SERIOUSLY, PLEASE STOP SAYING RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

You know whats fascinating about all this? Not one person has had an interview yet with Merga (that I know of) to find out what phase of training he was in or whether there were other issues etc. Wouldn't that then settle so many of these ridiculous debates?

Sadly in the US, the "others" just exist and either win or lose. Get all the facts please, Merga doesnt just fly off to Mars.

Having said all this I agree with the OP, Rupp still has some maturing to do before he can medal in Worlds.

Problem? wrote:

He beat effing Merga in a tactical race, he can beat anybody in the field minus Bekele.

And Farah. Although I do think he has a legitimate shot at a medal in Daegu.

I was going to say the same thing - if any they care about euro circuit more. They want the $$$ and who can blame them.

They run for fun only wrote:

Dr Ali Mazuri wrote:

The Africans don't take the Euro circuit seriously. They lounge around, socialize, and drink in the hotel lobby, and party all night. Come worlds, the game changes, it's all business and blood revenge for them.

Huh? I guess they don't care about winning or making $$$ on the circuit.

Their is no difference in pay for Merga getting 2nd or 3rd in that race. Once the fast time was out of the window why should he care? Come worlds he will battle more, Rupp was impressive but Merga did not care as much about it as Rupp did.

he cared a lot!! He was anxiously looking behind as Galan Rup

closed the gap and passed him coming off the final bend into the home stretch.

Merga ran a sub-13 in Lausanne, probably not fully recovered, and that showed in the last lap. I don't think he's going to be outkicking Merga again.

Rupp has never beaten Mo and he can't beat Bernard. That makes his medal hopes close to nil, unless one of them doesn't make the final. He will also face 3 Kenyans that weren't there in Birmingham, as well as somebody named Bekele, among others.

SERIOUSLY - STOP SAYING SERIOUSLY IT IS SO LAME

Prize Money for Birmingham1 $10,0002 $6,0003 $4,0004 $3,0005 $2,5006 $2,0007 $1,5008 $1,000

haha YO wrote:

Their is no difference in pay for Merga getting 2nd or 3rd in that race. Once the fast time was out of the window why should he care? Come worlds he will battle more, Rupp was impressive but Merga did not care as much about it as Rupp did.

this race was championship style. easy first half and a blazing last 2k. Rupp ran very well and this really does bode well for worlds. he might be too tired to kick with the best in the finals at worlds. but I definitely think he has to be confident for his chances at the 10k.

Rupp will win gold at worlds. Count on it. And just for the OP:

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

Winning times at WC's is over 13'00 not sub-13' like someone said. The OG wa the first time that a winner dipped under 13'00 and it was Bekele in grea shape. 2009 was won with a 13'17.

He has much more time to recover from the 10k t WC's. He has 3 1/2 days to recover from the 10k for prelms and then 2 more days before the final.

And I doubt anyone is tapering yet for WC's. They al look a bit sluggish and tired trying to kick. Jstwait until tha all have their legs under them to see an amazing 5k.

I thnk Rupp has better cance to medal at 10k than he does in the 5k, but I still think if anyone has a bad day or gets injured, he will have an opening.

Birmingham is not a good test because Rupp hadn't just run a 10k. He's trying to double at Worlds and the 5k comes second, so he won't be at 100% for it. It would be tough to medal in the 5k even if he was at 100%, but the double pushes his chances way down.

Under similar circumstances at USA's, Rupp came in 3rd. At Worlds, he'll be running against the same 2 guys, plus the rest of the top 5k guys in the world.

It's conceivable that Rupp could medal in the 5k at Worlds, but it would take completely freakish circumstances. If you define "legitimate" as meaning "good" or over 1% or some such, he doesn't have a "legitimate chance" of medalling.

Worlds are not the NCAA's and Rupp is not so much better than everyone else that he can double and still have a good chance of placing in later events.

I know you younger guys are fixated on that closing 1:52 in the 10,000 at USA's but think about it for a second. Scott Baus ran a 1:54 last 800 at USA's. So by you're logic, Baus HAS to be at least a 10,000 finalist, right? I mean look how fast he closed. I am not a Rupp hater but I think a lot of guys on here are expecting WAY too much from him at worlds. In a fast race, Rupp can't close in 1:52 any more than Baus can close in 1:54. Just hope for a slow pace and a miracle instead of spouting all this unrealistic talk.

RUPPfan wrote:

Rupp will win gold at worlds. Count on it. And just for the OP:

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

RUPP HAS A LEGITIMATE CHANCE AT MEDALLING AT WORLD'S 5K.

there are 7 days between the 10k final and 5k final (august 28th and september 4). men's 5k heats are on september 1st and the 10k is a straigh final. the double is completely doable.http://www.iaaf.org/wch11/results/eventcode=4147/racedate=08-28-2011/bydate.html

if teg can come 4th and kara can come in 3rd then anyone has the possibility to medal at worlds.

rupp seems to have improved in tactical races and his kick is amazing now so i wouldnt be surprised if he comes home with a medal.

Rupp kicked 1:52 off a slow pace in 10k

Rupp kicked 54 in a 13:06 race.

Highly unlikely that WC 5k will be a blazing race (2003 was an anomaly), especially since this seems to be a down year in track 5k running (in terms of avg fast times):

Therefore, if you are close to the leaders with 400m to go:

A 53 final lap will guarantee a medal at the very least.

A 52 final lap will guarantee a silver at the very least.

A 51 final lap will guarantee a gold.

And oh yea - Mottram's a 3:48 miler on the comeback trail. Chew on that.

He just proved he can. If Baus can do close to what Rupp did yesterday, than Baus is just an idiot for not entering the 5000M and trying for a place on the team.

Not that I don't basically agree with you. Nobody should have expectations of Rupp medaling in Daegu.

[quote]Gebrucilassie wrote:

In a fast race, Rupp can't close in 1:52 any more than Baus can close in 1:54. Just hope for a slow pace and a miracle instead of spouting all this unrealistic talk.[quote]

notadoc wrote:

Rupp WON'T outkick or outrace Lagat, Bekele, Farah, Gebremeskel, Kipchoge, or Koech.

Agreed. He is still young and while highly talented, does not have the system yet to hang with these guys. He needs to break 13 first, then, 12:50 before we start talking about him being in reaching distance of top 6.

Are you all that mentally defeated from years of watching Kenyans destroy Americans? Seriously... I hear words like "miracle", "freakish" etc and can't believe what I am hearing.

Rupp not only has a great shot at a medal (in the 10k) but will likely go into the race as a medal favorite.

I don't care where they're from... Ethiopia, Kenya, Great Britain.... Rupp is as fast as anyone and absolutely should be considered a medal favorite.

Who cares if there are 3 Kenyans in the race. There are 3 American's too and all 3 have shown that they're just as good as anyone in the world.

Only thing that is diminishing Rupp's chances in the 5k are running the 10k first. But in the 10k, Rupp for silver or bronze.

Of course, then we'll hear about how once so and so Kenyan or so and so Ethiopian realized they weren't going to win, they packed it in. I don't understand why people just can't recognize greatness from an American when you see it.

Seriously, from the people who love to bash recent American accomplishments, what would Solinsky and Rupp have to do to make you a believer? A World Record? Olympic Gold? Win every Diamond League race they enter?