Why am I so happy that Farah lost today?

maxdok wrote:

Yesterday we couldn't stop chatting about this race in my running group. And EVERYBODY was happy to see Bekele win AND Mo lose.

Reasons? Ranging from suspiciousness about Mo's recent achievements (11" improvement in one year in 1500, then winning 5000 and 10000 World Championships in a row, then running a half in 60') to the gladness about seeing Bekele back and fit.

For Haile there were only good words and good wishes.

I won't be running with your group anytime soon. 11 second improvement in the 1500 in one year????

Make up complete bullshit, why don't you?

5.85 second improvement in the 1500m as compared to 2012's best. Definitely not 11 seconds. Still pretty significant improvement.

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/mohamed-farah-179892#progression

* wrote:

Farah was competitive against Kiprop over 1500m and now raced Bekele to the line in a half marathon.

This, you call "competitive"? Over 1500m???

I don't get all the hate either? Mo has great range - his 1500m is off the charts for a "distance" guy. So he hasn't put togther a "fast" 5k/10k yet, so what? he is a double champion (Olympics and worlds) - three including the 5000m from 2011.

While this race obviously was set up - people talk about about the "commentaors" as if they don't know who they are - Brendan Foster (and Steve Cram) are both British, the former IS Nova International (who puts on the race), and this is their homebase (as Cram said, he lived just off the course). This race was set up for Mo to win, not to have a "fast" race per se - not sure why anyone would even care. If racing fast were the point then a phalanx of rabbits would have been employed. It was a showcase only, and an entertaining one given how much people have been talking about it. Great opportunity for Bekele to get in a race when perhaps not at his best recently. Geb was the designated rabbit (unofficial), and likely got a good payday, without his ego being on the line, or beng forced to go too fast and either fade or DNF (as some of his races have done in the recent past). It was genious really (other than Mo not winning), and Bekele's tactic's showed the world that Mo wasn't invincible. A win-win all around as far as I can tell.

The women's race was an opportunity to get Dibaba and Defar (arguably the best on the track for distance these days) against a true marathoner (Prisca Jeptoo). Again a great race - although Dibaba was a bit disappointing - with the Marathoner taking it to the track stars. They did have a rabbit (for a couple of miles, who really didn't help as went they off quite slowly -for the level of the top three) which may have prevented the winner from blowing up with too fast a beginning, and what a finish - almost getting Radcliffe's CR. In the right conditions can she run 2h15? It exposed the Ethiopian women to the vulnerability that moving to the marathon might not be as easy as they thought (although they were preparing for track races, not the Marathon, this summer).

Anyone who thinks that both Farah and Bekele couldn't run faster than 1hr wasn't watching the same race as me. Both can - Geb is past his prime and even he might have been able to if there had been a rabbitt for him to at least half-way.

Dongo wrote:

5.85 second improvement in the 1500m as compared to 2012's best. Definitely not 11 seconds. Still pretty significant improvement.

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/mohamed-farah-179892#progression

Yes, and you can't compare an early season race at Occidental (3:34) 2012 to a rabbitted race in Monaco in July 2013. There is no comparison. He was a 3:29 - 3:32 runner in 2012.

Trackie66 wrote:

Distance running is deeper than ever, it’s a global full-time professional sport, which really was never the case for most of Olympic history and thus it goes without saying, that a double done in 2012 was better than any ever before.

Blah blah blah ....

Uhhhh no. Beating Galen Rupp and Gebremeskel is not as better than beating Sihine and Kipchoge, nor is it better than beating Sihine and finishing 2nd to the greatest miler of all time.

Trackie66 wrote:

Distance running is deeper than ever, it’s a global full-time professional sport, which really was never the case for most of Olympic history and thus it goes without saying, that a double done in 2012 was better than any ever before.

Blah blah blah

Bekele set Olympic Records in both the 5000m and 10000m in the 2008 Olympics. Keep that in mind, Mustafa.

And his double at the World Championships in 2009 included a 26:46 performance in the 10000m, .26 seconds faster than Mo's PB.

You are right in one respect: you could be wrong. And to the OP, it's unreasonable to ask the rest of us why you feel as you do. What has this guy ever done wrong? He was fortunate enough to be able to escape one of the poorest nations on Earth, and all he has done is worked his butt off and achieved the greatest possible success in the World's most competitive sport. And so far as I know, he's never uttered a negative word along the way. I love Kenenisaw Bekele and I love Mo Farrah. They are both superb competitors and I look forward to their developing a great rivalry on the roads.

He lost again today? Why is he racing so soon after the half marathon?

I'm English, and I'm a "smashing bloke". Although you are American, so that excuses you lack of worldly knowledge #travel