Those in the know tell me.
Those in the know tell me.
Only if Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco boycott
He's proven that he's got the speed, and right now, he seems to be faster everytime that he toe's a line. He also knows, and believes, that he can run with the best in the world.
I'm sure that a lot of people will say something like he can't win a slow, tactical, championship style race. Who says that he lets it be that type of race? He seemed to hate that in New York, and broke everyone. I don't know how the field would respond if someone took off, and said "catch me if you can".
deadmenwalking wrote:
Those in the know tell me.
If Meb can then Hall can.
It's conceivable, especially since Kenya somehow manages to not send its best trio.
Can he? Yes
Will he? Probably not
Yes, I believe that he can.
5th place if all goes well. He's a good guy and all but needs lots of EPO.
A very quick look at the 2007 list shows the complete 3 man Kenyan, Moroccan and Ethiopian Teams ahead of Ryan Hall timewise plus 16 other Kenyans sitting in the bullpen with faster PRs AND 9 other guys from 9 other countries that ran faster in 2007.
So the answer is
can he medal?
sure it's the marathon shit happens.
can he win?
sure it's the marathon shit happens.
can he run faster?
sure it's the marathon shit happens.
can he finish 123rd?
sure it's the marathon shit happens.
Ryan Hall is getting better every time he runs, but theres no way anyone but Gebreselassie wins Gold. Second is the best Hall can get (and what i think he will get).
No wrote:
5th place if all goes well. He's a good guy and all but needs lots of EPO.
Anything can happen in the Olympic marathon, look at 2004. He definitly could win it on the right day.
gebs the best wrote:
theres no way anyone but Gebreselassie wins Gold.
How does he do in a real race though? It won't be the drag strip course with 16 personal pacers like he's used to.
Not so sure New York was a "Drag Strip". The Olympics will be a good challenge at a good time in his career... it will be fun to watch. Good luck Ryan.
A thorough read indicates the "drag strip" reference was to Geb, not Ryan.
gebs the best wrote:
Ryan Hall is getting better every time he runs, but theres no way anyone but Gebreselassie wins Gold. Second is the best Hall can get (and what i think he will get).
This is an ignorant statement. What happened to geb last year in London? Hall will be up there and so will a lot of other guys. The Olympic Marathon has ALWAYS been full of surprises. The fastest runner coming into the Olympic Marathon seems to never win it. There has never even been a gold medalist from Kenya (Yes, I know Geb is from Ethiopia just making a point here). Geb is also running Marathons now every couple of months. Will this effect him in some way? We'll see but we're a long way from just handing him the gold medal. A lot can happen in a few months. Whoever is peaking and can run in the heat from any one of a dozen guys will win gold and that is it.
Well, it will be great to watch that is if the networks feel they will get more of an audience from it then synchronized swimming.
Doug E. wrote:
gebs the best wrote:theres no way anyone but Gebreselassie wins Gold.
How does he do in a real race though? It won't be the drag strip course with 16 personal pacers like he's used to.
Doug, Geb has won 2 Olympic golds in the 10k without 16 pacers. Granted they are differnt events but it shows that Geb is a winner on the big stage no matter what the situation. Tergat had never proven that (2nd a whole bunch of times) so despite the fact he held the WR going into Athens I was not the least bit surprised he didn't win. Now I won't go as far as to guarentee Geb the win I would find it very surprising if he didn't.
If he stays lanced and on the clear it should be no problem.
Medal shot yes, terrible conditions predicted, might not be all that dis similar to Athens with strength runners (Baldini, Meb) outlasting speed guys (Tergat, Radcliffe)
Possible yes !... Likely, No... It will be alot different than the trials.. High altitude runners use to cold weather can really suffer in the heat. Not sure if that applies to Ryan or not but it is an issue... I'm hoping for a win but I predict 4th...
Ryan ran well on the hills of Central Park and was in contention late on a warm day in London. Right now he's probably one of the top 10 picks for Beijing which definitely puts him in medal contention.