Why do you think that Morceli was a much more talented and gifted runner than EL G?

1. he ran faster at a younger age

2. ran nearly as fast as ElG with no one to push him (he was usually on his own after 1000 or 1100m in a 1500, while ElG usually had a rabbit through 1200 or Ngeny or Lagat to push him to the end)

He beat El G at the olympics.

Hicham fell.

I don't know if Morceli was much more talented but it seemed he didn't have the level of competition to push him as El G had.

When I think of El G's competition I think of Noah Ngeny, Komen, Lagat, even Geb - some of the all time greats in track and field.

Morceli's prime predated the prime of most of those guys.

I don't.

I think Morceli probably held more WRs simultaneoulsy than ElG, as an indicator of his dominance: 1500, Mile, 2000, 3000.

Of course, he was fortunate to have preceded Komen by a couple of years in the 3000.