Why are folks so surprised & disappointed by the American men's poor performances in the 10K?

Probably because in more extreme weather/ championship races Americans tend to place higher than they normally do at let's say a diamond league meet or the Berlin marathon.

Woody/Klecker have been competitive in their DL races and put together fast indoor times. But then in a slow Champs race they’re not even competitive. That’s why. The expectation is that they hang on until the last couple laps as opposed to losing the Yann Schrubs of the World.

I think the field in Worlds is much stronger that in this year's DL meets. And fast indoor times don't necessarily translate to performance in hot, sultry outdoor conditions.

Fisher just competed with the E africans in the 10 just last year. What are you smoking??

It’s not really. Only 2 good Ethiopians out there yesterday, when there are often 3-4. Few good Kenyans and Cheptegei and that’s about it. It’s not like they needed to be otherworldly, just close to Mo Ahmed. Instead Yann Scrub, nothing more.

Exactly. On top of that Klecker, Kincaid and all should be much closer to them then they were. Not end up jogging,. But that's what the organizers decided....run the 10k at the worst possible time, esp for 150 pound runners. No one was saying Klecker is going to be a gold medalist but under any normal conditions Klecker is not getting lapped like he did. He's on the same straightaway as these guys at the end. That's why people are disappointed.

Not surprised and not disappointed. I take pleasure in their failures because this site is full of distance morons who think US distance runners are the sheeit.

I wonder who this Kenyan Fisher guy was last year putting on the pressure on the best and nearly medalling? He was definitely way ahead of the American men. You really may have a point there.

I can only run in perfect condition because I’m a papered American whereas other nations runs did perform

LRCers aren’t as stupid as they seem. They post on this board as if they’re surprised and disappointed by Klecker and Kincaid’s bed-pooping in the 10,000, but, rest assured, they’d never bet their own money on K or K medaling. Because they know that those guys, likewise Monson, Cranny and Rogers, aren’t good enough.

I don't think anyone expects medal contention, but it was surprising that no American cracked the top-10 in one of the weakest fields we've seen in the 10k for a while. And seeing Klecker only just avoid being lapped by Kincaid was a little embarrassing.

A lot of people will ask why the Americans performed so poorly when the race was slow, but that's where the lack of competitive distance racing comes in. The varying pace in a global 10k really hurts Americans. They're broken by the African fartlek