Irina Mikitenko, the least likable runner in history?

Paula Radcliffe ran with two male Kenyan pacemakers during her WR. Didn't hear much of a fuss about that.

Paula is gracious, nothing like Mikitenko. If Mikitenko doesn't want to have people around her she should just run faster and be in the front like Haile. Problem solved.

The other runners don't owe her anything. Watch the video, she was out of the line.

Disgraceful female runner wrote:

The Kenyans and the other runners do not have to accomodate her.

If they're paid pacers, they do.

Roid rage.

Fine with the pacer, albeit I wouldn't want the job with that nice ol' lady. But Mikitenko was also yelling at other runners (with bib numbers), regular competitors at Berlin, not just her pacer.

c'mon boys, lighten up ... Ryan Hall yelled at the pacemakers in London to speed up ... y'all thought that was great.

Disgraceful female runner wrote:

I also can't stand that Mikitenko had her own personal pacemaker all the way through. What about running at least a few miles non aided?

That might have been unfair in terms of margin of victory, but it wasn't unfair in terms of winning the race. That scenario was created by Mikitenko's smart pacing and the too-fast first 15k by the ones in the 2:18 pace group. If they had kept their pace going, they probably could have had company and stayed ahead of Mikitenko. Conversely, if they had started out with Mikitenko's group, they might not have cracked as soon and could have had the same pacers as Mikitenko did the whole way. But they chose to run too fast early and lost the race. Their losing obviously didn't have anything to do with pacesetters, since they were still with their original pacers when Mikitenko caught them. They were about to get dropped in any event.

As far as having company all the way to the end and running 2:19 instead of 2:20 or slower, yeah, the pacers helped in that regard. That's just the sketchy part of a mixed race - the winning woman is more likely than the winning man to find a good deal of company all the way to the finish line. But if there's competition to be had, having companions all the way is part of a race, period. Nobody's complaining that Geb had Kwambai to run with for a few ks near the end, but the shared rhythm at that stage of the race might have helped him get the sub-2:04. Same with Tergat and Korir in that first sub-2:05. Was that race "unfair" since the "rabbit" pushed Tergat all the way to the tape?

Bottom line, if the other women had been good enough to win, they could have just hung on with their original group at 2:18 pace or latched on with Mikitenko's group when it caught them or just started out with Mikitenko's group like they should have in the first place. But clearly Mikitenko ran a better marathon than they did.

This is the way things are set up in Berlin, this is what the Mildes want. Don't blame Mikitenko for giving them what they want.

First off, this woman is fine as hell, and shame on you all for being so rude with criticism. She is a remarkable talent, and the only reason she was signaling for the pacemakers to clear the way, was because she ran into them about 4 times around turns. She just wanted space, and there was plenty of it on the open road.

This women would dominate 90% of all letsrunners!

Give props, when props are due!

capt. obvious wrote:

This women

"woman"

She was yelling at the pacemakers who were there to serve her, not at competitors. It was weird though that she had 2 designated pacemakers even when she was in 4th place.

It was part of her appearance fee deal. Where are the pics?

gorney wrote:

c'mon boys, lighten up ... Ryan Hall yelled at the pacemakers in London to speed up ... y'all thought that was great.

Pacemakers?

Trying to shoo the male runners that were competing was not good, they're running their race too. I didn't quite understand even shooing her pacer, he was going sub 2:20 pace which is i think what she wanted and ended up getting safe and comfortably, just tuck in behind him instead of shooing him.

The two Kenyans she was yelling at were pacers, NOT competitors. She was yelling at them because they kept cutting her off and at least once bumped into her. Of course the Kenyans probably didn't understand German, so they just kept getting in the way. Also, the two Kenyan pacers ran with the first woman the whole way. Until Mikitenko took the lead they weren't with her, only the Polish guy was. She didn't have three pacers the whole way.

Also, if you think it's wrong for Mikitenko to have a pacer to the finish, I hope you felt the same way when Paula and Deena did.

Another thought is that maybe Mikitenko didn't want any pacing help in the final miles, especially if it wasn't from one of her original pacers. She might have negotiated with a pacer or two in advance that she was going to do it on her own from a certain point or could have been thinking the extra pacing in the last miles cheapened the performance or could have even been worried about it invalidating the performance.

But it's more likely one or more of those guys were just getting in the way or flipping sweat back or crowding Mikitenko and making it feel hotter and more stifling out there. In my mind, if the women's leader has the race won and is going for a fast time, it's only proper protocol for the men around her to defer to her wishes and give her some space. If it's a head-to-head competition between two leaders, then annoying your opponent (within the rules, of course) is fair game.

In german newspapers we read that her husband was too conservative in the pacing strategy, and she was getting upset about it (he was following on a motorbike and it's apparently his part of the job to determine the pacing).

She also said she apologized to husband and pacers after the race.

http://www.faz.net/s/Rub9CD731D06F17450CB39BE001000DD173/Doc~E019C71B559FA490A85E2407039E39BA9~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

capt. obvious wrote:

First off, this woman is fine as hell ... She is a remarkable talent ... This women would dominate 90% of all letsrunners!

in what sense?