Could 2008 Bekele beat 2023 Jakob in a championship 5k?

Those two wish they could control a race the same way that version of Bekele could.

There's NO runner in history that would beat Jakob at his peak in a 5k. Some in the future may surpass him, but no past runners could beat him.

Jakob beat the CURRENT world record holder and made it look EASY. He got a drink of water during the race and celebrated well before the finish.

idk did u see him last year in the 5k? Bro went out to grab water and then blasted a bunch of 12:4x guys with no problem.

recency bias

Jakob literally waved to the crowd while moving out to lane 4 for water during the 5k finals. He looked bored in that race. He slowed down SIGNIFICANTLY in the last 15 meters because he was winning by so much

start watching at 8:15 of the video (6 minutes into the race) to see Jakob waving to the crowd.

Bekele wagged his finger with 150 to go in the 2008 5000m. Even larger margin of victory, with 5 seconds on Kipchoge.

Go to the the 6 minute mark

Bekele would have never allowed the pace to dawdle like they did in Eugene.

Farah over Bekele ? Come on.

60/40 For Bekele vs Jakob

Farah in a lower league.

Bekele lost in the 5k in 2003 and 2004 when he was in the prime of his career to El G (and Kipchoge). He rried running away from everyone in 2003 and then had to drop off the pace and that didn’t work. In 2004 he tried a more tactical approach. Neither worked.

2008 Bekele was so dominant because his competition was inferior.

Farah would likely have won a championship race with Bekele unless Bekele dropped him early. Farahs 2015 5k is the best kick in championship history (granted off of a slow pace). Farah was better than Lagat and Lagat was Bekeles main challenger.

2:19 for the final 1k (sub 3:30 1500 meter pace) for Farah in 2015.

Farah and Lagat are so overrated here. Probably because they ran for USA and Great Britain.

In another thread, most would take Lagat over Jakob in a championship 5k. Look how Lagat was destroyed in the video above.

If Farah was in that race he would be at best with Kipchoge, probably behind. He could not have handled the 59sec 400s with 2k to go.

Again, Farah looked unbeatable because his competitiors were relatively weak compared to previous and current era.

2:19 last KM with a 52.6 close. You can't discount Farah against anyone.

The only reason discount Jakob is because we've only seen him win one 5,000 m title. Let's see what happens this summer in a year when multiple guys have run under 12:42. I still think he will win but I want to see how he responds to the African tactics.

I do agree that Farah didn’t have as good as competition as today or back in 2003/4. I think he would have been dropped in 2003 as you mentioned, but in 2004 I think he may have beaten El Guerrouj and won. Impossible to know for sure, but fun to think about.

Pronounced "Bek-e-ley" dropped Farah and Geb & pointed to the camera & sky once he won the Bupa Great North Run. Not even winded.

Farah kicked hard and almost caught him but it wasn't enough.

Some great racing and announcing footage on YouTube.

No way "Bek-e-ley" loses to anyone.

I love your passion and excitement for the sport that I’ve seen in your other posts. Given that you’re so young and new to following the sport, it’s best that you defer to those of us who were following the sport during Bekele’s prime. Please trust us when we tell you that nobody who has ever run this Earth would have beaten 2008 Bekele at that year’s Olympics.

This race was a jog for 4k (11:31 which is 14:25 pace, slower than Kipchoge marathon pace). Jakob could close faster than there. Bekele maybe only 2:19 but he would have never let that happen.

If Farah had to race vs El gerrouj, he would been seen today as an average kicker.

Dang this was a sick race. But as cool as it was when Bekele was wagging his finger, it wasn't nearly as cool as Jakob running out into lane 4 twice to get water and pumping up the crowd.

Bekele was spectacular, I just don't think a 4:56/7:35 last 2k/3k would be enough to drop Jakob in a 12:57 race. Jakob just ran 7:54, 7:35 is practically jogging for him. He'd just let Bekele lead 4900m and outkick him at the end. That 7:54 WR shows that the gap between Jakob's fitness and Bekele's fitness is too close for Bekele to outrun on strength alone, and Jakob absolutely has the speed advantage over him. In a rabbited race, I'll take Bekele. In a championship race, it's easily Jakob.