Paul Tergat - Second greatest runner of all-time?

Repairman wrote:

Tergat also deserves credit for never ducking Geb. He could've easily gone down to the 5000 in Atlanta and Sydney to get away from his strongest competition, but he didn't. Niyangabo moved up to the 5000 to get away from Morceli in 96, I'm not criticizing that move at all, but Tergat wanted to face the best.

Agreed! Tergat is not only one of the greatest runners but also a courageous individual not given to disappointment or despair in the face of continous defeat at the hands of his rival. I am not sure if the great Geb had that quality, but at least we know that of much of Tergat.

I salute you Signor Tergat!

5 World XC Titles. Would put him right up there with that alone?

kenenisa the the GOAT

geb and tergat are alltime greats

as for the 2008 marathon it will be wanjiru (KEN) vs. tadesse (ERI) vs. sihine (ETH)

u heared it here 1st

Tadesse run better time but record was not accepted,downhill course or something.Wanjiru has now record.Most important it`s still in Kenya.

Yes Zatopek and Nurmi were great, in their day but when we say off all time that means then and now...match them up....without a question Haile then Tergat, these two are the best of their era and of all time. Rono, Clark, Viren....on and on are after. It isn't like we have all this new gear as in golf to say "look at what the athletes have now" they ran these guys run.

what about El G? 1500 wr mile wr former 1000 wr and then he jumps up after winning the 1500 to beat the current wr holder(bekele) for gold...

thats gotta present a case

not that anyone cares about the 2000m, but El G also has that WR, along with the indoor 1500 and mile, and has the #2 time in history in the outdoor 3000m. pretty impressive stuff. also, of course, in terms of longevity and consistency, El G has been under 3:30 29 times! for comparison, the next most races under 3:30 is 6, by Noah Ngeny.

continuing with the theme of consistency in running great times, consider these as you wish:

in the 5000m - performances under 12:55

Geb - 10

Komen - 7

Kipchoge - 5

Bekele - 4

In the 10000m - performances under 27:00

Geb - 7

Bekele - 5

Koech & Tergat - 3 each

and I screwed up the 1500, so here is the corrected list: (under 3:30)

El G - 29 (!)

Morceli - 7

Ngeny & Lagat - 6 each

and for fun, the list for the 400m, under 44,2s:

MJ - 27 (!)

Harry Reynolds - 10

Quincy Watts - 6

NO WAY! THERE'S A YOUNG MAN IN ETHIOPIA WHO IS MUCH BETTER ALREADY

Marathon WR holder--NOT YET

- Half-Marathon WR holder--NOT YET

- former 10k WR holder--CURRENT 10K WR HOLDER (TWO TIMES)

- double Olympic 10k silver medallist (by a hair)--OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AND 5K SILVER

- double WC 10k silver medallist, along with a bronze--DOUBLE WC CHAMP PLUS BRONZE IN 5K

- five-time World XC Champ--8 TIME WORLD XC CHAMP

3rd man to break 12:50 for 5k, 1st under 26:30 for 10k, 2nd under 2:06 for marathon. NYCM champion. Our sport's greatest humanitarian.--3RD MAN UNDER 12:40, 1ST UNDER 26:20

The case against:

- No Olympic gold.--ONE AND COUNTING

HOW CAN YOU COMPARE?

NO WAY! THERE'S A YOUNG MAN IN ETHIOPIA WHO IS MUCH BETTER ALREADY

Marathon WR holder--NOT YET

- Half-Marathon WR holder--NOT YET

- former 10k WR holder--CURRENT 10K WR HOLDER (TWO TIMES)

- double Olympic 10k silver medallist (by a hair)--OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST AND 5K SILVER

- double WC 10k silver medallist, along with a bronze--DOUBLE WC CHAMP PLUS BRONZE IN 5K

- five-time World XC Champ--8 TIME WORLD XC CHAMP

3rd man to break 12:50 for 5k, 1st under 26:30 for 10k, 2nd under 2:06 for marathon. NYCM champion. Our sport's greatest humanitarian.--3RD MAN UNDER 12:40, 1ST UNDER 26:20

The case against:

- No Olympic gold.--ONE AND COUNTING

HOW CAN YOU COMPARE?

Geb, Zatopek, Nurmi, Tergat, Rono, Viren, Bekele, Clarke...

... El Gerrouj is not one of the greatest ever at comparable distances to these guys

Nurmi was doped up and Bekele's on EPO let's all remember that. Geb and Tergat the two best runners of all time because they're clean. (El G EPO also).

Important wrote:

Nurmi was doped up and Bekele's on EPO let's all remember that. Geb and Tergat the two best runners of all time because they're clean. (El G EPO also).

Care to enlighten us with some evidence?

And Olympic golds are not a fatal flaw. Yes it is, that's the great yet unfair thing about the Olympics. You got to win the superbowl world series or the Olympics

El G cos Michael East says so (not jelousy tho). It might not be EPO as such but Bekele's definitley on something - how can any1 run that quick? Also his fiancee suddenly "drops dead" whilst training, hmmmmmmm..... a bit suspicious if you ask me.

I thought every1 knew about Nurmi.

Well, after 2 Chicagos and 1 London win, he has 'fallen' to 2:07:28 and 4th place at Chicago '05. The 3 wins are great, but not as great as KK and Tergat, for the average time of Rutto's fastest 3 is "only" 2:06:08. For comparison, Kannouchi's 3 fastest marathons averaged 2:05:45, and Tergat's 2:05:40.

KK set 2 world records and Tergat 1. The WR counts for more than just a win, and I believe faster times count for more, even if you don't win. For example, at Chicago '02, Tergat ran 2:06:18. However, he didn't win- Khalid did, and Tergat did not get 2nd place, nor did he get 3rd. He came in 4th! The fastest 4th place time ever. It was Tergat's extreme misfortune, on top of facing a 100% healthy KK, that Daniel Njenga and Toshinari Takaoka showed up and ran the races of their lives- both clocking 2:06:16, so winning has a lot to do with who the competition is, and Tergat has definitely been in the tougher contests: when Rutto ran his 2:05:50 at Chicago '03, he beat Paul Koech at 2:07:07, and Njenga at 2:07:41. At Chicago '04 his 2:06:16 beat Njenga and Takaoka who were back to their 2:07:44 and 2:07:50 form.

Rutto's best win, by far, is London '04 where 2:06:18 beat Sammy Korir's 2:06:48, Jaouad Gharib at 2:07:02, and Baldini who fell way back to 2:08:37.

So while you are correct to mention Rutto, who is the 4th fastest performer ever, and has 3 wins, I feel he'll need another win or another very fast time to be considered better than Tergat.

Important wrote:

El G cos Michael East says so (not jelousy tho). It might not be EPO as such but Bekele's definitley on something - how can any1 run that quick? Also his fiancee suddenly "drops dead" whilst training, hmmmmmmm..... a bit suspicious if you ask me.

I thought every1 knew about Nurmi.

This must be the most pathetic logic I have ever read.

There's no point rising to this, the bit about Nurmi gives it away as a cast iron troll.

You guys are so naive! (voice of reason and Eric B.)

I think Michael East knows more about the drugs situation than we do. When asked who was the best runner he's run against he declined to mention EL G. When pressed as to why he said "I tend to admire clean not dirty athletes", he went on to say that after running low 3:32 for 1500 and how much that took out of him he couldn't believe someone could run 3:26:00 and jog around the track afterwards laughing and smiling as if it were nothing. Michael also hinted vaguely at things he had seen and heard on the European circuit.

Nurmi is blatant and Bekele can be worked out by any fool, he is still a great runner tho.

I expect your naive Americans. Most of your athletics team has been drugged up for years and not much was said so your either naive or lying cheats.