Galen Rupp will leave Daegu with a medal.

Let's remember, Ritz finished 6th at the last WC.

Rupp finished 8th.

The expectations are for Rupp to do better this year.

A medal would be huge and maybe reaching, but he could be close enough to be in the conversation.

As much as I would love to see him get a medal, I dont see it. I think he will do the "ran really good for an American" but to actually place, there are just too many East Africans.

he will not medal. probably finish mid-pack.

maybe if they let Salazar ride next to him on the golf cart with the oxygen tank.

Only if he buys one at the concession stand!

Absolutlely no chance to medal.

No, there is another. New testing busts a bunch of Africans who finish ahead of him. He gets bumped all the way up to a posthumous medal.

Ypsirunner wrote:

Only if he buys one at the concession stand!

I say his chances are very good. If AlSal lets him loose and just lets him race with no holding back I think he can tear up the track along with Farah. Want to see how good in shape Bekele is, since he has been out the entire year. Rupp will put all his effort into the 10k and worry about the 5k when it comes. His best chances are in the 10k.

Rupp is a good runner but this is the World Championships people, pressure, expectations, quality and experience will determined who will medal and who will not. I will not bet agaist The Kenyans if I were you.

I will sleep with Angelina Jolie before I die.

Why is everybody in this thread seem to be focusing on the 10K?

I actually think he has almost as good of chance to bronze in the 5K as the 10K. If nothing else there is more solid evidence that he could. Rupp has proven that he has a pretty damn strong kick now by any standard. And he can kick off of sub 13:10 pace. And of course he silvered in a Diamond League 5K finishing not too far back of Farah who is one of the favorites for gold in the 5k. In the 10K it gets a little more sketchy. Can he run 26:50 pace and not be physically shot at the end? Maybe but we can only take educated guesses.

But, Rupp's gimp mask is found to contain an inhalant that illegally enhances performance. Rupp ends up with the slowest time of the busted runners.

Mr. Kanobi wrote:

No, there is another. New testing busts a bunch of Africans who finish ahead of him. He gets bumped all the way up to a posthumous medal.

Ypsirunner wrote:

Only if he buys one at the concession stand!

honestyyyy wrote:

maybe if they let Salazar ride next to him on the golf cart with the oxygen tank.

lol

Well I would love to see him have a good race, he has the right build for endurance, I think he is incredibly fit. And he has shown overdistance (NY half) and a kick, which was a problem still for him in the winter. So it seems to me like it is coming together for him.

Incredible for how long he has been coached now by Salazar. Long time consistency will pay off at the end, if not now then next year. And he doesn't seem to get injured, which shows he has the right technique.

And Tegenkamp, well he was competitive in some 3ks a couple of years ago. Lets see what he can do.

Can't wait for Daegu to start. This is the sport event of the year. Which the majority of people don't realise. Yeah, let them watch another soccer match. It's sooo exciting. This is the real sport!

Someone made a twitter account for Galen Rupp's mask called "MaskofGalen." Follow it here. Its hilarious. http://twitter.com/#!/TheMaskOfGalen

toro wrote:

Farah is going to win two medals and let Rupp wear one on the plane ride back to Oregon.

POD.

2007 WC 11th, 28:41.71

2008 Olympics 13th, 27:36.99

2009 WC 8th, 27:37.99

Rupp was running great in 2009, but if I recall correctly, his training leading up to the World Championships was interrupted by some minor injury, which slowed him down. Yet he still improved upon his previous positions. This will be his third World Championships. At this point he's got the experience, and he's just starting to approach his peak age and he's healthy. Rupp is ready. I don't give him more than 50% chance, but that's still pretty good. With the way he's been running I certainly wouldn't be shocked to see this:

2011 WC 3rd, 26:53 (AR)

Fred McGriff wrote:

Most likely in the 10k, and most likely a bronze behind Farah and Bekele

OP, you are an idiot. Unless by "most likely in the 10k" you mean he has a 2% chance there (vs his 1% chance in the 5k).

Frankly, I think that 2% is being VERY generous with Rupp's chances at a medal. I mean, the guy has barely shown a 50% chance of FINISHING a race he starts this year.

The guy above is right: even if he can run with the east Africans, Rupp doesn't want it as much as they do. And why would he? He gets paid more than they do, even for DNFing every second race and DNSing the others. He's too coddled to be a champion, plain and simple. (When was the last time you saw a coddled twerp like Wupp win a global championship 10k?)

the smartest letsrunner wrote:

toro wrote:

Farah is going to win two medals and let Rupp wear one on the plane ride back to Oregon.

POD.

Agree, and you could see him wearing it too. ;-)

I wish him the best, I really do. He's running great but boy there are a lot of peeps ahead of him right now.

So I'm not predicting but I am hoping for him and the rest of the crew...

the smartest letsrunner wrote:

Fred McGriff wrote:

Most likely in the 10k, and most likely a bronze behind Farah and Bekele

OP, you are an idiot. Unless by "most likely in the 10k" you mean he has a 2% chance there (vs his 1% chance in the 5k).

Frankly, I think that 2% is being VERY generous with Rupp's chances at a medal. I mean, the guy has barely shown a 50% chance of FINISHING a race he starts this year.

The guy above is right: even if he can run with the east Africans, Rupp doesn't want it as much as they do. And why would he? He gets paid more than they do, even for DNFing every second race and DNSing the others. He's too coddled to be a champion, plain and simple. (When was the last time you saw a coddled twerp like Wupp win a global championship 10k?)

I'm an idiot for thinking a guy who has improved a considerable amount since his 8th place finish two years ago has a chance to medal? And how do you know how much he wants it? I'm pretty sure, considering these guys have devoted their entire lives to training and racing, that they all want it pretty bad.

You have the kind of mentality that is holding back US distance running.