Official 2013 Brussels DL Discussion Thread

I posted this in another thread on Jager but did anyone else notice Rupp looking over his shoulder with just less than 300 to go. At the time i was thinking he was looking over his shoulder to see if Jager was nearby but now I don't know what to think as it was his inside shoulder:

Pic here:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/09/mens-5000-pictures/rupp-looks-over-inside-shoulder/

Any ideas?

RunWild wrote:

Alameriw closed in 56-57

Lagat closed in 56-57

Gebrhiwet closed in 56-57

Soi was probably a 59

Rupp was also a 59

Jager hit 59 as well

Alamirew is a clever tactician. Gebrhiwet is better for a full 400 meters, but Alamirew is invincible if it doesn't start until 150 or so.

As has been discussed, Uceny's decision to stay down was an emotional one, based in the deep-seated parts of the brain determining how you react when everything appears to have gone to pot. The injuries she suffered were not of the immediately acute debilitating type (like a torn ACL or bone break), they were after-the-fact collision injuries, like a hard tackle in soccer, you know, the ones those USA soccer women get up from every couple of minutes for 90 minutes or more, but hurts for a week or more, and needs treatment. She didn't immediately hold her injured back or hip, she pounded the ground in frustration, crying.

Simpson is just tougher. Her immediate reaction was to cover up from spikes, and then get up and kick like a Motha. All that crazy stuff happened, and she still finished within 5 seconds of the winner. She has my respect.

Absolutely Zero Stones wrote:

but let's stop with the rationalizations regarding his status as an American.

You're right. Let's stop.

He is an AMERICAN.

/issue. He may not be an American the way YOU define one but he is legally an American citizen since 2004.

So stupid that this even needs to be discussed in 2013.

rojo wrote:

I posted this in another thread on Jager but did anyone else notice Rupp looking over his shoulder with just less than 300 to go. At the time i was thinking he was looking over his shoulder to see if Jager was nearby but now I don't know what to think as it was his inside shoulder:

Pic here:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/09/mens-5000-pictures/rupp-looks-over-inside-shoulder/

Any ideas?

Saw it looked like he had given up a bit and was checking behind to me. It was just after the other runners had come past him.

The Kenyans have really lost it and don't run like they used to with no front runners. No runners seem to risk blowing up any more

Hardloper wrote:wtf??? please elaborate?

Are you seriously that dense? Look, I know that - technically - Lagat is a U.S. citizen by virtue of the naturalization process. But you can't tell me his roots are as deep as the guys' who were born and raised on U.S. soil. Rupp, Jager, and Derrick did not simply test into their American heritage.

I've said it before: Lagat is an outstanding runner, an articulate speaker and seemingly an upstanding guy. I even almost believe that he loves his adopted country. But let's be real; he came to the U.S. because it was an easier continued path to WC and Oly competition than he'd have faced by staying in Kenya. He's been King in America for a long time. Had he stayed in Kenya he'd have been knocked off the hill a long time ago. Becoming a U.S. citizen was a business decision for Lagat. Stop pretending that he bleeds red, white and blue.

I'm done. You people who oppose the facts are simply so bent on seeing the good ol' US of A succeed in world competition that you don't care who dons the "American" label so long as they win. Thank goodness Osama bin Laden couldn't run a 3:27 1500 or you all would have brushed 9/11 under the rug as a youthful indiscretion.

T-man wrote:

He's way more American than icons like Maria Sharapova, who has lived in the US since age 3, came up through an American development structure, then represents Russia in competition.

Of course he's more American than Sharapova because you know...he's an America citizen and she's not...

The main reason for Lagat's success is his Kenyan genetics- which are a huge head start. Anyone arguing that just wants to argue. Plus, he's an A-sample EPO-positive (B-sample negative), who's running nearly well as ever at 38.

Still very suspicious & an unsure set of EPO results (see below), to go with current fast times at 38. Or is someone going to argue that a positive sample should draw no suspicions?

"REPORT STATES THAT THE COMPLEXITY OF THE TEST, COMBINED WITH TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING SHORTFALLS, ***COULD HAVE*** LED TO THE INITIAL ERRONEOUS ANALYSIS THAT BERNARD'S A-SAMPLE WAS POSITIVE."

And any repliers- Don't imply anything. I said what I meant & nothing more.

Absolutely Zero Stones wrote:

Stop pretending that he bleeds red, white and blue.

Way to knock down that ridiculous straw man there, Absolutely Zero Stones.

As I said in another thread, why don't you brush up on your trolling skills in Yahoo answers, those guys are more at your level. While you're there, can you get my horoscope interpreted for me? Thanks.

Absolutely Zero Stones wrote:

let's stop with the rationalizations regarding his status as an American.

Last time I checked he had American citizenship which makes him an American. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

rojo wrote:

I posted this in another thread on Jager but did anyone else notice Rupp looking over his shoulder with just less than 300 to go. At the time i was thinking he was looking over his shoulder to see if Jager was nearby but now I don't know what to think as it was his inside shoulder:

Pic here:

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/09/mens-5000-pictures/rupp-looks-over-inside-shoulder/

Any ideas?

Maybe he was trying to hide his tears?

Lagat is the greatest American distance runner of all time. That you have no stones and believe him to be a lesser American will not change that. Sorry.

A Duck wrote:

Agree. Lagat has now lived more of his life in the USA, than in Kenya.

He's a good dude, and more American than his racist and idiotic detractors.

+1

All these idiots who keep saying how Bernie switched countries to continue his running career at this level, because he wouldn't qualify back in Kenya, etc are fools. Bernie schooled every Kenyan in the race here, and that includes their top 3 athletes. Given his performances at the 2012 OG and this years WC, he'd have had no problem qualifying for Kenya even now as he approaches 40-freaking years old.

Hats off to the great man.

So let me make sure I have this right:

If you *choose* to become an American (with all the jumping-through-hoops that entails), you are less worthy than someone who happens to have been born in the US?

Strange. I had always thought that the circumstances of one's birth were not under one's control, and that what was important was how one conducted himself in the areas that *were* under his control.

ttc wrote:

The main reason for Lagat's success is his Kenyan genetics- which are a huge head start. Anyone arguing that just wants to argue. Plus, he's an A-sample EPO-positive (B-sample negative), who's running nearly well as ever at 38.

Still very suspicious & an unsure set of EPO results (see below), to go with current fast times at 38. Or is someone going to argue that a positive sample should draw no suspicions?

"REPORT STATES THAT THE COMPLEXITY OF THE TEST, COMBINED WITH TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING SHORTFALLS, ***COULD HAVE*** LED TO THE INITIAL ERRONEOUS ANALYSIS THAT BERNARD'S A-SAMPLE WAS POSITIVE."

And any repliers- Don't imply anything. I said what I meant & nothing more.

TTC, this is a sad day. I never thought that you were a troll before today.

T-man wrote:

Maybe not essential for a steepler, but Jager just doesn't have the footspeed of the others. A more honest pace would have helped him.

Footspeed? Footspeed?!? Have you never heard of leg speed velocity?

SPEED IS SPEED, MORON!

Okay, when (fill in the blank) gets knocked down for her second successive championship final and gets up and finishes, I'll send you a cake.

Hey, I've got nothing against Lagat. Seems like a good guy, and is a great competitor. However, are you saying beating all the kenyans today means he's still better? Last I looked all the Kenyans beat Lagat when it mattered this year. You know that little thing a few weeks ago. Remember that?

Good race by Bernard today, but he not prove anything over his former countrymen by beating them a month after the fact.

Sure, Lagat has had a much better career and is a greater runner over the scope of his career. But this year. Nope. He was the best American. That's all.

Absolutely Zero Stones wrote:

Rationalize Lagat's status all you want; he still won't be the same kind of American as the other three. We have great American distance runners developing now. We no longer have to glom onto the likes of Lagat, Lomong, Meb, etc. There simply is no need for that type of patriotic desperation anymore.

Leo Manzano? Alberto Salazar?

Are Yankees fans glomming onto the likes of Robinson Canó and Ichiro instead of developing American baseball?