defar will only run the 5000
t. dibaba only the 10000
defar will only run the 5000
t. dibaba only the 10000
vivian is giving birth in october.
The sport so badly needs rivalries and now we get two of its biggest stars ducking each other at the grandest stage. LRC article on this:
LRC Take: "Spin it how you want, but Dibaba and Defar are saying they’d rather give up the shot of winning another world title, than lose to one another. They’re both more likely to walk away with one World title now. However, Ethiopia is not more likely to walk away with more medals and track fans are left wanting for more."
No DD's then?
I know Negash very well and he is a character. Lets not play into this. I have a big doubt on this. This is only meant to fool the opposition. Both will double or at least Dibaba will double from what I know.
They are not ducking each other at all. The Federation has decided to give younger athletes such as Buze Diriba a chance to compete as they are the future of Ethiopian athletics. Please get your facts right and stop trying to provoke a reaction.
A comment posted on 3 August here http://www.ethiosports.com/2013/08/02/leading-ethiopians-dibaba-and-defar-to-double-up-in-moscow/ says they do not double and points to http://eaf.org.et/en/component/content/article/11/257.html for a source. It looks like they do not double as far as the EAF is concerned.
I wouldn't believe this totally- the situation was similar last year at the Olympics. I think that Dibaba may attempt the double depending on whether the 10k is a hard run race (which I can't see happening). It's possible that she can run relatively easily in the 10k and win, therefore having enough energy left over to attempt the 5k.
Are national federations free to change the composition of their team any time?
wejo wrote:
The sport so badly needs rivalries and now we get two of its biggest stars ducking each other at the grandest stage. LRC article on this:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/08/the-sports-fans-lose-again-meseret-defar-and-tirunesh-dibaba-not-to-double-in-moscow/LRC Take: "Spin it how you want, but Dibaba and Defar are saying they’d rather give up the shot of winning another world title, than lose to one another. They’re both more likely to walk away with one World title now. However, Ethiopia is not more likely to walk away with more medals and track fans are left wanting for more."
I partly agree. However I can understand the athletes perspective, one gold is better than 2 silvers. I wouldn't say they are ducking each other, they have met many times over the years and clearly have no fear of each other.
Defar didn't double last year to great success so it's possible she isn't ducking but merely doing what she needs to do for Gold. Possibly Defar to me looks like she is in greater shapes this year and more confident after her success in London. Dibaba, who was injured, feels she isn't in shape enough to take on Defar on a double.
Well last year at the Olympics Dibaba was selected as a reserve for the 5000m as she had the fourth fastest time. After her 10,000m victory she stated that she wanted to compete in the 5000m and the Ethiopian selectors picked her.
Both Dibaba and Defar were picked for the 5k and 10k in Moscow so technically they could both compete in both events. Personally, based on Defar's previous championship experiences in the 10k I would be surprised to see her in the 10k, and Dibaba may not want to risk losing the 5k to Defar so she may not compete in the 5k. I think that the athletes have a say but ultimately it's up to the selectors!
Sorry for the long-winded answer!!
I don't think this was Dibaba's and Defar's decision, Ethiopian federation made this decision. Because why would Defar chase the standard in some small meet like Sollentuna if she wasn't intending to double. Also Dibaba in every interview said she wanted to double.
A couple days ago on IAAF site there was news that both of them are doubling and after that the Kenyan head coach said that's not good for Ethiopians and I assume after that stupid EAF heads changed their mind.
Dibaba can probably run the 5,000 m also if she wants to. She would take Buze Diriba's place who has a 14:50 PB. Dibaba ran 14:23 this year.
it is a wise decision. meseret is not capable of double. she will loss both. better for her to do it like London olympic
Yes, last year I was happy to see Tirunesh selected, at the last minute. But, as you mentioned, she was announced (long before) as 'reserve'. This time, other people were named as reserve. I wonder if the federations have a deadline for naming their athletes including reserve and are then stuck with their decision. (At least, this would avoid situations in which the IAAF announces a national team on their web site, only to have it invalidated a few days later.)
It would be surprising for Tirunesh to chicken out of the 5000m. Meseret might have had some qualms about getting tired by the 10000m before the 5000m, but she has been very fast this season and I would also be surprised if she had anything to do with the decision.
I agree, I don't understand why the Ethiopian selectors wouldn't select both for the 5k/10k- they would be virtually guaranteed gold and silver in both events based on their form this year.
Enought with the whining, we basically know what the problem(s) are. Let's think about way to do anything about it!
The expansion of the Diamond League has been detrimental to competition, The old Golden League with its original four meets a year wasn't good either because it brought less exposure to the overall sport, but it was better for competition.
And now Worlds has become a problem for the overall sport in itself, with stars avoiding each other there too and media fokus in the months leading up to it being more on doping and possible doping than on athletes achievments (which of course is also worsened by the fact that they avoid each other, so mainstream media has even less to write about except for doping and possible doping).
I'd say no more big city Worlds! Let each single event run it's own Worlds in a way similiar to how boxing works, meaning the reigning Champ gets the title (and possibly a belt) and has to defend his/hers title within a set time frame - or the right to run a new Worlds for that single event goes back to the IAAF.
Possibly it could work like this: Let's say Mo Farah wins the 10000 in Moscow. Then he (i.e Great Britain) has four months to set up the next 10000 Worlds for Men (but only two months to announce where it will be held).
The top 10 from the previous final should automatically be in the next, with IAAF given the right to invite another 10-15 based on times and/or prominent road race victories done in the weeks inbetween. (Also, that first part of the latter would if played right spark huge media interrest in being among the top 10 in the final and automatically qualified for the next).
Funny suggestion. However, we would soon come to a point where the finals in the 5,000m / 10,000m will be repeatdely contested in Ethiopia and Kenya, and as much as they have a right to host a world class meets, that won't work on a commercial basis. No more Brussels, Zurich, Oslo, Monaco, and Eugene, but Addis Abeba, Nairobi, Dire Dawa, Gonda? No way.
And, of course, it would not work at all for any of the "smaller" field events.
I still think there should be a "world series" for distance running, modelled on Formula 1 - but I'll admit that's also a bit of a far-fetched concept. The fact that a majority of people just aren't interested in what you're interested in is sometimes hard to come to terms with, but it's the reality.
Querfeldein wrote:
Funny suggestion. However, we would soon come to a point where the finals in the 5,000m / 10,000m will be repeatdely contested in Ethiopia and Kenya
Simple rule fix: Not more than once a country every two years or something like that.
Querfeldein wrote:
No more Brussels, Zurich, Oslo, Monaco, and Eugene.
Why not? Zurich et al could just as well host and televise a final while they're at it (and if not a final there would instead be one hell of a time trial "race/qualifier" for the guys/gals not automatically in the next final already).
If the right to choose where the next final will be held primarily follows the winning athlete it doesn't have to be held in his native country (also, see rule fix above), it would every now and then be held where he/she got the most "appearance money".
wejo wrote:
The sport so badly needs rivalries and now we get two of its biggest stars ducking each other at the grandest stage. LRC article on this:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2013/08/the-sports-fans-lose-again-meseret-defar-and-tirunesh-dibaba-not-to-double-in-moscow/LRC Take: "Spin it how you want, but Dibaba and Defar are saying they’d rather give up the shot of winning another world title, than lose to one another. They’re both more likely to walk away with one World title now. However, Ethiopia is not more likely to walk away with more medals and track fans are left wanting for more."
Stars? Rivalries?
Seriously?
In an event the Diamond League no long holds because nobody wants to watch it on TV?
Did you not see the French video feed for the Paris DL meet, where they cut away from the men's 5000 to show sprinters on the warmup track? It wasn't because track fans want more of that kind of thing.
The only reason anyone is going to watch the womens 10000 is to see Bolt in the 100m final that follows it. That's what track fans want more of.