dflkjlkjlsdffsdl wrote:
Seems like people can't agree on whether the race was somehow fixed. But I bet we could all at least agree that several key events all had to occur for Meb to win.
1. The pace had to be conservative enough for Meb, who couldn't have handled the 2010 or 2011 paces.
2. He had to break away early, because he wasn't going to win on a late surge against such a quality field.
3. The Africans had to let him go voluntarily, because no way he was going to simply overpower them all.
4. He had to have some help in his breakaway, because he wasn't going to win by running the whole mid-section alone.
5. The two main chasers had to run out of gas at the end.
6. The 31 year streak of American defeat had to end, coincidentally, on the most hyped up year of the marathon's existence.
If you're trying to imply that Meb's win was too good to be true, you don't know anything about marathons. A lot of things have to go right for every marathon winner, every time.
Moreover, your points are not that unusual, even in hindsight. First, Meb's pace was fast by Boston standards. Second, it may be true that he had to break away early, but it makes sense that he went for it. Everybody knows the Americans wanted to win bad this year. Third, the Africans let him go because of a tactical mistake that seemed reasonable at the time. Also, the fact that the Africans didn't chase at mile 8 was not surprising, just normal yo-yo stuff. Fourth, he probably knew that JB would help him through the mid part of the course, but that's not uncommon. Plus, the others likely thought that neither Meb nor JB was a real threat. Fifth, the two main chasers were tired. Of course they ran out of gas. Sixth, the fact that the race was hyped up has nothing to do with this discussion. People have been getting excited for an American to win Boston for years. It had to happen sometime.
And finally, absent clear and concrete evidence to the contrary, we should always assume that sports, politics, business, and every other competitive human endeavor is clean and honest.