Edwin Soi Is OBVIOUSLY a Threat to Mo Farah

I might add that Edwin Soi's previous personal best of 12:52.40 was run SEVEN years ago. For Soi to now run 12:51.34 is rather impressive and shows that he might be able to pull a Jeilan on Farah, this time at 5000m.

Yea, the field wasn't weak, and to be honest I was a bit surprised you thought it was so weak. It was nice to see Soi and Rop motor on, as well as Lalang casually going with em at WR pace for a while.

All of those 3-4 guys up in lead pack might be able to go a bit faster, as the first portion of that race was definitely too aggressive.

I hope that runners not named Mo Farah have realized they need to do something aside from wait for the final 400/800 to beat runners named Mo Farah. If they just tempo to the bell in Moscow...

Not a great day for Galen, but at least he got in there and raced, gutted it out, and finished. Given his 3000 and 10000 results, I'm inclined to think, in theory, he can be dangerous there...but he hasn't shown it, aside from closing fast at trials in 2012, and his 12:58...but he hasn't approached that form recently.

He needed Albert Rop to get there, it was Rop who held the pace in the last laps.

SPMBLNPF wrote:

I might add that Edwin Soi's previous personal best of 12:52.40 was run SEVEN years ago. For Soi to now run 12:51.34 is rather impressive and shows that he might be able to pull a Jeilan on Farah, this time at 5000m.

I don't think he can do that, unless the pace is strong from the start. If they are much slower than 12:00 @ bell...I really don't think anyone will come close to Mo. Gebremeskel is the only one I give a shot at doing that...and I'm not sure even he can handle a guy with 3:28 capability unless he has much better position coming into last lap.

If it's quick then yes that's a possibility.

I think he just blew it. He just ran 12:51 on a warm, humid evening. Now he has to recover and be ready to repeat this performance in Moscow in an event with heats.

I think if they had waited for Moscow and done this, they might have pulled it off. But now Salazar has seen their hand, and they are going to need a different one. I don't think Soi will be ready in time to pull a Jeilan.

LM wrote:

SPMBLNPF wrote:

I might add that Edwin Soi's previous personal best of 12:52.40 was run SEVEN years ago. For Soi to now run 12:51.34 is rather impressive and shows that he might be able to pull a Jeilan on Farah, this time at 5000m.

I don't think he can do that, unless the pace is strong from the start. If they are much slower than 12:00 @ bell...I really don't think anyone will come close to Mo. Gebremeskel is the only one I give a shot at doing that...and I'm not sure even he can handle a guy with 3:28 capability unless he has much better position coming into last lap.

If it's quick then yes that's a possibility.

Gebremeskel is only running the 10,000m, as I understand it, and he is an obvious threat to Farah there. Soi DOES have the ability to sprint with Farah, but I concur that if the pace is faster it likely works in Soi's favor in relation to Farah. Farah will be concerned with Soi and Alamirew at 5000m and Gebremeskel at 10,000m.

coach d wrote:

I think he just blew it. He just ran 12:51 on a warm, humid evening. Now he has to recover and be ready to repeat this performance in Moscow in an event with heats.

I think if they had waited for Moscow and done this, they might have pulled it off. But now Salazar has seen their hand, and they are going to need a different one. I don't think Soi will be ready in time to pull a Jeilan.

Well, Soi will be fresher than Farah when the 5000m final arrives, and if you saw the race, you'd know that Soi was really toying with Rop. Soi appeared to have more in the tank.

Whats the prize for winning in Monaco? And in Moscow? Different priorities...

Edwin Soi joins Eliud Kipchoge as the only men in history to run sub-12:53 SEVEN years apart.

coach d wrote:

I think he just blew it. He just ran 12:51 on a warm, humid evening. Now he has to recover and be ready to repeat this performance in Moscow in an event with heats.

It's a 5k. It doesn't take weeks to recover.

@ SPMBLNPF, I have read some of your other threads before and thought you were just kind of abnoxious, but I think this thread is very well worded and you have alot of good points (If you even care about the opinion of someone online that you've never met before). I definitely agree with you that Soi should definiely be a considered a contender for the Gold in Moscow this year as this was a great performance today. Hopefully this will encourage a fast race in Moscow because I personally find those more entertaining.

Personally I was also kinda bummed about Rupp's race. Im an admitted fanboy and I thought this would have been a perfect race for him to break 13 and maybe even challenge his PR. I don't know why he stayed behind Lagat like that. I don't think it was a terrible race for him at all, I was just hoping to see more, as I'm sure he was too.

(PS sorry didn't mean to hi-jack your thread with that last paragraph)

SPMBLNPF wrote:

LM wrote:

I don't think he can do that, unless the pace is strong from the start. If they are much slower than 12:00 @ bell...I really don't think anyone will come close to Mo. Gebremeskel is the only one I give a shot at doing that...and I'm not sure even he can handle a guy with 3:28 capability unless he has much better position coming into last lap.

If it's quick then yes that's a possibility.

Gebremeskel is only running the 10,000m, as I understand it, and he is an obvious threat to Farah there. Soi DOES have the ability to sprint with Farah, but I concur that if the pace is faster it likely works in Soi's favor in relation to Farah. Farah will be concerned with Soi and Alamirew at 5000m and Gebremeskel at 10,000m.

Good point about Gebremeskel maybe being only 10000. On an off note, has Ethiopia announced final selections?

I agree with who you see as Farah's main threats in both races. Hagos could be an outside threat in the 5000 IF they do something aggressive, as I'm beginning to wonder exactly what sort of 5000m shape Farah is in, though it seems improbably Hagos will beat Alamirew as they have similar PR's and Alimerew is a far superior kicker. If it's a little shakey and the pace gets pushed from a ways out...could be fun.

It's been interesting to watch Soi's progression throughout the season. Lots of 5000m races as the Kenyans tend to do. Rop has had an ever quicker rate of improvement over the course of the outdoor season (13:21, 13:10, ?, 12:51). I wonder if any of those guys (Soi, Rop, Alimirew, etc) are going to end up peaking a little too early.

yes by far soi is the main threat for Mo. alamerew and hagos are inexperience and the way Mo perform at 1500 meter even makes him gold medal contender. kenyan and ethiopian should make a fast race since Mo will come after the 10k race and he will face though challenge.

still i will put my money for Mo

Rop vs. Rupp: discuss.

ehof wrote:

Rop vs. Rupp: discuss.

Well, if it comes down to a last name spelling contest it will be very close but Rupp will end up losing because he has to double when Rop is only singling.

If Farah's still around by 2015, AK should seriously consider giving Kiprop the wild card in the 5000m and sending him and Soi. The 1500/5000m heats would be brutal, but AK could probably cover all bases (Kiprop wins in a super slow race just by kicking from 500m out, Soi wins in an ultra fast 12:50 low time race). But that's assuming Kiprop has the strength for a 5000m anyways.

Born December of 1994, making him 18 still, Albert Rop started his outdoor season at 13:21 and has dropped his season best 30 seconds to 12:51. he did run indoors in 13:10, and his previous PB was 13:01 from 2012 (when he was 17). So 10 seconds in one year.

Farah certainly gets all the3 credit he deserves for winning the Olympic 10,000, but the Ethiopian tactics in the 5000 were so wrongheaded (going to the front and slowing it down was supposed to hurt HIM, when three of them were sub-12:50 guys?) that I think a smart race could beat him at 5-K.