1500m olympic champion nobody can take that away, but he couldn't beat El-Gherrouj on the circuit, 3.44.90 mile behind El-Gherrouj WR but I don't recall him winning on a regular basis or having a long career. Bernard Barmasai another 7.55 WR steeplechase but he didn't have the longevity of a kiptanuai, who ran across 3000m flat,2000m, 2miles, 5000m as well as his preferred steeplechase. He was the first to break 8minutes at the steeplechase 7.59.08, he was often pushed into 2nd in major championships but he was consistent on the circuit for 6+years winning races across Europe. Another tremendous Kenyan Paul Tergat probably the greatest cross-country runner of my time, he would always give Haile a tough time, their olympic duel was awesome and if like the high jumpers Barshim and Tabieri they could give 2golds that would be my candidate, my point is really all these greats kiptanuai, Tergat and Wilson Kipketer who ran for Denmark but was Kenyan by birth was consistency winning multiple medals and breaking records year after year, the others seemingly weren't as dedicated or burned-out quickly. But in his prime Komen was a beast. Simple.