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

I think Jakob could stick, my wonder is that Jakob could handle the quick change of pace at the bell.

Jakob hasn't shown a gear change as fast as Bekele, choosing to wind it up.

awe thank you <3

you old heads are just resistant to change. it was all "Komen's 7:20 is the best WR on the books" until Jakob ran that 7:54. You guys just don't wanna admit that the runner you've idolized for the past 20 years just wouldn't be able to hang today. Tbf I think Bekele beats anyone anywhere except Jakob in a championship 5k. Jakob now is just too close to Bekele's fitness for Bekele to drop him solo, and you're smoking crack if you think Bekele is winning in a kick.

But! If Jakob loses the 5k at Worlds bump this and I'll repent for my sins.

You underestimate Bekele speed. If he really tried Bekele could run a 3.28 1500 and 1.46 800. Jakob might have a little speed edge but not much.

Sure Farah didn't had his dad cover him from his childhood.

what makes you old timers think that Jakob can't kick off a fast pace? He hit 2818 meters in 6:58 then closed in a 55 in his 2 mile world record. his last 218m was 30.03 which is about 26.30 for his last 200m and he still slowed down a little at the end to celebrate.

And you don't remember this race?

I was wondering when this topic would come again with that Jakob vs Bekele thread after Eugene last year. I think it's a bit premature to be discussing this, although we can revisit it after Budapest this year. Regardless, I'm not sure why you would rate Farah's kicking ability to be better than Bekele's when Kenenisa has shown himself capable of routinely producing 53 last laps just like Farah, except off of a pace and final time 20-30s faster in the 5000m. Just beccause he can be outkicked by the likes of El G doesn't mean his ability to shift gears should be underestimated.

Well if you look at 08 vs 22, they both closed in 53 (I think 60/53 and 58/53 respectively). Still, I'd have agreed with you until this year, because he's just on another level. In Rabat this year, Jakob closed a 3:33 in 26.1 while looking over his shoulder twice and letting up at the line. In his 3:27 race he blew everyone's doors off the last 100. I feel like I remember he closed a 1500 in 39 recently too but idk when.

Yeah I changed my mind on Farah after watching the 2008 5k final again. Bekele got a 10m gap on Kipchoge in like 2 seconds lmao

Only way 2023 Jakob might have a chance against 2008 Bekele is if Jakob maintains the shoe tech advantage. Even then I’m not convinced Jakob has a chance. If they’re training and racing in the same quality shoes, Bekele would have Jakob crying for Gjert.

Bekele on the Oregon track with wave light and dragonflies would be something special.

The only question is how far under 12:30 and 26:10 he goes

The fact that Farah never ran a particularly fast 5000m or 3000m suggests that he was overrated and had a weak era. But that is incorrect. He was running against not only Bekele and Kipchoge early on before they moved up, and beating them from the time he joined Salazar on, but also against the six or so sub 12:50 guys from the one fast 5000m in Paris during that era (2012?). Gebrhiwet from that race is still breaking 12:50 this year. He was a tremendous closer and he did it in both the 5 and 10 almost every champ for seven years. He was outkicked for second in Daegu in the 10 in 2011 and in London in the 5 in 2017. Those were his only losses at World or Olympic Championships in 2011-12-13-15-16-17. Over that time he won 6 World Championship and 4 Olympic golds, to go with the two silvers. His fastest champs were 13:03 and 26:49. He also won 21 Diamond League races. In his last year of medaling, he was 34 years old, having only gotten really good at 27. He was very hard to beat in the last 1k in part because he could run a 50 in a slow race and he had 3:28 high in the 1500m, better than all but a few 5000m runners ever, far better than Bekele and Geb, slower than El G and Jakob. So, it's not clear to me that Bekele would have beaten the Salazar-coached Farah in his time.

More speed doesn’t mean Jakob has a better kick, Bekele outkicked a prime Lagat head to head and had a really good final 200m gear change Jakob lacks. It’s just the armchair coaches on the board who think mile speed equals a kick in a 5k.

In 2008 (Pre-Super shoes) Possibly, Bekele 6-4 Odds. Jakob is no Slouch.

However. Bring him to 2023 and put every track advantage, shoes, etc etc. Jakob is overkill. He ran 7:24.00 3000m en route to a 7:54.10 Two Mile (Which averages 7:21.89 3000m Pace). Jakob also has his 3:27.95 1500m to give a massive edge on Speed. I could see Bekele's 3000m/5000m Improving but not to Jakob's current Fitness. It'd be tough for Bekele, but I put Jakob in 2023 winning, 7-3 Odds.

Prime Lagat?

Lagat and Bekele had only faced each other in 5000m six times in 5 years. (2006-2011) according to World Athletics. And was a DNS for Bekele in 2011.

Lagat in this period barely went under 13:00 for 5000m and never went under 3:30 for 1500m, Plus Lagat was in his early to mid 30s. While Bekele had run 26:25 10,000 - 12:48 5000 - 7:25 3000 - 3:32 1500 and even his Indoor 4:49.99 2000. So Bekele definitely had a better speed base than Lagat in this period.

Jakob is in much better Speed shape than even Bekele was in those 5 years.

But Bekele's PRs are still faster than Jakob's, so how does that make sense? And his 10,000m time is 26:17 without super-shoes. That is a time that ranks #2 all-time. No current runner except Cheptegai has run faster.

In the 5000m, Bekele is 11 seconds faster than Jakob and #2 all-time. I think he could "hang" with modern runners who despite super-shoes, are still slower than he was.

p.s. If you are trolling (which is seems you are), good job!

worldathletics.org

5000 Metres - men - senior - outdoor

Link:worldathletics.org/records/all-time-to...

No. It's the other way arround. People forgot but Farah is only one year younger than Bekele and was there in Bekele's prime. He was just off camera. There is an interesting feature on worldathletics.org : 1vs1 record.

3k/5k/10k combined Bekele leads 9-0 before 2011 and then Farah beat him twice in 2012, far after Bekele prime (Bekele had 20 months without racing in 2010-11 and was never the same after that.

And as good as gebriwhet is, if it's your toughest opponent, it's a weak era. Yes, if nobody is able of under 12:45, it's a weak era. It's like nobody being able to go under 3:29. Gebriwhet is still here today, only 29y old and far from being a potential medalist.

Bekele was a better runner than Farah at everything : track, XC, road, any distance from 100m to marathon and at kicking. He kicked multiple times 52-53s last lap in much faster races that Farah's. Bekele kick was devastating. Yes he was beaten twice, but that was El Gerrouj and Kipchoge, not Rupp or Gebriwet or Ndiku. And if he wanted, trained for it, and raced a dozen 1500 like Farah did to break the ER, Bekele would have done 3:28. Canova also shares this opinion as he said it here.

I have a great respect for Ethiopians as they have inspired me to run many years ago and I'm all for Jakob's hype BUT, Context is key.

What PBs does Bekele have faster than Jakob other than 5000m? His 2000?

Jakob ran 4:50.01 in a solo effort with no challengers and that was during 2020 (And he's gotten way better since)

1500m:

Jakob - 3:27.95

Bekele - 3:32.35

2000m:

Jakob - 4:50.01

Bekele - 4:49.99 (indoors)

3000m:

Jakob - 7:24.00+ (en route to Two Mile World Record, which ended up averaging 7:21.89 3000m after dropping Sub 28 for final 200)

Bekele - 7:25.79

Two Miles:

Jakob - 7:54.10

Bekele - 8:04.35

5000m:

Jakob - 12:48.45

Bekele - 12:37.35

When I say context is key, Jakob dropped a 55 at the end of the 12:48 which was a race and not a time trial. Bekele's 12:37 was a very even attempt his split differences were 2:29 the fastest and 2:33 the slowest. Plus that was 2021, he has since heightened his endurance and strength as he is currently shy of 23 years old. Even if we gave bekele every benefit of today, he's not reaching the 7:54 Two Miles. It's hard to speculate what Jakob could reach in the 5000 as he's mostly done race-style runs and not an all-out time trial but I'd say he's more than capable of running under 12:35.

I totally agree. Not mention his 4:49 indoor 2k is easily worth 3:29 in Monaco. The speed difference between Bekele and the top 1500m guys isn’t as significant as it seems.

I mean I wouldn’t be surprised if 2008 Bekele time traveled to 2023 in super shoes could run a 3:28.5 trying to hang with Jakob in a 1500m

So Jakob gets 14 seconds of theoretical credit in the 5k, but not Bekele? If Jakob can run 12:34, Bekele can run much faster than that in super shoes. Again, Bekele was a much better and more dominant runner than Jakob was. Jakobs not the best 1500m guy ever and doesn’t beat Coe, El G, or Morceli in any type of 1500m race and Bekele beats every 5k/10k guy in history in a type of 5k/10k race.

And why can’t Bekele run 7:54 in super shoes with wave light tech? He was the greatest distance runner ever, he’d surprise you