Do you guys seriously think Bekele won't Win the olympic 10k? Seriously?

Seriously, check this out. Farah cannot drop Rupp like this. This was a year ago, when Bekele was fresh off a two year hiatus.

Bekele will not lose the Olympic 10k.

In 2004 Bekele set the world record for 10000 on June 8; in 2008 he ran 26:25 on June 8. Maybe he is just waiting to do "specific work" or whatever, but that is not his usual modus operandi.

I'm not counting him out, but he doesn't look like himself, and Mo Farah is probably the favorite at this point.

He will win easily unless he gets injured.

But 5k will be the interesting race.

He only finished 2 seconds behind Rupp? Case closed. He must be a favorite to win.

It seems like most people on this board feel that Bekele is an extreme longshot to win the 5000M but maybe has a decent shot at winning the 10000 because he is KB. That seems fair enough to me.

There was a link to an article about Bekele weeks back on Letsrun.com. It made it pretty clear where he stands. My understanding is that his volume of training is relatively low because he doesn't want to risk injury and that he is doing little in the way of speed work. In other words Bekele himself and his coach are telling us all that he is not the Bekele we know. This is confirmed in his races. He finished 4th in the Pre 5000M and had hands on knees to catch his breath after finishing.

Brussels was impressive but none of the medal winners from Daegue were there. Its very reasonable to assume Farah and Jeilan would have beaten KB in that race if Rupp was only 5 seconds behind him.

.. wrote:

He will win easily unless he gets injured.

No, it won't be easy, you are underestimating Farrah.

Consider This wrote:

... Mo Farah is probably the favorite at this point.

What does that even mean?

Well the fast finishers from 2011 of Imane Merga and Jeilan won't be in the Olympics.

I will be rooting for Bekele to win because I want him to get the triple crown, but as of right now Farah is the favorite. I mean he just freaking ran a 3:34-13:12 double and then destroyed everyone at Pre.

Maybe Little Bekele who just qualified for the 10000m will help Big Bekele with the pacing so it comes to a last final 2000m-3000m grind instead of a sprint finish because Bekele's strength is probably a lot better than his speed at this point. He had that amazing road 10K but then only a 7:40 3000m so he'll have to rely on strength more for the Olympics.

I think Farah's good enough to compete with Bekele in his prime, let alone a Bekele coming off of injury. His races last year were very reminiscent of Bekele's typical 5ks: Sitting comfortable at 13 minute pace, then running away from everyone in the last 400 with a 53 last lap for a time in the low 12:50s. He made it look easy every time.

Kenenisa will most likely not win and he will definitely not double.

based on performance so far this year (i know there is till a lot of time) he should not even make the ethiopian team in any event. he is scheduled to run the oslo 5000 on thursday, after that there is only 1 big 5000 i know of paris on july 6th. if he does not finish in the top 3 in either of these races, the selectors will have an interesting choice a proven champion who has been running horrible (for him) or a runner who is showing better form.

in the marathon they went with young guys who ran great this year over guys with far greater credentials who have been running subpar gebreselaisie, t. kebede, geb geb.

will be interesting.

Agreed.

cmurph wrote:

I think Farah's good enough to compete with Bekele in his prime

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day.

george oscar bluth wrote:

cmurph wrote:

I think Farah's good enough to compete with Bekele in his prime

This is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day.

Agreed. Although a close second would be cmurph's claim:

"He made it look easy every time."

Yeah, except for the WC 10000 when he got nailed from behind (sorry, Teg). Strange that this never happened to Bekele in his prime.

Interesting points. Cant say I disagree but have any other Ethiopians run under 13:01 this year? A few top ethiopians were in the Pre race and Bekele beat them all. I guess Lelisa could fit your description. He was close in Hengelo.

I think Bekele can win the 10 again. I would put him at even odds with Farah. I see Tadesse, Kiprop, Masai, Rupp and Farah pushing the last 3k to get away. Bekele has used teammates wisely in the past - Geb and Sihine have helped before. His brother will be perfect for keeping him in contact. Tariku looks to be in 26:50s shape. If KB is there with one lap to go, he will win.

as of today bekele's time is the fastest by an ethiopian this year, a lot of the big names have not run a 5000 yet as they either just ran the 1000 in hengelo or have yet to start their season.

a lot of ethiopians in this category are scheduled to race in oslo thursday including k. bekele should be very interesting.

douglas burke wrote:

based on performance so far this year (i know there is till a lot of time) he should not even make the ethiopian team in any event. he is scheduled to run the oslo 5000 on thursday, after that there is only 1 big 5000 i know of paris on july 6th. if he does not finish in the top 3 in either of these races, the selectors will have an interesting choice a proven champion who has been running horrible (for him) or a runner who is showing better form.

in the marathon they went with young guys who ran great this year over guys with far greater credentials who have been running subpar gebreselaisie, t. kebede, geb geb.

will be interesting.

You clearly haven't been following track this year. Based on performance SO FAR this year Bekele should EASILY make the team. Nobody has run faster. Theres no ethiopian that has been showing better form.

cmurph wrote:

I think Farah's good enough to compete with Bekele in his prime, let alone a Bekele coming off of injury. His races last year were very reminiscent of Bekele's typical 5ks: Sitting comfortable at 13 minute pace, then running away from everyone in the last 400 with a 53 last lap for a time in the low 12:50s. He made it look easy every time.

Farah did not look very comfortable at Pre, not at all. He was straining the last 150meters.

As good as Farah has been for the last 12 months he couldn't have matched Bekele in his prime. The way Bekele finished the Beijing 5k at the Olympics was ridiculous, I think his last 2k was about 4:58 or something daft. Or those tussles with Tadesse over 10k where the Eritrean would lay down a lightning fast last 3 or 4k decimating everyone and then Bekele would still close in 53 and win by 60 metres.

Bekele's always been far superior over the longer distances than short and I think he'll take the 10k in London if he doesn't have any more set backs. I doubt he'll run the 5k in the Olympics but even if he does I think Farah will take it after getting silver in the 10.

Yes, he will try to be careful, not to push too much now.

I don't think that 'heavy training' will block him, but lack of speed work.

I think the road 10k was very impressive.

Imagine, if Hermens is right and Kenny has now only had two weeks of track training, then he is running very well!

7:40 dead with no track training.

13:01 with very little track training.

Last year showed how incredibly fast he can round into fitness.

13:01.48 equates to 7:35, so he is showing improvement in contrast to Alan Webb, as of lately.

I don't know if he will do the double, but I think barring a new injury he will win a gold.

Still a fine scalp for Galen... I would like to see what he could run in a 3k now.