Kenyan Olympic team - What now?

Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai and Kirui.

Kipsang because he is the best so far this year.

Mutai because he was the best last year.

Kirui because he is the two time defending world champion.

Kirui, Kipsang, Makau.

Not picking a guy who broke the WR less than a year before the games would be a disgrace.

G. Mutai should not be in.

Kipsang should be in because of his win.

Makau, not G. Mutai was the best runner last year. It is Makau, not G. Mutai who holds the world record. So Makau should be in. I'd put Lel in because of his strong performance in London. If Makau didn't hold the world record I'd say dropping out in London should cost him his spot, but he does. Wesley Korir should be an alternate.

Geb, Bekele, Hall.

are you for real bro? g mutai crushed 2 course records with no pacers. makau run a fast time on a fast course under perfect conditions with pacers. i still think he should be on the team though. lel is too inconsistent and korir is a great runner but not quite on the same level.

ak really screwed themselves with the pre selection and at the same time possibly screwed them selves over with the 10000 mini trials.

Kipsang is the only fixpoint.. Mosop was beaten from 2 ethopians, Kirui crashed in London at the last 5 miles, Makau dropped out and E.Mutai shows a bad performance. G. Mutai dropped also out.. So the kenyans still have an election problem, but not the one which we could expect.

One very good performance, one good and the rest was disappointing. So my final prediction:

Kipsang, Makau, G.Mutai

I pointed out before on this forum that Kirui never does well in a spring Marathon.The best he has ever attained is a 3rd place in Rotterdam afew years ago.Any other spirng marathon has been poor by his standards.However in Autumn he is in supreme form hence why he should be in the team in addition to his 2 world championship gold medal performances. I would pick:-

Kipsang

Kirui

G. Mutai

Wesley Korir as alternate instead of Lel because lel too injury prone.

- Wilson Kipsang. 2:03, 2:04 and two wins in his lst two Marathons. He is the only LOCK

- G. Mutai, won last years Boston and NYC in record times, fastest Marathoner who ever lived

- Makau, World Record holder, nuff said

- Kirui, double World Champion

Yes, that's four. To me, Kirui is the weakest of the three non-locks, however, I think AK will leave G Mutai at home.

good education wrote:

Geb, Bekele, Hall.

Hall does not deserve to be MENTIONED on the same team as the other two.

letsrun from kenya wrote:

I pointed out before on this forum that Kirui never does well in a spring Marathon.The best he has ever attained is a 3rd place in Rotterdam afew years ago.Any other spirng marathon has been poor by his standards.However in Autumn he is in supreme form hence why he should be in the team in addition to his 2 world championship gold medal performances. I would pick:-

Kipsang

Kirui

G. Mutai

Wesley Korir as alternate instead of Lel because lel too injury prone.

I recall you saying that. I think it was last week. Perhaps you are rigtht.

Your picks aresimilar to mine but I wouldnt pick Korir. He is in my opinion not in their league. I' d pick Makau as the fourth guy just in case one of them is injured- or Mosop.

I think we'll be ok.

Given a choice between Makau and G. mutai ,AK will choose Mutai because the WR is not considered a big deal in kenya.As far as they are concerned there are several kenyan marathoners who can break the record any time .By the way if you take away the WR performance of Makau in Berlin then you will realise that his performances in the imidiate marathons before Berlin had been ordinary by kenyan standards.G Mutai on the other hand achieved far uch more than any other kenyan runner with the two outstanding performances in boston and newyork .Add to that his perfomances in crosscountry for the kenyan team and stellar road races performances.

letsrun from kenya wrote:

the WR is not considered a big deal in kenya

I am pretty sure you're wrong about this, after all, Makau took the WR away from an Ethiopian!

1. Has to be Kipsang, just a few seconds off the WR and a big win here today

2. Geoffrey Mutai ran what I consider to be the best marathon in history in his New York CR, won Boston last year, dominated the Kenyan XC championships and has generally dominated everything he's entered/finished.

I think Kirui blew his chances with a bad fade today. The rationale for picking him was that he would have had a faster PR had he not chosen World Championships over fast fall marathons. He shows up today in the "most competitive marathon in the world" and pops a 2:08. That's not gonna cut it against the Ethiopians.

3. I say Makau, hard to overlook a WR holder, even if Kipsang may have proved its a softer record. I'm not 100% sure why he dropped out today though- if he has potential injury issues, I would say Mosop should take this slot- CR at Chicago, only six seconds behind G. Mutai in the second fastest marathon ever, and a 2:05-flat in semi-windy conditions.

I still think Stanley Biwott has had the best run of the last couple of weeks out of the Kenyans - I know he's not a probable/possible/whatever...

The drama with Kenyan marathoning is endless: Sammy the Shooting Star, Lel The Survivor, The New Lions of Mutais, Mosop, Makau...now only Kipsang emerges unscathed.

Meanwhile the Ethiopians are going for blood in London. The stakes are the greatest I've ever seen for an Olympic marathon.

Emmanuel Mutai is the easiest to eliminate. Crazy to say "easiest" because he was 2nd at 2009 WC, 2nd at London 2009 and 2010, and won London and 2nd at New York last year. Also, I know he had typhoid leading up to this, but he was just to far back.

Lel is eliminated next if he was ever in consideration. He's been 2nd at London the last two years, and from 2006 to 2008 was the best road racer in the world (multiple wins at London, New York and Peachtree). However, he had his Olympic shot in 2008 (5th) and he's also been quite injury prone (missed New York last fall).

I think Makau has to be eliminated next. I know he's the world record holder, but that race was basically a time trial where he had the aid of Haile and his pacemakers. He did beat E. Mutai in Berlin the year before, but then finished 3rd to Emmanuel Mutai and Lel at London last year and then dropped out before halfway at London today.

The next two are the hardest for me to choose between, either Mosop and Kirui. Mosop had a great debut in Boston last year, then smashed the 25k and 30k record at Pre, then broke Wanjiru's record at Chicago. He talked big before finishing only 3rd in Rotterdam last week but his time still was faster than anyone other than Kipsang would run at Boston or London. At the same time though, Kirui is the defending world champion, having won the last two world championships. His time and place from this morning are a bit deceptive. He tried to go with Kipsang and was still in second place and on high 2:05 pace through 40k. I'm really struggling to pick this one. I think Mosop ran better this week, but my gut tells me there's something wrong with leaving the two time defending world champion off the team. In the end though I have to eliminate Kirui and take Mosop.

Geoffry Mutai has to be on the team in my opinion. He was absolutely dominant winning Boston and New York last year. Either of those would easily have beaten Makau's world record on the Berlin course with pacemakers. He ran very well in his cross races earlier this year so his DNF at Boston is almost certainly a fluke due to the heat.

Kipsang is on the team for sure. I don't think anyone can argue with this. Second fastest all time and then absolutely crushed the other contenders this morning.

If I'm AK my team would be Kipsang, Geoffrey Mutai and Mosop.

kenya team wrote:

Kirui, Kipsang, Makau.

Not picking a guy who broke the WR less than a year before the games would be a disgrace.

In my opinion either one of G. Mutai's performances at Boston or New York last year would have been world records on a fast course like Berlin with pacemakers.

I think Mosop ran better this week, but my gut tells me there's something wrong with leaving the two time defending world champion off the team. In the end though I have to eliminate Kirui and take Mosop.

[/quote]

Why would you pick a runner that has proven that he can be beaten by two Ethiopians?

I think Mosop ran better this week, but my gut tells me there's something wrong with leaving the two time defending world champion off the team. In the end though I have to eliminate Kirui and take Mosop.

[/quote]

Why would you pick a runner that has proven that he can be beaten by two Ethiopians?

EDIT: I meant two say "by two Ethiopians that he would likely face at the Olympics, as well?