I just came across the european lists for 2004. Below is the top 30 list for the 5k. Only one athlete under 13'10 on a day when the letsrun quote of the day suggests "26.10 is easy if the weather is good, its just 13'05 twice"!!!
Not one european entered the all-time top 500 this year over the distance. Marius' time would not have been a WR back in 1981, indeed at any time during Kenenisa's lifetime.
The europeans are not competitive anymore but some of that is beyond their control. However, 13'07 must surely represent the slowest 'fastest time of teh yr' in a very long time. Sadly standards are slipping in absolute terms not just relative. Only one of the top 30 times below represents a national record (Weidlinger's). Thats just crap!
1 13:07.6 Marius Bakken NOR
2 13:10.6 Juan Carlos de la Ossa ESP
3 13:10.7 Alberto García ESP
4 13:11.7 Mohammed Mourhit BEL
5 13:12.4 Serhiy Lebid UKR
6 13:13.4 Günther Weidlinger AUT
7 13:15.4 Jesús España ESP
8 13:22.3 Gert-Jan Liefers NED
9 13:25.7 Monder Rizki BEL
10 13:25.7 Roberto García ESP
11 13:26.8 Christian Belz SUI
12 13:28.4 Loïc Letellier FRA
13 13:29.4 Jan Fitschen GER
14 13:30.5 Mohammed Farah GBR
15 13:32.3 Bouabdellah Tahri FRA
16 13:32.4 Henrik Skoog SWE
17 13:32.7 Mokhtar Benhari FRA
18 13:33.3 Arne Gabius GER
19 13:33.3 Khalid Zoubaa FRA
20 13:33.6 Pablo Villalobos ESP
21 13:34.5 Pavel Shapovalov RUS
22 13:36.3 Carles Castillejo ESP
23 13:37.7 Guy Fays BEL
24 13:38.0 Vasyl Matviychuk UKR
25 13:38.9 Aleksandr Orlov RUS
26 13:39.2 Álvaro Jiménez ESP
27 13:40.2 José Manuel Martínez ESP
28 13:41.4 Filmon Ghirmai GER
29 13:43.2 Philipp Bandi SUI
30 13:43.2 Salvatore Vincenti ITA