That was the greatest race ever!! All hail Lopez Lomong!!

opera wrote:

It is hard to call what lopez did in 2007 at a conference championship triple without much effort as his first 5k. I guess technically it was. I think it was safe to say this was his first track 5k.

Call it his "professional debut."

Does this not prove that many pros leave a lot in the tank quite often?

I putting him down as a medal contender in London.

13:06

13:15

Those are the bronze medal times from the last two Olympics.

With his ninja kick Lomong can absolutely nick a medal.

A decade ago those times would be around 13:25 and up.

greatest race ever? really? Ever in the history of running? A touch too much hyperbole as usual

time to get crazy wrote:

I putting him down as a medal contender in London.

13:06

13:15

Those are the bronze medal times from the last two Olympics.

With his ninja kick Lomong can absolutely nick a medal.

Agree with this completely. If he doesn't stick with the 5k after this performance, he's crazy. I just hope Jerry doesn't try and steer him to the 1500 to give Teg, Sol, and Bumbi a better chance of making the team.

Let's be real. The 5k in London is potentially going to have Bekele (world record holder, OG golds, WC golds, greatest ever), Lagat (WC gold, WC silver, crazy 1500 speed, one of the greatest ever championship racers), Farah (defending WC, best distance runner of 2011), plus 3 Kenyans and two more Ethiopians who will all be in at least 12:55 shape.

Even if you concede that Lomong is in sub 13 shape Lagat and Rupp could still run away from him at the trials. He'd potentially have to outkick Solinsky, Teg, Ritz, and the rest of the field just to make the team. The schedule is not really good for a 1500/5k double with 1500 trials on the same day as the 5k final.

The 1500 is comparatively wide open. There's Centro, Manzano, and then ...

I think Centro showed last year that being on with a good kick on the right day could steal a medal. 5k might be Lomong's better event in the future but the 1500 could be his best medal chances THIS year.

categorically wrote:

Let's be real. The 5k in London is potentially going to have Bekele (world record holder, OG golds, WC golds, greatest ever), Lagat (WC gold, WC silver, crazy 1500 speed, one of the greatest ever championship racers), Farah (defending WC, best distance runner of 2011), plus 3 Kenyans and two more Ethiopians who will all be in at least 12:55 shape.

Even if you concede that Lomong is in sub 13 shape Lagat and Rupp could still run away from him at the trials. He'd potentially have to outkick Solinsky, Teg, Ritz, and the rest of the field just to make the team. The schedule is not really good for a 1500/5k double with 1500 trials on the same day as the 5k final.

your first paragraph is right on.

your second paragraph? please son. sol has not run this year, and will not factor imo. sad but true. lomong just absolutely destroyed teg and bumbi and torrance (who is a 1500 guy anyway), and will do that to an even nastier level in a tactical us champs race. ritz in the 5k?????????? laughable!

Makes a lot of sense and good analysis. Thanks

ventolin^3 wrote:

rojo wrote:If you don't think he can break 13:00 you are a fool. His 1st 5k ever

very hypothetical, but if he had accepted 13'00 ability now & 1'45.58 of '08 ( not really conceivable after 4y ), then

1'45.58 / 13'00 -> 3'30.6 ! , 3'47.2 ! , 4'48.0 , 7'28.0

i think lomong can do 145 in the 8 right now. and 330 is not out of the question. this guy is now favorite to will win the trials @ 5000m.

Metta World People's Elbow wrote:

Does this not prove that many pros leave a lot in the tank quite often?

Not sure. It's rare that someone accidentally gets a chance to test how much they have left the way Lomong did yesterday. That was a gift to him that should give him the confidence to cover moves by just about anyone in the world in the last 800 meters of a 5000.

The fact that he could run 4200 meters, sprint a 56-second quarter, jog for a few seconds, and then run resume something very close to 56 pace for another 380 meters also tells me that he can probably run sub-57 pace for a 1500 right now. This guy is in terrific shape.

Either my watch is f'd up or flotracks video is, but I got Lopez at 53 and 66 his last two laps...

Short story on Lopez...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZ2n0kURuY&feature=share

Yooo wrote:

Either my watch is f'd up or flotracks video is, but I got Lopez at 53 and 66 his last two laps...

Did you subtract for the time that he was not running?

time to get crazy wrote:

I putting him down as a medal contender in London.

13:06

13:15

Those are the bronze medal times from the last two Olympics.

With his ninja kick Lomong can absolutely nick a medal.

That "ninja kick" aint all it's cracked up to be. It looked more spectacular than it was because, wait for it... nobody else was kicking.

Lomong is good. Great and very entertaining race. But he is suddenly a medal contender? I don't think so.

I actually think he has the same chance as a medal as Rupp or Lagat. I would bet he is as fit as Lagat. I think the biggest question will be his tactics.

categorically wrote:

The schedule is not really good for a 1500/5k double with 1500 trials on the same day as the 5k final.

The 1500 is comparatively wide open. There's Centro, Manzano, and then ...

1. This sucks! Why would the track organizers NOT arrange a meet such that natural doubles could occur?! 100-200. 200-400, 400-800 (i know this is extremely rare), 800-1500, 1500-5000, 5000-10,000. It only makes sense to do this. WAKE UP USATF AND IAAF!

2. Following Centro and Manzano, I got two guys - either Lomong if he runs it or Torrence. I don't think there's really anyone else close right now.

3. Last week when someone started a thread asking who could make the US Olympic team in 4 events, my mind immediately went to Lomong. In 2008, he was 5th in that great 800m final. He also ran the 1500 as an Olympian for the USA. Clearly, he's got the legs for the 5000, also. With his previous XC credentials, he could probably make the 10,000 team. Or if he could hurdle at all, he could make it in the Steeple.

Anyway, great and entertaining run from Lomong.

"Does this not prove that pros leave a lot in the tank quite often?"

I don't think so. At best it shows that pros can sometimes have plenty left in the tank when they win decisively. And I don't think that's much of a surprise.

What *would* be surprising is if the *second* place guy were able to run another good lap after the race.

opera wrote:

I actually think he has the same chance as a medal as Rupp or Lagat...

Wait, so you think that he has zero chance and a very good chance at the same time? How does that work again?