12:46.81

um no wrote:

Nice try, but no.

He's a dark horse contender for 3rd, but his own teammates make it that much more elusive for him.

this is a crazy time, should be a good race at olympics

So what if Gebremeskel beat Mo indoors with one shoe? He tried like heck to sprint past Mo on the final lap of the WC 5000 and Mo held him off, then Gebremeskel faded to 4th.

This was a fantastic race in Paris, but the Olympics is a different matter.

Certainly Gebremeskel could win or get a medal, but Mo is going to be ready for him. Koech from Kenya, hey he could win too. And I understand there's some American running well?

One thing I forgot: The Ethiopians have a history of running as a team in many of the WCs and OLs 5000 and 10000, with two guys doing a lot of work to set the team "captain" up for a last lap kicking without fronting at all until then. Kinda lika cycling team tactics in Giro de Italia and Tour de France etc.

Remember Gebreselassies last champs on the tracks where Bekele and Sihine actually tried to slow the field down from the front when he started to lag behind, before realising they had to take it for themselves. Jeilan last year might have been the same thing, the others were probably running for Bekele on team orders until he dropped out near 6000 and left them to fend for their own.

So Gebrhiwot not smiling when he crossed the line might be from immediate on site knowledge that if he's on the team at all he'll be riding shotgun doing all the hard work and killing his own chances before the last lap (right then and there he probably thought that Bekele was still on the team and that he'd be number three on the team).

But of course, if the Kenyans decide to play it the same way this year to set their best kicker up (whoever they think that'll be come the race) we'll have at least one more 53 sec last lap man in the mix for the Gold instead of three 55 guys in the mix for the Bronze...

Hey, has Ventolin posted his evened out splits and stuff for this race yet?!

The two gebre's have a connection. They come from the northern state of Tigray. So does abeba aregawi the 1500 sensation until Friday :). I agree with the poster above that some team tactics will be used.

In the 10000 mo farah used the early wind up to separate from the Ethiopians and it almost worked... This time I suspect he will try to sit and kick. He likes to be in the pole position when the bell rings. I think he has a good chance of beating kb.

The 5000 will be harder for Mo. The kenyans will do the pacing to take the sting of the Ethiopian sprint... They will through in 2 59 and 60 second laps to help. The two geb's mo and rupp will be there. Rupp will lead...boards will explode.. Mo farah will kick hard at 200 but will get passed in the last 50 meters by gebremeskel and rupp. I think rupp takes silver.

Lomongstride wrote:

um no wrote:

Nice try, but no.

He's a dark horse contender for 3rd, but his own teammates make it that much more elusive for him.

3rd at US Oly Trials, then 3rd at Oly Games?

Will not happen.....sorry.

As much as I'd like for you to be right about Rupp, I don't see him getting a medal in the 5000 in the race you described. On the other hand, if it is very slow I think he has a shot if his positioning is good.

In the last 400m of a fast 5000m this year, Rupp lost 2 seconds to Farah and 1 second to Koech. Throw in Gebrehewit, who outkicked Koech in Paris, and there go the top three spots. Lagat would need to be factored in as well. I have not seen Rupp kick well off a fast pace yet, although he was great off a slow pace at the trials. He may be a different runner by the time the olympics comes around, but hard for me to pick him on what I've seen so far.

Linsanity wrote:

Lomongstride wrote:

He's a dark horse contender for 3rd, but his own teammates make it that much more elusive for him.

3rd at US Oly Trials, then 3rd at Oly Games?

Will not happen.....sorry.

It may not, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The two that beat him at the trials are gold medal shots. How do you know lomong wasn't flat for the trials final? The key word is dark horse. Things happen at the Olympics and it comes down to a race on the day, not rankings going in.

1. So now that you are saying Rupp and Lagat are gold medal threats, and Lomong can medal....Team USA could sweep the 5000m at the Olympics. Sweet Jesus, you have lost your mind!!!

2. If he was flat for the trials final, then I'm sure he will be flat for the Olympics after running those rounds.

3. The old "anything can happen" argument is a total stretch. I'm an optimist and cheer for my teams, but being a life long Cub fan, I am also a realist.

4. Dark horse is 2 words.

Funny, Lomong not mentioned next to Rupp and Lagat in the Week in Review for winning a medal.

So sure he was medal contender then, not worth a mention now. BroJos all over the map with the bandwagons.

Linsanity wrote:

4. Dark horse is 2 words.

Two words is 2 words.

Seems like Lomong is in 13:05-ish shape or was when he ran that 13:11. I think if he is peaking correctly he is a medal contender. Anyone that can run under 13:00 is a medal contender IMO, Teg nearly got a medal and he hadn't run under 13:00 that year if I recall correctly, I think his PR was 13:04.

Woah Woah Woah wrote:

Seems like Lomong is in 13:05-ish shape or was when he ran that 13:11. I think if he is peaking correctly he is a medal contender. Anyone that can run under 13:00 is a medal contender IMO, Teg nearly got a medal and he hadn't run under 13:00 that year if I recall correctly, I think his PR was 13:04.

At least Teg set the AR in the 2 mile that year. Lomong has done nothing on the international scene. With the Lagat and Rupp medal talk, Lomong being mentioned is saying the US can sweep the medals in the 5000m. Think about that....

ita over wrote:

Sub 12:50 is the new sub 13. There are enough guys now under the 12:50 barrier or capable going under 12:50 that just running 12:55-12:59 is not going to get you desired placings. Look at where Bekele finished with a stellar 12:55 time.

Besides Rupp I really don't see any US runner capable of 12:50. Including Lagat. Lagat's potential is tapped out at 12:52 at best. US distance running, at least for the 5k, is in trouble. We need more fast 1500m guys (like David Torrence) to move up.

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12:55-12:59 is so 1987/1995. That's over, way over.

NewDrug On TAP wrote:

Haymitch Abernathy wrote:

10 people under 12:50 ever and none for several years, and now six new ones do it in one race? Wonder what the new drug is.

Don't worry, as long as you aren't white or Asian you'll get away with using it. PC rules the day.

Absolute BS. International sports federations don´t care about politics. All they care about is money. Money. Money.

Why the hell would they catch a lot of sprinters with a high market value, while looking the other way when a lot of long distance runners, unknown to the general public, doped themselves?

This is your brain on drugs.

Any questions?