WC MEN'S 5000m FINAL THREAD! IT'S ON.

why are you so down on the East Africans? the whole world (even us Americans) go and poach runners from East Africa! even Mo Farah is east African!

If Koech would had stayed with Farah the whole race, he would have smoked Farah. Koech screwed over half the field with his 61s 2nd lap

I would disagree with the assessment that these are boring races. Mo is nearly unbeatable in a slow race but that doesn't mean seeing 5 guys go for the win in the final 200 is "boring." Predictable maybe.

With regards to why the Africans don't push the pace when they've run 30 sec faster, I'd offer two possible answers: 1. It takes a special level of control to accelerate the body from race pace to fast race pace without help. These guys may even plan on killing the pace, and when it comes time, just can't summon the nerve. 2. The arrogance that comes with winning races your whole life gives you an incredible amount of confidence in races. Even Ryan Hill, while he knows he's got a slim chance to win, believes in his kick during the race. It's embedded in him. So while they know going into the race that Mo has the biggest kick, they each allow themselves to ride the wave, vaguely believing in that winning kick that won them all those state titles and local races in their youth.

I would bet on a prime Bekele beating Farah in anything over 5k. But it would be close.

Breaking news!!!! The Kenyans and Ethiopians aren't good enough either.[/quote]

Not good enough when they have a 20/30m gap with only 4k to go... If you're not willing to go for it with that kind of gap, you're obviously already defeated mentally. They could of beaten Mo easily at that point. Mo wasn't really responding and they probably could have stretched their lead to 40-50m by the time realized the move was for real.

I got excited when Lagat was making his move with ~200 to go, but the limp/wobble he had after the race makes me think his hip was bothering him still. I guess he'll probably cash-in on a marathon and call it quits.

Disagree that the reasoning is about winning. As someone pointed out, there's big prize money for the places behind first and the guys with the ability don't want to sacrifice their own chances for the dough and hand it to someone else.

What are ya saying in Pre's day the clocks ran slower.? Telling ya Pre went 13:21 in one race...think it was when he took out George Young and he looked great at the end. PRE PRE PRE! :)

just saying Bekele ran 12:37 Farrah has run 12:53. Mo is good but Bekele in his prime would win

bubbadeeboo wrote:

Breaking news!!!! The Kenyans and Ethiopians aren't good enough either.

... If you're not willing to go for it with that kind of gap, you're obviously already defeated mentally... .[/quote]

Like I said, The Kenyans and Ethiopians aren't good enough either.

And it is NOT going to be easy to beat MO unless he gets injured. 4000m is a lot of racing left.

haha wrote:

I would bet on a prime Bekele beating Farah in anything over 5k. But it would be close.

It would not be close in the 5k nor the 10k. Prime Bekele is significantly better than Farah.

Hill making a bid to become our top 5K runner next year if he keeps it up. Impressive!

gaga for veig wrote:

just saying Bekele ran 12:37 Farrah has run 12:53. Mo is good but Bekele in his prime would win

Bekele 3:32, Mo 3:28

Fantastic response, this:

Couldn't agree with Bring back Bekele more. I don't know if it's youth on behalf of the Ethiopians or lack of absolute elite talent on behalf of the Kenyans but Farah hasn't faced nearly the same challenges Bekele faced. He was forced twice, by Geb and Tadese, to run sub-26:50 and with the exception of 2005, all of Bekele's "sit and kicks" came in right around 27 flat. In the 5k, he had to contend with El G in 2003 (where Kipchoge won in 12:52 with no rabbits) and in 2004. Then in 2008, he took it upon himself to crush the treat of Lagat by running the last 2k in 4:57. Still even in that race, he didn't truly shed Kipchoge until the last 250. These current Ethiopians have more than enough talent to make a run at Farah but whether it's inexperience or fear, it's already become frustrating how they play into his hands again and again.

No. These guys are professionals. Point 2 contradicts point 1. Do these guys have arrogance from years of winning or do they lose their nerve when it comes race time?

Letusallrun wrote:

gaga for veig wrote:

just saying Bekele ran 12:37 Farrah has run 12:53. Mo is good but Bekele in his prime would win

Bekele 3:32, Mo 3:28

Farah was dragged to that time. Bekele had awful pacing in his. The difference between their 1500m ability is a lot smaller than those numbers indicate.

If they set up a rabbited race for Mo when he's peaking, I'd think he'd be good for 12:39-42. I still like Bekele better because he did the records and also won all the Cross Country championships. I hate how many of the best are neglecting XC now.

Tactics were utter rubbish. So disappointed, especially seeing they could have beaten him. But if there's a silver lining for Kenya in this, Koech in 5k and Tanui in the 10k are ones for the future.

kek wrote:

Not Eritrean wrote:

Fool me once, shame on you

Fool me twice, shame on me

Fool me thrice, I'm an idiot

Fool me four times, I'm an Ethiopian or Kenyan 5k/10k runner

POY.

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ya fool them 2 times, then run a 328, then fool them 2 times again.

actually koech ran a brave race, the only african that did, and moe runs brave all the way, with a plan at all times.

got to say the african's ain't brothers. they run every man for themselves. which perhaps is a fair way, but like we said, real real stupid.