Is Mo ducking competition?

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Right now he will be ranked #1 in the world in the 5k and the 10k. Chances are he would be even if he got beat up pretty bad in a DL race but it would be guaranteed. He will make a big fat bonus for getting ranked that way so he has no incentive to race anyone else on the track. He probably got bad at least $50-100k to show up in Birmingham so thats what he did and since Birmingham wasn't slotted for a DL 5k they had to create an event for him and they didn't need to fill it with anyone since it wasn't a DL event.

This is a huge problem with the sport. The rewards should be greater for him to go race competition than they are for him to dodge competition. But I don't blame him for doing what is the most lucrative for him.

That said, I am interested to see how he does at the Great North half. He's probably going to have to break 59 minutes to get the win there... But there isn't the same pressure for him to win so the story line certainly isn't the same.

Playa Hate wrote:That said, I am interested to see how he does at the Great North half. He's probably going to have to break 59 minutes to get the win there... But there isn't the same pressure for him to win so the story line certainly isn't the same.

yes, this will be very interesting race

they'll have some kenyans who can go 59'00 - 59'30 & irungu holds course record at 58'56 from last year

i really doubt mo is better than a mid, perhaps low-59 ( i still reckon his best medal distance on the track is 5k - quicker at 5k potentially than equivalent 10k - his endurance will struggle at 1/2M off primary 5k/10k training )

if there are some decent africans in the race who try to make it fast, they can break him

he won't like losing, so this is a risky race

Playa Hate wrote:

This is a huge problem with the sport. The rewards should be greater for him to go race competition than they are for him to dodge competition.

But he has absolute freedom. Birmingham is going to pay him well and give him a friendly field so that they can showcase him to the adoring public. It's entertainment, right?

For example, let's say that Bolt is having an undefeated season, and doesn't want to face Blake in the Diamond League 100m and 200m finals because he might lose, and that might jeopardize his bid to be athlete of the year or ranked number one in the world. Each meet might offer him $300,000, but he can probably find meets somewhere else in Europe that would put it's whole budget into paying him similar amounts to run against uncompetitive fields. That way, he gets his money, and doesn't risk losing.

If you really wanted Mo to run against Gebremeskel or other top Africans in a race like they had today (or in Zurich on Thursday) offer him $1 million to run the race and I have no doubt he'll be there to start because you've made it worth it for him to risk losing. You won't see Blake and Bolt race eachother until the final of the Men's 100m in Moscow next year because no one is going to offer Bolt enough money to risk getting beaten, and then have money to pay Blake what he's worth, too.

Unless you're paying everyone heavy amounts of money the whole way through the season, I don't see a scenario where athletes give up their freedom of choosing when to race where. After all, the Olympics and World Championships come first and everything else can be thrown out after that if need be.

Hmmmm wrote:

Doped Up Tribesman wrote:

Too bad they didn't have anyone to compete against.

Birmingham was a waste of everyone's time. It should be kicked out of the league.

yeah and on your say so. Churlish little no dick.

No, I have a BIG dick.

I don't know if Farah will ranked #1 in the world in the 5 or the 10 with such limited races by year end.

I am sure he would rather have the Golds anyway.

Are there any other 10,000 races to be run this year?

Brussells?

If not, Tariku Bekele could get the #1 ranking.

Gebermeskel has a good shot to be #1 in the 5.

What a STUPID post! Moron post of the year. Are you just looking for a certain number of responses to make you feel good? If so, I hope mine helped ya out:)