wanjiru
wanjiru
Link wrote:
Sorry I accidentally posted before I had given mine - it's Ron Clarke, as others have mentioned. Kipketer is a close second. Moses Kiptanui should be on any top 10 list - he hasn't been mentioned yet
Agree w/ Clarke & Kipketer, also Radcliffe. I'm torn about Komen & Rono -- both incredibly talented, great WRs, but just very short careers.
Exactly, im not saying that Tergat was better, Haile was better than Tergat, but how close they were every race was showing that even though Tergat was worse he was BARELY worse than Haile. Which is my basis for he is the GREATEST runner to never win a gold medal because the GREATEST runner to win a gold medal beat him every time.
doug consiglio
Okay, I understand and sympathize with your argument, but we'll have to agree to disagree.
Gym Class Shuffle wrote:
george oscar bluth wrote:Kipketer is the 2nd greatest 800m runner of all time and dominated an Olympic event for years.
Tergat is not the 2nd greatest distance runner of all time and did not dominate an Olympic event for years.
Kipketer
Kipketer won 1995, (missed 1996 but would have won), 1997, 1999, and then was not in the form he used to be and got silver in 2000 at sydney.
Tergat got silver(bronze in 1995) 1996, silver 1997, 1999, 2000 (lost by .09 seconds). Then he switched to Marathoning/Halfs which he placed high in for the 2001-2009 retirement along with a 2:04:55 WR in 2003. and in 2004 due to missing his own station and drinking cold water given by the event staff he cramped up and got 10th i believe.
*in 1998 he set the WR for half marathon 59:17 and held the WR for 10k in 1997*
and held the record for most consecutive World XC wins at 5.
He was just as dominant if Haile hadn't been there as if Kipketer competed in Rudishas era or vice versa.
Tergat set multiple WR's was 2nd to possibly the greatest of all time for multiple years.
Kipketer simply missed out on an olympics due to nationality switching and then was outcompeted in 2000 just 4 years later. He was dominant and if he ran in 1996 he would have won but he was no where near the athlete that Tergat was.
You keep posting stats that I already know that don't address the point.
So you think Kipketer would get worked over if he had to run in the same era as Rudisha? Well then I think Tergat would get worked over by Bekele. Which makes it two guys who would consistently beat him. TWO. Geb's record against Tergat was nearly unblemished, regardless of these "margin of victory" discussion. Geb owned him. Bekele would own him. No way that 2 runners would thoroughly wax Kipketer on a regular basis.
Wang Junxia
George Atlas wrote:
Its always hard to pick just one but in the modern era you have to go by decade.
1960's
Ron Clarke
Jim Ryun
1970's
Marty Liquori
Bill Rodgers
Henry Rono
1980's
Mary Slaney
Ingrid Kristiansen
1990's
Paul Tergat
David Komen
Moses Kiptanui
Wilson Kipketer
2000's
Paula Radliffe
Khalid Kannouchi
My list. Kipketer by far. The Olympic marathon is always unpredictable these years. No one would have been able to beat Kipketer in 1996.
Liquori I probably should have left off, he didn't have the speed to win an Olympic Gold and was usually second in his greatest races that were close to World Records.
But you would expect a 2:15 female marathoner would have had no problem when she was 4 minutes ahead of anyone in the field. Radcliffe and Kipketer.
While I hold different views of Kenenisa if he ran during Haile/Tergats age whether the outcome would be the same. the fact is Tergat was a greater athlete than Kipketer, and the question is who is the greatest athlete that doesn't have a gold medal. while kip doesnt have a gold medal and he definitely is in my top 5 of greatest athletes without gold medals Tergat is a better athlete, Multiple WRs in different events and his primary event, faced off against The greatest ever and only missed each time by seconds, set records in 10k, half, and full marathons, and was competitive in each of those events. Kip was an amazing 800m runner 2nd to only Rudisha, but that's all he had his 1500m was abysmal 3:42 for his 800m time, all he had was the 800m and thats it he is great for that but not a better athlete than Tergat.
Then we are just splitting hairs on how you define "greatest", because I truly believe Kipketer was a greater runner than Paul Tergat, because Kipketer's dominance in one event means more to me than Tergat's bridesmaid status in many events and dominance in a discipline that is not in the Olympics and the greatest runner of the time didn't bother trying more than, what, once?
Uhhhmm. Lagat anyone? Webb, Rupp, and Hall are all great Americans, but definitely not the greatest in an international context to never win gold.
To be honest about what is considered great, neither can qualify. One tried more than the other. But out of the two, the one who tried more is better.
Last I checked Lagat was never a WR holder. Puts him well down the list. Webb and Rupp don't even belong on the list.
lensman wrote:
Uhhhmm. Lagat anyone? Webb, Rupp, and Hall are all great Americans, but definitely not the greatest in an international context to never win gold.
Pre.
Lagat definitely should be up for consideration. Off the top of my head:
OG Bronze
OG Silver (Runner up to Hicham)
2nd Fastest EVER at 1500 (behind guess who)
Double world champ in 07 (15 and 5)
Two consecutive world silvers in 5
Tripped in London Olympic 5k... at worst he was headed for a bronze
Plus the fact that hes gone sub-13 every year for however long...
1 Rono
2 Ryun
3 Salazar
4 Clarke
5 Rodgers
Henry Rono. 4 World Records in one year. Nobody since has come close to having a year like that, at least in record-setting.
just sayin wrote:
wouldn't go on forever if they updated the website so you could add a poll
BINGO!!
Dan Marino.
Oh, wait
Tergat has more world championship golds and set more world records than Kipketer. Honors won is always a key metric. Quick look at 800m guys would suggest Kip might not dominate championship races over Juantorena, Coe, Cruz, Ovett...all guys with better range