10,000M live update thread

Elton wrote:

General rule: if an Ethiopian runner has a .en wikipedia article that's seven paragraphs long, and you've never heard of him, you're not much of a distance running fan.

Dude, did you read the article? Nothing about 2010 or 2011, and 2009 is dismissed as "low-key" because he "failed to continue" his success from 2009.

elton wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Jeilan

General rule: if an Ethiopian runner has a .en wikipedia article that's seven paragraphs long, and you've never heard of him, you're not much of a distance running fan.

To be fair, though, there's NOTHING there from after 2009. That is to say, what the hell was he doing in 2010, or even earlier this year? I think the "coming out of nowhere" effect is due to the fact that it seems he hasn't done anything of note for the past two years, and he wasn't a big name on the senior level before that.

I said it's a huge upset. But never to have heard of him at all, that's what I have a problem with. There aren't so many people out there who have run 27:02, he's one of them.

Hey Elton, you pretentious tool bag, if we haven't heard of this guy it just means we don't follow YOUTH AFRICAN distance running, because thats the only stage hes done anything on.

I knew Bekele was in trouble right at the start, when the gun went off and he was left flat-footed. Furthermore, the guy who predicted in the other thread that Bekele would drop out at 4k mentioned Bekele would look overweight when we saw him and I must say, he did look about 7-10 pounds over his normal self.

Did you see how Mo grabbed his head and gnashed his teeth in frustration? This is what you get when the media hypes you to the heavens and practically tells the other runners to not even bother to show up.

There's a reason he hasn't been on the Euro circuit since 2009 - hint, Google "japanrunningnews jeilan".

What? His wiki page has already been updated?

Shoe Goo wrote:

rojo, thanks for your input. One thing though, Bekele did not speak English during his early years of records & victories. He must have spent many hours learning the language.

Yeah I was surprised how much better it's gotten. I texted weldon and told him to try to interview him.

Acting like there's some huge distinction between "YOUTH African distance running" and just plain old elite distance running is strange as well - which of these is Isiah Koech, for instance?

Kenyanna wrote:

Did you see how Mo grabbed his head and gnashed his teeth in frustration? This is what you get when the media hypes you to the heavens and practically tells the other runners to not even bother to show up.

It's because he wanted to be world champion and he came within a quarter of a second. There's a lot of money in that for him. If he had done the double here, kept up his perfect outdoor season, and if Bolt wasn't the Bolt of old, he would have been a candidate for Athlete of the Year.

You are like an extremely annoying little gnat. Why do you care about this so much?

Isiah Koech IS and HAS been a force on the world stage. 27:02 isn't exactly stand-out in the history of African Runners. Mix that with the fact that he hasn't been seen in almost 2 years on the Euro/World circuit and it completely understandable why many people haven't heard of him. So I emphasize again that you are a pretentious tool bag.

It is certainly true that Rupp, who everyone knows and who has a bigger wikipedia page, does not have the "objective" record of accomplishments to justify his relative fame.

The lesson for Galen is clear: One who showed early promise and then disappeared from the world stage CAN resurrect his career by winning big races!

Any predictions for the 5K?

Not to mention the extra hype for his campaign on the home turf next summer. If he pulled the double, started dancing and winking at the camera and making up silly signature poses and shit, he could be Bolt in London.

On another note, it's too bad about Bekele. It seems like there are often two types of sports fans, those who like to see the dominant forces dominate, and those who can't wait for them to falter. I fall into the former camp, and hope that we are treated to at least one more showing of brilliance by the king in 2012. I can tell you that if Kenenisa had been fit and racing all summer like Farah, there would have been no reeling him in.

Medal ceremony. Does anyone know if Jeilan's final 400 would have beaten Bekele?

The commentators thought Farah's final 400 was split 26.x and 27.0, if I recall correctly. Since Farah was in the lead at the bell, that would put Jeilan's at maybe 0.5-1.0 faster, depending how far back he was at the bell. He only won by a couple of steps, so it was probably around 52-high or 53-flat. I know PRs aren't everything, but his IAAF profile says he hasn't really ever run faster than Galen Rupp has run. Pretty impressive and surprising for him to take down Farah, Merga, and Tadesse, not to mention the Kenyans.

My thoughts:

Jeilan- Ran in low key meets the last two years. Hasn't beaten anyone of note. NO ONE was looking for him as a contender (maybe his mom). 27:02 PR from 2006 when he was 17 (what?)

Farah - Measure the effort through the finish line. If you don't completely break someone on a hard move, you will be hurting while trying to hold them off while they get a lift from gaining on you. Maybe a blessing to not win and lessens the pressure in his home country at the Games. He still will be feeling a big weight next year, though.

Kenenisa - He's human. It counts as a loss but it doesn't feel like he was beaten. I guess he actually would enter a race that he couldn't win. I still don't understand why some thought he was the favorite. Really hard to do this without racing in two years.

Rupp - Improved a place from last time. Those in front of him were simply better. He still has zero experience in an international 10,000m race outside of a Championship meet. Not that there's many to choose from but mixing it up at Pre would have been good experience. Not much Euro experience in the 5000 either.

All that said, Jeilan wasn't in these kind of meets either.

So Ethiopia has won every single 10,000m men's final since 1992.

Love that forward lean. Dude is feeling good w/300 to go, hunting Farah down. Pretty cool, inspiring.

Ethiopians are smart , knowing that Bekele was not 100% let the talk go on on and focus on him be just that , gives the classic team effort the element of surprise. Mo learned a lesson for next year.