Is Eliud Kipchoge the most underrated/underappreciated runner of all time?

He was fast, but he almost always lost

Even that marathon, it was good, but he lost. He shoulda beat that Kipsang guy.

Bad Wigins wrote:

He was fast, but he almost always lost

Even that marathon, it was good, but he lost. He shoulda beat that Kipsang guy.

He won the incredible 5000m race in 2003 over 2 WR holders. 12:52, 53 last lap.

When he did lose it also tended to be to WR holders.

Hardloper wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

He was fast, but he almost always lost

Even that marathon, it was good, but he lost. He shoulda beat that Kipsang guy.

He won the incredible 5000m race in 2003 over 2 WR holders. 12:52, 53 last lap.

When he did lose it also tended to be to WR holders.

Not to nitpick, but Bekele wasn't a WR holder in 2003.

The Dingo wrote:

Guy is "29" and has been winning medals for 10+ years. He's crushing the marathon now with no signs of slowing down, yet you don't hear much about him. His 2003 WC 5k is one of the greatest races I've ever seen. Who's more underrated/underappreciated?!

Accomplishments:

2 Olympic medals

- 3rd in the 5k 2004 (losing to El G & Bekele)

- 2nd in the 5k 2008 (losing to Bekele)

2 World Champ medals

- 1st in the 5k 2003 (BEATING El G & Bekele)

- 2nd in the 5k 2007 (losing to Lagat)

4th fastest ever in the 5k

- 12:46.53 (behind Bekele, Geb, & Komen)

Very solid PRs all around of:

-1500: 3:33.20

-3k: 7:27.66 / 2 mile: 8:07.39 (INDOOR!!!)

-10k: 26:49

-HM: 59:25

-Marathon: 2:04:05! (sixth fastest man ever!!!)

Sileshi Sihine is the most underrated runner in history.

Coin toss between Sihine and Kipchoge.

Who doesn't appreciate Eliud Kipchoge? You've come to the wrong place.

He was my second thought. To compare

Olympics Kipchoge Sihine

Golds 0 - 0

Silvers 1 - 2

Bronze 1 - 0

ADV: Sihine

World Champs Kipchoge Sihine

Gold 1 - 0

Silver 1 - 3

Bronze 0 - 1

ADV: Push IMO. A win over a primed El G and Bekele a year prior to 12:37 makes up for 2 less medals.

PRs Kipchoge Sihine

1500 3:33.2 - ???

3k 7:27.6 - 7:29.9

5k 12:46 - 12:47

10k 26:49 - 26:39

HM 59:25 - 1:01:14

M 2:04:05 - None?

ADV: Kipchoge

You could make a strong case both ways. Kipchoge is still going however, I haven't seen anything from Sihine. Is he still racing?

5k-10k on the track, which lets be honest counts for more, Sihine wins. The medals, the times, he's got it. The gold for Kipchige in one the greatest races ever makes him stand out a lot more than Sihine who ran super well all the time and just happened to lose to the GOAT and that's fair.

Track 5k - Disregard times because they're both about the same. Kipchoge has a WC gold, and two Olympic medals. Sihine has one WC medal, no olympic medals.

Advantage - Clearly Kipchoge.

Track 10k - Sihine is a decent bit faster, 10 seconds, with 2 OG silvers and 3 WC silvers. Kipchoge didn't run the 10k much.

Advantage - Clearly Sihine.

I think you discredit the marathon too much. That's become just as competitive if not more competitive than the track, and Kipchoge is arguably top 5 in the world right now. He's only run two marathons and went 2:05:30 debut and 2:04:05 in his second.

I looked up Sihine and he DNF'd his debut marathon in 2011, not sure if he's tried one since or not.

The Dingo wrote:

Track 5k - Disregard times because they're both about the same. Kipchoge has a WC gold, and two Olympic medals. Sihine has one WC medal, no olympic medals.

Advantage - Clearly Kipchoge.

Track 10k - Sihine is a decent bit faster, 10 seconds, with 2 OG silvers and 3 WC silvers. Kipchoge didn't run the 10k much.

Advantage - Clearly Sihine.

I think you discredit the marathon too much. That's become just as competitive if not more competitive than the track, and Kipchoge is arguably top 5 in the world right now. He's only run two marathons and went 2:05:30 debut and 2:04:05 in his second.

I looked up Sihine and he DNF'd his debut marathon in 2011, not sure if he's tried one since or not.

People are always so selective in what they want to count. People will say Gebs better than Bekele despite lesser track accomplishments because of the marathon yet they discount cross country. I'm of the opinion when ranking runners you gotta stick to looking at one area. As you've said, Kipchoge gets 5k, Sihine gets 10k, from an overall track it's Sihine. Medals and times prove it. Roads, yeah, no contest.

If this is Kipchoge vs. Sihine, I'm going to have to go with Kipchoge. Though Sihine has more hardware overall, Kipchoge actually won something. That makes up for a lot.

Dennis Reynolds 2.0 wrote:

Sileshi Sihine is the most underrated runner in history.

This ^^^^

Kipchoge is probably second.

There are two distinct questions that some people are molding into one here. I believe they have different answers.

Q1: Who is more underrated between Sihine and Kipchoge?

A1: Sihine

Q2: Who has had the better career between Sihine and Kipchoge?

A2: Kipchoge

I have always was underrated. He doesn't make much noise but records show that he is among the best. Hopefully he wins several key marathons and gets more respect than people offer him.

george oscar bluth wrote:

There are two distinct questions that some people are molding into one here. I believe they have different answers.

Q1: Who is more underrated between Sihine and Kipchoge?

A1: Sihine

Q2: Who has had the better career between Sihine and Kipchoge?

A2: Kipchoge

I think that's fair, I will argue track career Sihine wins but overall I do agree with you,

Octa wrote:

I have always was underrated. He doesn't make much noise but records show that he is among the best. Hopefully he wins several key marathons and gets more respect than people offer him.

Yes, it's an outrage that 23.1% more people don't respect him by about 17% more than they currently do. Those are the minimum levels of respect he deserves, dammit.

The Dingo wrote:

Guy is "29" and has been winning medals for 10+ years. He's crushing the marathon now with no signs of slowing down, yet you don't hear much about him. His 2003 WC 5k is one of the greatest races I've ever seen. Who's more underrated/underappreciated?!

Accomplishments:

2 Olympic medals

- 3rd in the 5k 2004 (losing to El G & Bekele)

- 2nd in the 5k 2008 (losing to Bekele)

2 World Champ medals

- 1st in the 5k 2003 (BEATING El G & Bekele)

- 2nd in the 5k 2007 (losing to Lagat)

4th fastest ever in the 5k

- 12:46.53 (behind Bekele, Geb, & Komen)

Very solid PRs all around of:

-1500: 3:33.20

-3k: 7:27.66 / 2 mile: 8:07.39 (INDOOR!!!)

-10k: 26:49

-HM: 59:25

-Marathon: 2:04:05! (sixth fastest man ever!!!)

Just to think, Mo's 1500m pr was 6th fastest man ever too...and now he's doing a marathon.

Last lap 2003

http://youtu.be/YJ11L6HYa9w

My bad this is the correct link