Bekele is the overall distance GOAT and XC goat for sure. Kipchoge is the marathon GOAT. I would also say bekele is the track distance GOAT too but you could make an argument for Farah there for his greater number of global golds(but his lack of WRs I think still puts him just below bekele)
Bekele is the overall distance GOAT and XC goat for sure. Kipchoge is the marathon GOAT. I would also say bekele is the track distance GOAT too but you could make an argument for Farah there for his greater number of global golds(but his lack of WRs I think still puts him just below bekele)
No. The greatest distance runner in history was Henry Rono. There is no doubt about that. The answer to that question begins and ends with Rono. Four world records in a couple months. No question of PED's (even took PDD's - performance detracting drugs). Just don't be silly. Henry Rono.
Bekele is the overall distance GOAT and XC goat for sure. Kipchoge is the marathon GOAT. I would also say bekele is the track distance GOAT too but you could make an argument for Farah there for his greater number of global golds(but his lack of WRs I think still puts him just below bekele)
What ? Kipchoge is definitely NOT the marathon GOAT. Don't disrespect Kelvin Kiptum like that.
I'll agree. Kipchoge didn't do much beyond the marathon, only one world gold outside the marathon. Both only won in two different olympics, but Bekele pulled a double once to get 3 total olympic golds. Bekele has 5 world golds to Kipchoge's 1. Although I think Kipchoge being the dominant marathoner and winning WMM titles instead of doing world championships marathons is worth the equivalent of 2-3 world golds, but still Bekele has the edge. I don't really care about the many cross country golds. World track/olympic championships is the focus and indoor/cross country is often a secondary level of competition.
I'll throw a wrench into this thread. I think if Joshua Cheptegei wins one more olympic/world gold then he's the new goat. He has also won gold in two different olympics, he has the 5,000m/10,000m world records, and he has four world golds to go with them. It appears he may be going fully to the roads now, but if he were to win a couple world golds at the marathon or if he just does WMMs and wins a couple of those and wins 2028 Olympic Marathon then he's the new GOAT. That would be him winning gold in three separate olympics as well as being world record holder, that's definitely GOAT material.
Bekele's fastest marathon was done in typical marathon conditions and was less than two minutes off Kipchoge s WR as done in special conditions
Bekele is faster than Kipchoge at most distances below the marathon
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Cons:
Kipchoge has shown the capability to run a marathon under 2 hours
Kipchoge sprint finishes have been exciting lover the years
Kipchoge has had a longer career
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When it comes to apples to apples, Bekele has amassed more success in races over a short period of time.
Winner: Kenenisa Bekele 🥇
Bekele has scaled Mt Everest without an oxygen tank, fought an African lion with bare hands, and read Ulysses, Moby Dick, and Catch-22 all in one day while still having time for a 22-mile long run, visiting his hotel to give the employees a pep talk, picking up his kids from school, and watching the Titanic with his wife before retiring for the night.
Not that anything needs to be said further, but Kenenisa Bekele is easily the GOAT when looking at all 3 surfaces. Undefeated in 10000m on the track from 2003-2011 (dethroning Haile Gebrselassie early in his career!) and an astonishing 5 year double in world XC. He's weakest on the roads and yet is still a double WMM Victor, 3rd fastest marathoner in history plus a master's world record holder and Olympic marathon runner. To the poster that said Chep, I do think Cheptegei is making a name for himself but he needs to do a lot more to be considered the GOAT, as it remains to be seen if he can dominate the marathon plus he kind of conceeded XC to Kiplimo
Bekele is the overall distance GOAT and XC goat for sure. Kipchoge is the marathon GOAT. I would also say bekele is the track distance GOAT too but you could make an argument for Farah there for his greater number of global golds(but his lack of WRs I think still puts him just below bekele)
What ? Kipchoge is definitely NOT the marathon GOAT. Don't disrespect Kelvin Kiptum like that.
Kiptum tragically didn't have the longevity to claim the GOAT title.
If Wayne Gretzky got hit by a bus and died after the 81-82 season he wouldn't be the great one
Neither is the GOAT. This title goes to Sir Mo Farah. You just can't beat double-double (which as some say is comparable to Bolt's triple triple) and a 5 years of winning streak in the 5k/10k. Even Bekele in his heyday lost a lot of 5ks (though I would give him the 10k, he's indeed the 10k GOAT), including 0-2 to El g, also a loss to Lagat who was already 35 at the time.
Only Mo was unstoppable in both distances for over half a decade, and when he's finally beaten in the 5k at the tender age of 33, it's only because he was gaped in the last lap.
Casual runners think it's Kipchoge; die-hard track fans think it's Bekele; but the knowledgeable and keen observers of the sport know it has always been Sir Mo.
but you could make an argument for Farah there for his greater number of global golds(but his lack of WRs I think still puts him just below bekele)
LR dumpster fire status confirmed.
Bekele is GOAT. 26:17 and 12:37 are still my WRs. No one will ever set another one with such command and... well, grace.
Only once has Farah done anything impressive and that was 2017 London. A 1500m runner being handed distance medal after distance medal by feckless boneheads. An era of incredulity where everyone thought it was a cool idea to try and kick down a 3:28 closeted 1500m specialist. This was the only real entertainment. How far from the finish everyone would give up on making it a race and jockey for consolation medals.
What Jakob did in the Paris 5,000m was Farah's entire career. Total snooze fest.
This has me wondering whether anyone has ever tried to legitimately quantify/index the value of a championship medal by taking into account finishing time, margin of victory, caliber of competition (like a strength of schedule which I think is done in college football?), splits (pace consistency or inconsistency- how the race unfolded; acceleration; sustained "long kicks" ala Bekele), lead changes, etc.?
See, Centrowitz and Hocker are both 1500m Olympic gold medalists. They aren't equivalent. Don't even bother arguing about it.