They have a list of50 athletes at the Olympics to follow on social media. I scrolled down to see which track and field athletes made the cut and nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this:
"Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway: Pacemaker for Eliud Kipchoge’s sub-2 hour marathon"
Eliud Kipchoge-8th place at the London Marathon
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
He has already made a name for himself. Isn’t Jakob the European record holder at 1500m? That makes him faster than Farah at Farah’s fastest event, who held the mark prior, no?
If the author can’t put Jakob’s accomplishments (top 10-15 all-time in multiple events at age 20) into better context than being one of two dozen pacemakers for an exhibition they have little business writing about sports.
It’s lazy writing. But who is surprised?
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
He's the youngest person to ever run a sub-4 minute mile, right? That's got to count for something. At least it's more impressive than "being a pacemaker for Kipchoge's sub 2 marathon" LMAO.
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
That just says a lot about the appalling marketing of the sport if the public don't know or don't care about a 17 year old winning double gold at the European Championahips. However, you're wrong. He's been covered a few times on the BBC main sports page, and he's certainly more known outside track fans than anyone other than the handful of established superstars like Bolt, Kipchoge, and Farah.
He has 311K followers on Instagram, compared to 30K for Nick Willis or 50K for Donovan Brazier.
The guy who wrote the description is probably a typical LetsRun regular who still thinks Jakob has the wrong color skin to be a distance runner.
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
Really? Being the youngest sub-4 miler in history doesn't move the needle?
Number 33 wrote:
The guy who wrote the description is probably a typical LetsRun regular who still thinks Jakob has the wrong color skin to be a distance runner.
More likely that description was written by a 20-something idiot whose main form of "research" consists of going to Wikipedia.
Phil Ken Sebben wrote:
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
He has already made a name for himself. Isn’t Jakob the European record holder at 1500m? That makes him faster than Farah at Farah’s fastest event, who held the mark prior, no?
If the author can’t put Jakob’s accomplishments (top 10-15 all-time in multiple events at age 20) into better context than being one of two dozen pacemakers for an exhibition they have little business writing about sports.
It’s lazy writing. But who is surprised?
Farah’s fastest event? Monaco does not count. Hell Mo Katir has run faster at 1500m than Mo Farah, again at Monaco. What a joke.
1958 Herb Elliott
...
1983 Carl Lewis Track and field
1984 Carl Lewis (2)
1987 Ben Johnson
1988 Florence Griffith Joyner
2000 Marion Jones
2002 Lance Armstrong
2003 Lance Armstrong (2)
2004 Lance Armstrong (3)
2005 Lance Armstrong (4)
rojo wrote:
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
Really? Being the youngest sub-4 miler in history doesn't move the needle?
Why would it?
The mile is an outdated non-championship event and a sub-4 mile means nothing for 99% of all people.
ArthurNotInMyYard wrote:
Number 33 wrote:
The guy who wrote the description is probably a typical LetsRun regular who still thinks Jakob has the wrong color skin to be a distance runner.
More likely that description was written by a 20-something idiot whose main form of "research" consists of going to Wikipedia.
I do feel like AP's journalism has become markedly worse over the last few years, probably because their reporters are like this.
Unbelievable? No, that's what is expected from them.
Yo Harvard, what else has he really done?
rojo wrote:
my two pennies wrote:
I mean…what else has he done? Non-track and field fans don’t care about his times because none of them are world records. They don’t care about diamond league wins or European championships. He’s not a global medalist of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, this is entirely because of his age (he was 18 at the last WC) and I’m sure he’ll make a name for himself before he’s done, but Kipchoge’s sub-2:00 marathon is the only thing that he’s been involved in that the average person would’ve heard of or cared about.
Really? Being the youngest sub-4 miler in history doesn't move the needle?
Obviously not.
Troothsayer wrote:
Phil Ken Sebben wrote:
He has already made a name for himself. Isn’t Jakob the European record holder at 1500m? That makes him faster than Farah at Farah’s fastest event, who held the mark prior, no?
If the author can’t put Jakob’s accomplishments (top 10-15 all-time in multiple events at age 20) into better context than being one of two dozen pacemakers for an exhibition they have little business writing about sports.
It’s lazy writing. But who is surprised?
Farah’s fastest event? Monaco does not count. Hell Mo Katir has run faster at 1500m than Mo Farah, again at Monaco. What a joke.
How heavy are those goalposts that you are moving?
Joker wrote:
rojo wrote:
Really? Being the youngest sub-4 miler in history doesn't move the needle?
Why would it?
The mile is an outdated non-championship event and a sub-4 mile means nothing for 99% of all people.
You're the same type of person who will say that Komen is the greatest ever and the 3000m the greatest WR.
The mile has a history and prestige just as the Marathon has. Roger Bannister will still be remembered in 100 years when Kipchoge has been long forgotten.
this is an all time troll job
Number 33 wrote:
Joker wrote:
Why would it?
The mile is an outdated non-championship event and a sub-4 mile means nothing for 99% of all people.
You're the same type of person who will say that Komen is the greatest ever and the 3000m the greatest WR.
The mile has a history and prestige just as the Marathon has. Roger Bannister will still be remembered in 100 years when Kipchoge has been long forgotten.
I don't think any record or athlete is the greatest ever.
That's a ridiculous concept for me.
And please spare me the "historic mile" crap, it was never a championship distance and it is only glorified in two countries.