Will Galen become in any way ciritcal and take issue with his coach turning an opponent into the world's best?

Not a factor? Give me a break. He got 4th! Sure it's not 1st like we all wanted, but it's still a great result. Yah his 8th place 5k was disappointing, but expected. The 5k is really deep this year.

Galen wouldn't be as good as he is now without Mo.

Rupp should get used to treating athletics as a business, as most stakeholders do. He should also run faster.

And in terms of coaching, are you suggesting that some athletes should have better coaching than others? Wouldn't that be an unfair advantage (i.e. not in the WADA-coined "spirit of sport")?

I do wonder about this. While I disagree that this year cannot be considered a disappointment, it is the first year that Rupp hasn't improved, either in terms of his world standing or in terms of PRs. (Perhaps he'll bust something fast at a late-season meet and that will be out the window). As Canova put it in his post, the gap between him and Mo is growing, not shrinking or even staying the same.

I think next year is key. If he plateaus a bit, I wonder if it's worth trying to mix things up in advance of the next Olympics cycle.

random knight wrote:

Not a factor? Give me a break. He got 4th! Sure it's not 1st like we all wanted, but it's still a great result. Yah his 8th place 5k was disappointing, but expected. The 5k is really deep this year.

Galen wouldn't be as good as he is now without Mo.

I agree with your post. Considering he hasn't looked great since indoor, he ran about what I expected at this year's Worlds. Nothing wrong with 4th, but he just didn't have it late like he did last year. And, yes, training with Mo has certainly been good for him.

I do wonder what "went wrong" with Rupp this summer. From my armchair I'm guessing they just pushed too much between indoor and outdoor and Rupp is tired. Maybe he's had an injury that they've kept quiet about. I'm sure he'll be back as strong as ever next summer.

buy a vowel wrote:

I agree with your post. Considering he hasn't looked great since indoor, he ran about what I expected at this year's Worlds. Nothing wrong with 4th, but he just didn't have it late like he did last year. And, yes, training with Mo has certainly been good for him.

I do wonder what "went wrong" with Rupp this summer. From my armchair I'm guessing they just pushed too much between indoor and outdoor and Rupp is tired. Maybe he's had an injury that they've kept quiet about. I'm sure he'll be back as strong as ever next summer.

You mean you hope he'll be back as strong as ever next summer.

Part of what has gotten Rupp where he is is training with Farah, which I assume Rupp recognizes.

I put this year down to fatigue and post silver medal letdown. Skipping indoor might have been smart this year for Rupp.

random knight wrote:

Not a factor? Give me a break. He got 4th! Sure it's not 1st like we all wanted, but it's still a great result. Yah his 8th place 5k was disappointing, but expected. The 5k is really deep this year.

Galen wouldn't be as good as he is now without Mo.

Yes, not a factor. He was 3 seconds off in both races. His 10000m 4th was 2 seconds off bronze. That is my point.

I don't understand why you're offended and perplexed. Salazar has turned Mo Farah into the world's best, seemingly overnight and enduring there, while Galen's 2013 has been a bit "ho hum".

Does Galen have a right to question their direction? "Hey Al, I love Mo and all but he's just like become the Mobot and I'm kind of his sidekick now who isn't getting hardware. Where do we go from here?"

Actually, they could be a dynamic duo -- Mobot and the Mask....

I disagree. One plateau is no reason to consider changing coaches. Plus, he ran great indoor. Unless there is some riff between the two, I can't imagine Rupp would think he could do better someone else. Part of Rupp's success has been his belief in Salazar and the long-term plan.

Rupp's problem this year is that they tried to get him in too great shape early on. He was BLAZING indoor races and then comes outdoors and he can't match what he had done the past couple of years.

buy a vowel wrote:

I disagree. One plateau is no reason to consider changing coaches. Plus, he ran great indoor. Unless there is some riff between the two, I can't imagine Rupp would think he could do better someone else. Part of Rupp's success has been his belief in Salazar and the long-term plan.

Yeah, this is probably right. I think I just wanted to make the point that if Rupp does plateau for a couple of years (hardly a certainty), it would be a very new experience for him. The guy has had a crazily consistent improvement curve, and I wonder how he'd react to a bit of stagnation.

buy a vowel wrote:

I disagree. One plateau is no reason to consider changing coaches. Plus, he ran great indoor. Unless there is some riff between the two, I can't imagine Rupp would think he could do better someone else. Part of Rupp's success has been his belief in Salazar and the long-term plan.

Agree. Rupp will never leave Salazar. My question is whether Rupp has any right to bring up Salazar dropping Mo. Again, what is the end game for Salazar/Farah? Are they lifers now? Mo is going to the marathon. Is Galen staying on a track-based program or is he tagging along Mo's 26.2 journey.

Won't belief in a "long term" plan quickly become porous with doubt as import Farah displays the "short term" plan of instant unbeatablility.

Observationalist wrote:

Galen has been with Salazar for a very long time (over a decade) and both are quoted as referring to their relationship as more father and son than coach and athlete. That being said, with Mo's continued dominance and Galen's failure to really factor in the 2013 WC finals, does he have any right to question Alberto, "What's our endgame with training Mo Farah?" It would be entirely human for Galen to feel some bitterness right now.

And this raises the bigger question/issue: change is good. Change is obviously what Mo Farah needed. Is Galen now at a wall where he needs some change? Yes training with Farah was phenomenal for him in 2011/2012, but that 10000m London silver is looking more like a Mo Farah coat-tail accolade than anything else.

Give it a few years.

As for the coat tail accolade, no, he had to run every step of that race and be there on the day to take that medal.

Getting to where he's been is not that freaking easy, and there's a long list of names who couldn't do it.

And give Mo and British Athletes some credit.

Maybe Galen should start spending some time train in Kenya every year and sacrificing the time away from home, family and friends.

I don't think Rupp would ever leave Salazar.

Besides, it wouldn't make sense. He's got access to all the best services in his current situation. He's living in his city of origin. He's probably got a contract (just guessing - I don't really know anything about that side of things). And I think he truly does believe and trust in Salazar. And if Salazar is training the world's best distance runner in recent years, then it presumably makes sense to have belief and trust.

It might be one thing if Rupp was clearly the 2nd-best distance runner in the world, and he felt like he had to have some separation between himself and Farah. But he's not.

A couple of positives for Rupp - he's 3 or 4 years younger than Farah. So if they continue on their current course, he can just wait for him to get old, then start beating him. Also, he can switch to the marathon. Even if Farah does that too, there are enough major marathons that he won't always have to beat Farah to pick up a major victory.

113 wrote:

buy a vowel wrote:

I disagree. One plateau is no reason to consider changing coaches. Plus, he ran great indoor. Unless there is some riff between the two, I can't imagine Rupp would think he could do better someone else. Part of Rupp's success has been his belief in Salazar and the long-term plan.

Yeah, this is probably right. I think I just wanted to make the point that if Rupp does plateau for a couple of years (hardly a certainty), it would be a very new experience for him. The guy has had a crazily consistent improvement curve, and I wonder how he'd react to a bit of stagnation.

Rupp had a few pleateaus in college. Remember before he could ever win an NCAA title, before he could break 4 in the mile? And he had his breakouts too. 27:3X win at stanford, winning the first NCAA title etc.

Mo has been great for Rupp so far, and in hindsight years from now will likely have been even better. Mo will move up and get older and Rupp will break his pleateau and the gaps will close.

What I think Rupp should do is watch the videos of the past 4 championship races and really watch mo's strategy and compare it to his. He could learn a lot from that.

Rupp leaving Salazar would be more similar to Wariner leaving Hart than Simpson leaving Wetmore. It would end his career. He would not be able to recover if he left for couple years and came back.

I'v been thinking this since Farah joined the group and began training under Salazar. If I was Rupp, I would not have approved.

This idea of "we'll get faster together and dominate" is stupid. Only one person can be the winner and training/resources is a big part of the equation.

Am I going to trai with the guy who I'm usually duking it out against on the roads for overall wins? Hell no. I'm not going to make it easier on anybody to beat me. Better to train on your own, make them fear you, and show up to kill on race day.

Farah is has more TALENT than Rupp and on top of that they evened the playing field in terms of all the other supplementals that could make the slightest difference at these levels where mere seconds count.

mgm wrote:

I'v been thinking this since Farah joined the group and began training under Salazar. If I was Rupp, I would not have approved.

This idea of "we'll get faster together and dominate" is stupid. Only one person can be the winner and training/resources is a big part of the equation.

Am I going to trai with the guy who I'm usually duking it out against on the roads for overall wins? Hell no. I'm not going to make it easier on anybody to beat me. Better to train on your own, make them fear you, and show up to kill on race day.

Farah is has more TALENT than Rupp and on top of that they evened the playing field in terms of all the other supplementals that could make the slightest difference at these levels where mere seconds count.

If you know the history, Rupp had reached a point where he had no training partner that could keep up with him in all workouts.

Brendon Foster asked Alberto to consider training Mo whom British athletes thought was under performing for his talent.

Alberto asked Galen what he thought, they discussed it and agreed that it would be good to have a training partner that could not only stay with him, but share the work, and also pull him along.

The result was the first American medal in the Olympics in 48 freaking years.

So, no, the idea was not stupid. It worked out for both of them.

It's pretty unlikely that without Mo, Rupp wins silver or gold last year.

Mo's just better at this point, and if Rupp ever does contend for the wins in these things, it will be because he passed through these stages on the way up.

Most runners lose most of their races most of the time on the world stage.

A Duck wrote:

If you know the history, Rupp had reached a point where he had no training partner that could keep up with him in all workouts.

Brendon Foster asked Alberto to consider training Mo whom British athletes thought was under performing for his talent.

Alberto asked Galen what he thought, they discussed it and agreed that it would be good to have a training partner that could not only stay with him, but share the work, and also pull him along.

The result was the first American medal in the Olympics in 48 freaking years.

You really need to take a lie detector test, or else you are the stupidest sob who ever lived. Americans win medals every Olympics they participate in. Damn.

maliceious wrote:

You really need to take a lie detector test, or else you are the stupidest sob who ever lived. Americans win medals every Olympics they participate in. Damn.

Are you really lacking that much common sense that you couldn't work out he was talking about just the 10000m? There is some amount of idiots on here but you might take the biscuit.