Why does everyone think Farah choked?

He who kicks last, kicks best.

Another guy was simply better when it mattered. And Mo put that kick on display too often this season. A one trick pony wins only once.

I just watched a replay and timed Jeilan at 52.8 for the last lap. That's just an amazing finish. Bekele has been destroying people in championships with 53s at the end of a 27:0x. Honestly, an in-form Bekele would have had trouble holding Jailan off today.

perspective info wrote:

I bet a few years ago he would have been very pleased if someone told him he would choke his way to a silver at the world championships.

Too bad this isn't a few years ago. This is the present and in the present the undefeated world leader got 2nd

coach d wrote:

A one trick pony wins only once.

This makes no sense in reference to Mo Farah.

steve "red" wrote:

Silver medals go to the 1st loser!

Yeah. And second to last place goes to 1st winner.

Were you born that stupid or have you worked your butt off to get there?

McDonald wrote:

"Why does everyone think Farah choked?"

Because he as the undefeated (this year) world leader at 5k and 10k, and odds on favorite didn't win. That's why.

This is the correct answer. He was basically given the gold before the race started and he didn't get it. When the clear favorite in the Super Bowl loses, it's a choke. Doesn't mean he didn't do great. Just didn't pull through when it mattered. Therefore, he choked. Pretty simple. It's not like people are calling him names or anything. He didn't choke as bad as Bolt though.

johnnyb1610 wrote:

When the clear favorite in the Super Bowl loses, it's a choke. Doesn't mean he didn't do great. Just didn't pull through when it mattered. Therefore, he choked.

This is just plain wrong. Doing your best and still losing is not choking. Choking is when the pressure of the moment gets to you and you do not perform in accordance to your abilities.

Mo Farah had a plan before the race, and he executed that plan to the best of his abilities. The result does not matter. He did not choke.

Whambulance wrote:

Choking is when the pressure of the moment gets to you and you do not perform in accordance to your abilities.

According to your definition, there's 2 components to choking:

1) Allowing the pressure of the moment to affect your performance and

2) Not performing in accordance to your abilities

#2 should not be up for debate. As has been said, he was undefeated prior to this race. In addition he has the fastest times in the world for the 5k and 10k. He was the pre-race favortie. He did not perform in accordance to his abilities

#1 could be argued either way. Some will say he went too early which could be a result of letting the pressure of the moment get to him. His fastest 200m of his last 600m shouldn't have been from 400m-200m. It should've been from 200m-Finish. That, to me, was a lapse in judgement and he should be able to measure his effort to the finish better. In fact, he had done a better job of that in previous races this yeat, so it's not out of line to say he could've done better in that regard.

Whambulance wrote:

johnnyb1610 wrote:

When the clear favorite in the Super Bowl loses, it's a choke. Doesn't mean he didn't do great. Just didn't pull through when it mattered. Therefore, he choked.

This is just plain wrong. Doing your best and still losing is not choking. Choking is when the pressure of the moment gets to you and you do not perform in accordance to your abilities.

Mo Farah had a plan before the race, and he executed that plan to the best of his abilities. The result does not matter. He did not choke.

His plan was to win. He didn't do his best because he didn't win. So, he choked. The pressure of the moment didn't allow him to win his 12th race in a row.

Jega wrote:

MAKid wrote:

His last 400 was 53.37, his last 200 was ~27.0, and his last 100 was ~13.5.

What exactly should he have done differently? I thought his execution was excellent. There's just not much you can do when someone else closes in sub 53.

Based on your comment, what you are trying to put across is that Mo Farah's loss was inevitable. That there was ABSOLUTELY nothing he could have done differently to have gotten the gold medal. Im pretty sure Mo doesn't feel that way.

Mo may not feel that way but I bet Jeilena does.

I believe he said that his strategy beforehand was to go from 500 to 400 meters out. He did exactly that, and I would argue that he DID do that to the best of his capabilities. He closed in 53. He clearly gave it all he had, and we have seen nothing to indicate that he's capable of closing faster than he did.

His strategy worked perfectly against all the people he thought would be a threat - he destroyed Merga, Tadesse, and Sihine. He just didn't know that there was another guy in the field who could execute that strategy better than he could (he said after the race he had no idea who Jeilan was). Maybe he could have timed his kick better, but I don't think the problem was his response to pressure. The problem was that he was unaware of Jeilan's abilities.

everyone? don't think so

johnnyb1610 wrote:

His plan was to win. He didn't do his best because he didn't win. So, he choked. The pressure of the moment didn't allow him to win his 12th race in a row.

Are you being stupid on purpose? Because that would explain a lot.

Do you people even run? wrote:

johnnyb1610 wrote:

His plan was to win. He didn't do his best because he didn't win. So, he choked. The pressure of the moment didn't allow him to win his 12th race in a row.

Are you being stupid on purpose? Because that would explain a lot.

Yes. That's the ticket.

Seemed like he performed to the best of his abilities. Earlier he crushed Merga, Z, Rupp, and he crushed them by even more today. Just so happens someone better showed up this time.

Farah didn't choke any more than Landy choked in his race against Bannister at the Empire Games in 1954.

Farah ran a very good race. He just got out kicked.

I think if he had waited he still would have gotten out kicked at least on this day and in this race. Next time it may be different.

Mo didn't really choke, it's just expectations were very, very, very high for him for good reason. He has really developed into a threat on the world scene over the last 2 years.

I am sure he is disappointed but after he gets over the beating he took in the last 75 - 100m, I think he'll appreciate how far he's come. UK fans should be, overall, very proud of his performance. When was the last time a male Brit citizen won or even got second in a race this huge? He should be proud.

The choking thing comes from what happened in the last 100m, he got spanked. This picture (which I stole from another thread) pretty much sums up what happened in the last 100m / why people on this thread are saying he choked...

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ethiopias-ibrahim-jeilan-back-celebrates-winning-gold-ahead-photo-134053199.html

Do you people even run? wrote:

johnnyb1610 wrote:

His plan was to win. He didn't do his best because he didn't win. So, he choked. The pressure of the moment didn't allow him to win his 12th race in a row.

Are you being stupid on purpose? Because that would explain a lot.

You are rapidly becoming my favorite LRC poster.

People who think Farah choked are stupid.

There are many, many stupid people.

Is this a mystery to the OP?