Geb's Age

That should read:

In the same post you stated, "Larry Rawson wrote an article about the subject". Later in the thread you tried to defend Rawson's expertise, again giving the impression that he had written the article.

But now you are saying the article was actually written by Mackay, not by Rawson. Thus even your outside quotation marks were misleading.

And I still want to see where you think Mackay quoted Geb.

He didn't quote Geb.

Mackay said "24 or 25". That's not a quote from Geb.

It could have been a quote from anyone, about anything.

...ok, but seriously, how old is he

Gebrselassie is not 35 years old, oldguy.

I respect Rawson very much, but Gebrselassie was not born in such a dysfunctional society that they could not note the birthdate.

If you really want to know, ask RENATO because he is personal friends with Jos Hermens.

Most don't know that Ethiopia has 425 days in their year.

To dunes runner and nope:

You guys have serious problems with reading comprehension. Let's try it again, slowly. In the December 1995 issue of Track and Field News, Duncan Mackay wrote an article about Geb. Mackay quoted Geb extensively, and specifically quoted Geb as saying that he was "24 or 25, I think."

Fast forward to 2003 or thereabouts. Geb is losing some races, and is getting outkicked. Larry Rawson writes an article discussing Geb's age, and expressing the view -- expressed by Geb himself years earlier -- that Geb's "official" birthdate of April 18, 1973, is incorrect, and that Geb is considerably older than that.

Got it? (Probably not.)

oldguy wrote:

To dunes runner and nope:

You guys have serious problems with reading comprehension. Let's try it again, slowly. In the December 1995 issue of Track and Field News, Duncan Mackay wrote an article about Geb. Mackay quoted Geb extensively, and specifically quoted Geb as saying that he was "24 or 25, I think."

Fast forward to 2003 or thereabouts. Geb is losing some races, and is getting outkicked. Larry Rawson writes an article discussing Geb's age, and expressing the view -- expressed by Geb himself years earlier -- that Geb's "official" birthdate of April 18, 1973, is incorrect, and that Geb is considerably older than that.

Got it? (Probably not.)

To repeat, ask Renato and stuff your insults up your you-know-what. I never levied any potshots at you to my recollection.

As for quoting 10 year old articles, I've seen lots of stupid stuff in articles that Gebrselassie contradicted years later. I've seen him give all sorts of differences in training. I've also seen him give different expressions of his running, along with other Kenyans.

One thing I'll never forget is reading about Catherine Ndereba, at the height of her US road dominance around 1998-1999, saying "I can't believe how many in Us run for fun. I don't like running. I do it for the money. When I get older I will not run."

Then a few years later I read some interview with her gushing about how much she loved to run.

You see all sorts of weird stuff in interviews, and need I remind you that the 1995 Gebrselassie spoke very poor English and could easily have mixed things up in translation.

To repeat, Renato knows Jos, Jos knows Geb, Geb knows his age.

Start a new thread asking Renato and you have your answer.

My guess is 35-36, based solely on the way he looks compared to others his age, and nothing else.

Dunes Runner,

I do not know what kind of race times you run, but I would like to recruit you for the 2006 Special Olympics. Based on your subpar reading comprehension, poor deductive reasoning, and iq below 80, you are more than qualified to compete in this competition.

Sincerely,

The Special Olympics Coordinator

nope wrote:

I've also seen him give different expressions of his running, along with other Kenyans.

The Gebreselassie I'm talking about is from Ethiopia.

You stated in your earlier post that Geb is not 35. Do you have any personal knowledge about the subject, or are you just relying on your belief that the society in which he was raised (Kenya? Ethiopia?) is not dysfunctional, and therefore -- unlike most other societies -- has perfectly accurate birth records?

I agree that Renato is much more likely to know the answer than almost anyone else who posts here, although I have my doubts about whether Jos Hermans would be willing to discuss the matter.

He's 32...Still very young and ready to rip it up!

oldguy wrote:

The Gebreselassie I'm talking about is from Ethiopia.

A typo, old bean. Surely you know of them, even if they've never sullied your immaculate posts?

although I have my doubts about whether Jos Hermans would be willing to discuss the matter.

Why? Because Jos is party to some deeply held conspiracy in track and field?

Let me spin the question around, because the burden of proof, is, in fact, on YOU:

What vested interest/personal knowledge/personal experience do YOU have that tells you, come high water or the black death, that Gebrselassie is 35?

And, when it comes down to it, why the heck does any of it matter?

He's super fast, he will be fast until Beijing at least, and he's going to continue tearing up the roads having set world record for 10 years (12:56.96 1994, 44:24 2005, also WR's in 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2002).

nope wrote:

Because Jos is party to some deeply held conspiracy in track and field?

. . .

What vested interest/personal knowledge/personal experience do YOU have that tells you, come high water or the black death, that Gebrselassie is 35?

Regarding Jos: I simply note that he began managing Geb when Geb was still competing in junior competition.

Regarding my personal knowledge of Geb's age: Unlike you, I've never said that I knew his age. I had simply read (in a reputable publication) that Geb himself stated that he was older than what was given as his official age. That's apparently a lot more than you have supporting your certitude on the subject.

Regarding your prior assertion about the implausibiliy that Geb's "society" may not keep perfectly accurate birth records: I note that Geb's hero, Miruts Yifter, was allegedly born in 1938, and was allegedly 42 years old when he won double Olympic gold. According to the IOC, when queried by reporters, "Yifter refused to give a definitive answer, telling reporters, 'Men may steal my chickens; men may steal my sheep. But no man can steal my age.'"

Why wasn't any of this mentioned in his recent biography? The 1973 birthdate is reported in there.

If you look at pictures of Geb in the early 90's he does look very young. Now he suddenly looks a bit older than his age. Not really surprising considering he probably has his face screwed up with effort for 5 hours a day. I think he probably is closer to 35 than 32 though.

I'm a little puzzled by Yifter's quote. If I asked him how many chickens and goats he owned would he have told me his age? "Men may ask me how many animals I own but I will only tell them I am 42."

oldguy wrote:

Duncan Mackay wrote an article about Geb. Mackay quoted Geb extensively, and specifically quoted Geb as saying that he was "24 or 25, I think."

What Mackay really said was probably something like, "Geb said he was "24 or 25", I think".

How more ridiculous can you get.

Obviously Geb didn't say anything of the sort.

If he did, and said it so many times, then where is a quotation of Geb actually saying it!

Oldguy you keep making a fool out of yourself, holding Mackay's and then Rawson's self quotations as being anything meanington. Next you'll be telling us that Noguchi's legs were made in a Michelin factory.

oldguy wrote:

Regarding my personal knowledge of Geb's age: Unlike you, I've never said that I knew his age. I had simply read (in a reputable publication)

Which one was that. :D

*meaningful.

dunes runner wrote:

*meaningful.

----------------------------------------

Mispellings happen to smart people, so don't sweet it. Your massage is well rittn,and thats' all the madders. Rock on, dunes!

dunes runner wrote:

What Mackay really said was probably something like, "Geb said he was "24 or 25", I think".

How more ridiculous can you get.

Obviously Geb didn't say anything of the sort.

If he did, and said it so many times, then where is a quotation of Geb actually saying it!

dunes,

For a while, I was assuming that you were merely playing around, pretending to misunderstand plain language just to get a rise out of me. But now, having read your latest, I think that perhaps you really are just a dope.

I'm not paraphrasing a ten-year-old article from memory. I'm quoting from the article, including the quotations from Geb, and I have the article right in front of me.

I started this thread because I was curious if someone on letsrun.com knew more about this subject than I did. You obviously don't. So why don't you just hijack some other thread, and leave this one alone.