Which of these three is the most phenomenal runner: Geb, Bekele, Komen

I'd put El G in there. His win/lose record up until about 2001/2002 was unbelievable.

But Komen's record is the least likely to be broken I think. Not necessarily because of its difficulty, but also because fast 3000s aren't run as often as fast 1500s, 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons, and marathons.

Kenny B.

The only thing Geb *really* has on him is 3:31i (which Bekele will never match); elsewhere, *especially* in cross, Bekele is simply better.

Obviously he hasn't moved up yet, but is there really any doubt that he'll crush the WR?

When some no-name 31-year-old Kenyan runs 2:04:27, it's clear the WR has some breathing room before Bekele punishes it down to 2:03:30.

Danny K was sick but as mentioned, El G and probably Shaheen could've gone 7:20; that mark was not too much of a surprise given you were looking at a 3:29 / 12:39 guy.

en action avec ma bite wrote:

Danny K was sick but as mentioned, El G and probably Shaheen could've gone 7:20; that mark was not too much of a surprise given you were looking at a 3:29 / 12:39 guy.

Both tried and failed. Bekele and Geb could not touch Komen's record; neither could El Guerrouj. Not sure if Shaheen got a fast 3k in or not.

There's no correct answer of course, it depends what you value most. But personally I would say if you look at records and major event wins across a range of distances and so many years then Geb is the man.

Of course, Bekele is still young enough to do plenty more in his career.

Bekele has accomplished more than Geb on the track, no question. I give it to him.

El G needs to be in the discussion as well as someone pointed out.

loch ness monster wrote:

Bekele has accomplished more than Geb on the track, no question. I give it to him.

El G needs to be in the discussion as well as someone pointed out.

"on the track" ... so we're supposed to ignore records and wins on the roads for the purposes of this discussion?

Henry Rono. He didn't have the career of Geb or Bekele, but he was quite phenomenal.

This should really be a non question. Geb wins easily. 331 indoors to marathon WR outdoors, and 20 years at the world class level.

If Bekele returns to former glory, and can translate that to the road, then maybe we have a debate.

What does Ventolin^3 say? I go with his opinion since he has a magical calculator AND has watched a lot of track meets on TV, including some via satellite television. Nobody can compare to his expertise.

pr100 wrote:

"on the track" ... so we're supposed to ignore records and wins on the roads for the purposes of this discussion?

Bekele's accomplishments in XC are equal if not better than what Geb accomplished on the roads so that leaves us with track.

Komen's 3Km must qualify him as truly great.

ElGuerroui 7:23.09

Said Seif 7:25.02

Geb 7:25.09

Morceli 7:25.11

Bekele 7:25.79

A true honor role of near misses on Komen's record.

Komen also has two sub 8 minute (o) two milers.

Geb is the only one of those 3 that has shown any sort of serious range. From an indoor WR at 1500 to WR at the Marathon and almost everything in between.

Komen, incredible for a short period of time at a short range (3k-5k), Bekele incredible for a longer period and from 3k to 10k + 12k XC.

1. Geb

2. Bekele

3. Komen

Next question.

loch ness monster wrote:

Bekele has accomplished more than Geb on the track, no question. I give it to him.

El G needs to be in the discussion as well as someone pointed out.

El G was sick, and would definitely be right there with them, but the thing that put those three above all others for me was that El G always had competition. Even when he set the world record for the mile, he had Noah Nguyen (sp?) breathing down his neck. He just didn't seem to separate himself from the pack as much as Geb with his marathon, Bekele with his 10k, and Komen with his 3k/2mile records.

it might be a little easier to separate yourself from the competition when the race is 2 times, 6.2 times or 26.2 times longer than 1500m

The Truth Be Told wrote:

Geb is the only one of those 3 that has shown any sort of serious range. From an indoor WR at 1500 to WR at the Marathon and almost everything in between.

Komen, incredible for a short period of time at a short range (3k-5k), Bekele incredible for a longer period and from 3k to 10k + 12k XC.

1. Geb

2. Bekele

3. Komen

Next question.

Geb sucked at cross country and Bekele has yet to take to the roads. Even then, Bekele has broken all of Geb's records and has won more titles than he did AT A LARGER RANGE!

^ This is an excellent answer. I'm going to ask for one of those calculators for Christmas.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

What does Ventolin^3 say? I go with his opinion since he has a magical calculator AND has watched a lot of track meets on TV, including some via satellite television. Nobody can compare to his expertise.

^This is an excellent answer

missed the quote above

Komen was sick, but wasn't at the same level as the other guys for long enough plus he only has one world championship gold versus several world and olypic golds for Geb and Bekele. So we eliminate Komen.

Replacing Komen with El Guerrouj makes more sense. El Guerrouj totally dominated the 1500/mile, losing only 3 races in 8 years. However, he didn't have the range of the other two. He really focused only on the 1500/mile, moving up to the 5k only at the end of his career (though he did have a lot of sucess winning world silver and olympic gold). He also never ran cross country like Bekele, and his career was much shorter than Geb's.

Geb and Bekele both were amazing on the track. Geb has 9 world outdoor or olypic medals, Bekele has 10. Geb had a bit more range, his indoor 1500 PB is faster than Bekele's outdoor 1500 PB, has the marathon WR, and he also won world indoor gold at 1500. Bekele dominated cross country (12 gold inclucing 1 junior), while Geb only managed 1 bronze. Indoors however, Geb has 4 world gold compared to Bekele's 1. All together Gebrselassie has set 27 world records while Bekele has only set 4.

Bekele may end up competing for another 10 years and eventually anihilate the marathon world record, but at this point I have to give the edge to Geb simply for longevity, range in distance and total body of work. It is very likely that one day we will all unanimously look at Bekele as the greatest of all time, however at his moment that title belongs to Gebrselassie.