Kenenisa Bekele: how soon will he totally annihilate the distance WR's?

Vipam wrote:

Boston Indoor Games (3000m)

***Predictions anyone have an idea who will finish 1st thru 5th and their times, post it here and show how good your prognostic skills? Will Dathan beat Alistair will any of them upset Kenenisa?

VIPAM

Of COURSE none of them will touch Kenny B.

But this will certainly be an enlightening race. It will tell us (on this given day)-

* Just how much speed Kenny has over a "shorter" race. We know of his past outdoor 3k a few years back, 7:30, right?), but he was really just a kid then. He is so much better now. It will be interesting to see just how fast he is over a distance less than 2-miles

* How quickly is Ritz developing. That was a great road race he ran the other day. But it will be interesting to see if he can hang anywhere near Bekele at all for even a portion of the race. If he does, it bodes well for his TRACK future (in the 5 and 10 K), and means he should still focus on some of those races for a few years. If not......well everyone is already saying: the marathon is his future. Maybe some sub-par (for him....the expectations are now quite high) track performances will hasten his move up in distance.

My predictions:

Bekele: 7:23.8 WR

Ritz: 7:41

Riley: 7:42

Others.....don't really care that much.

Bekele did run 7:30 indoors last year in his debut race. Of course, it remains tob e seen whether or not he will be racing in the near future.

You have to chill out Vipam. The fact that you feel the need to justify your obsession with Bekele suggests that you recognize it.

Calm down.

**Bekele's fiancee dies**

From correspondents in Addis Abeba

January 5, 2005

ETHIOPIA's Olympic 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele was hit by tragedy yesterday when his 18-year-old fiancee died of a heart attack while out training with him.

Alem Techale, who became the first Ethiopian woman to claim a major global 1500m title when she won the World Youth Championship in 2003, was training with Bekele in Ararat, a forest in a hilly area on the outskirts of Addis Abeba.

Techale, who was due to marry the six-time world cross country champion here on May 8, collapsed and was carried by Bekele to his car but died on the way to the hospital.

Her funeral will be held in her hometown of Arsela tomorrow.

IAAF president Lamine Diack expressed his condolences to 22-year-old Bekele, who has done the double in the short and long course cross country world championship races three times in the last three years and is also the world 10,000m champion.

"I remember Alem as an extremely gifted athlete who, after being crowned as World Youth Champion in 2003, looked set for a long and successful career in our sport," said Diack.

"I also recall meeting her at the last edition of the World Athletics Gala when you were honoured as (2004) Athlete of the Year, and remember her as a charming person with a warm and pleasant personality. She will be sadly missed."

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The SAD and alarming news of his fiancee dying and how she died will affect Kenenisa's run in the near future. Alem and Kenenisa went out for a training run and she collapsed during the start of the run, after such a tramatic experience will he be ready for such a tough record as Daniel's 7:24.90.

Before his fiancee's death I was going to say Kenenisa wins in 7:22.5, but now I think he will be capable but his edge will be off. I think he may try for the record but now be mentally prepared: 7:26.5 but I hope he proves me wrong.

1.Kenenisa Bekele 7:26.5

2.Alistair Cragg 7:34.9

3.Dathan Ritzenhein 7:37.5 New AR

4.Tim Broe 7:38.9

5.Kevin Sullivan 7:41.0

I think Kenenisa countrymen may act as the pacesetter, don't know if he will actually compete-he may!

VIPAM

Vipam,

His fiancee just died for christ sakes. Why are you making an analytical assessment of how fast the guy is going to run 3k later this month? His fiancee just died. Are you that emotionally cold that you feel the need to estimate how much the death of his fiancee is going to effect his 3k time later this month? If my girlfriend just died, I seriously doubt I would be racing in three weeks time. Who knows if Bekele will race? Who cares? The poor guy is dealing with one of the most devatsting things that could happen to someone, and here you are trivializing it by contemplating how much it will slow him down in his upcomming race. Tell me, how much would it slow him down if he lost his dad? 2 seconds? 3 seconds? What about his brother? This has got to be one of the most assinign posts I've ever read, and that it is directed at Bekele is kind of ironic, given your worship of him.

Before someone jumps on me for spelling like shit (not that that ever happens on this board), i meant to write assinine, not assinign. Not sure if that's how you spell, but that's got to be closer than what I wrote before.

Californian

Yes it is extremely terrible and I'm sure at the moment he isn't thinking about Boston Games but before you go biting someone head off, why not wait and see if he runs. The Boston Games is around the 29th of this month and while I'm sure he won't be over the death emotionally, he mostly likely will run! I hope you go to the other thread and post similiar remarks to others making predictions Einstein.

VIPAM

i hope he recovers and blows that record to hell

devastating

I really hope he does too. That is a real tragedy to have to overcome and hope if he decides to run that Kenenisa does it.

Vipam what would you do in the same situation??

Bekele is not a super-human who can deliver world performances time after time, this will affect him real bad. My guess is that he is dealing with a lot of frustration now and this situation is new to him and he doesn't know how to handle it. He can't focus on training right now, a world performance needs focus, he isn't a machine. He will most likely skip the whole the indoor season, we don't know if he ever will be the same again. We know nothing how this affect him, we can only speculate.

Vipam,

I do comment on the predictions of others. I have no problem with you predicting Bekele's future performances, even if I may disagree with your predictions. But it is quite frankly disrespectful to try to discount how much the death of his fiance will slow down Bekele in his race on Jan 30.

Condolences to Kenenisa Bekele as I know this is affecting him tremendously and the running world will be missing a special talent in passing of the beautiful Alem.

VIPAM

Excerpts from T&FNews

Kenenisa Bekele-"I was tired because I won the 10000m and I ran the 5000 heats; that was a big problem for me, I was tired and lost power.

In the days between his 10000m victory and the 5000m heats Bekele was seen doing hard speed session in spikes alongside his teammates. Said one observer, "He was dead before the he started the 5000!"

The Ethopian mentality is such that the importance of TEAM overrides individual glory and the team training sessions are at the whim of national coach Woldemeskel Kostre. Under these circumstances it is a little easier to understand that Bekele could not be excused from training witht the other Ethiopian 5000m runners.

-END-

Why is it understandable when the Ethiopian Federation was the one that ask Kenenisa to run both and not just the 10000m? Why is it understandable to force him to do a hard workout in between the 10000m final and 5000m heats when he was also Ethiopias BEST/ONLY chance at the 5000m Gold? Seriously does anyone understand the logic behind forcing your top guy to do hard workouts after a quick 10000m victory and a few days before the 5000m heats?

VIPAM

Kipchoge wins in Eldoret – AK Weekend XC, sixth race

Saturday 8 January 2005

Eldoret, Kenya - The sixth and final Athletics Kenya cross country weekend meeting of the 2004/05 season lived up to the high quality predictions, with a fine field and some superb performances early today.

Staged at the unfamiliar venue of the Muslim Centre course on the Eldoret-Kaptagat road against the backdrop of rustling trees on a sunny Saturday morning, the event attracted two medallists from last summer’s Athens Olympics who lived up to their reputations.

Eliud Kipchoge, the World 5000m champion and the bronze medallist in Athens, strode to victory in the senior men's short course race (4km) after posting 12:19. Just behind, a second down, came former World Youth 1500m champion Isaac Songok, and Brimin Kipruto, the winner of the Olympic silver medal in the 3000m Steeplechase in Athens was another five seconds adrift (12:25) in third. Augustine Choge, the World Junior 5000m champion, was fourth in 12:34.

"This was my first race on the local circuit this season and I am happy with my form. We are now planning to defeat Kenenisa Bekele in France. We all send our sympathy to him following the sudden death of his fiancée. But that does not make us blind to our number one priority: beating him in France in March," said Kipchoge.

The season's new sensational junior Veronica Nyarwai extended her domination with a 21:31 victory in the junior women's 6km, while Hosea Macharnyang won the men's 8km junior race in 24:39. Prisca Jepleting won the women's senior short course race (4km) in 14:28.

These three athletes now need to win their respective races at the National Championships next month to claim a share of the Sh1million ($12,500) Jackpot offered Athletics Kenya.

Little-known Elias Kemboi won the 12km senior men's race in 37:03, and was followed home by Augustin Rono (37:05) and Elijah Sang (37:12).

Eunice Chepkorir won the senior women's 8km race in 28:09, ahead of Monica Wangare (28:40) and Doris Changeiywa (29:00).

Omulo Okoth (The Standard) for IAAF

Leading Results:

MEN

Senior 4km

1. Eliud Kipchoge 12:19

2. Isaac Songok 12:20

3. Brimin Kipruto 12:25

4. Augustine Choge 12:34

5. Bernard Kipngetich 12:36

Junior 8km

1. Hosea Macharnyang 24:39

2. Bernard Kiprop 24:40

3. Isaiah Kosgei 24:44

4. Emmanuel Mutai 24:48

5. Lewis Kipkorir 24:52

Senior 12km

1. Elias Kemboi 37:03

2. Augustine Rono 37:05

3. Elijah Sang 37:13

4. Linus Maiyo 37:30

5. Joseph Lelei 37:33

15km Road Race

1. Clement Koech 42:03

2. Wilson Chebet 42:28

3. Philip Manyim 42:54

4. Thomas Chepkwony 43:08

5. Julius Limo 43:23

Women

Senior 4km

1. Prisca Jepleting 14:28

2. Mary Wangare 14:42

3. Beatrice Jepchumba 14:50

4. Beatrice Rutto 15:05

5. Nancy Wambui 15:05

Junior 6km

1. Veronica Nyarwai 21:31

2. Margaret Wangui 21:43

3. Mercy Wanjiru 21:48

4. Jebichi Yator 21:59

5. Pamela Lisoreng 22:00

Senior 8km

1. Eunice Chepkorir 28:09

2. Monica Wangare 28:40

3. Doris Changeiywa 29:00

4. Welly Chepkurui 29:15

5. Leah Malot 29:25

15km Road Race

1. Ann Jeptanui 51:02

2. Rael Murkomen 51:33

3. Esther Saina 54:03

4. Naomy Chepkoech 55:07

5. Sally Lagat 55:18

courtesy of iaaf

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Hey Eliud Kipchoge didn't you and the Kenyans supposed to stop Kenenisa Bekele last year and failed. Hey try this approach stop talking and keep training and IF you beat him then say that was my/our objective and I came prepared, that would be better than saying you will and don't! Oh it might be hard to beat Kenenisa in the short course, since he is seriously considering not running it this year!

VIPAM

Maybe Eliud intends to run the 12km course at the World X. Which race did he run last year? I don't know but I was wondering what tactic could the Kenyans employ to beat Kenenisa in the long course?

March 21, 2004 World X-Country Offical Results

1. Bekele, Kenenisa ETH 35:52

2. Gebremarianm, Gebre ETH 36:10

3. Sihine, Sileshi ETH 36:11

4. Kipchoge, Eliud KEN 36:34

5. Kamathi, Charles KEN 36:36

6. Tadesse, Zerseany ERI 36:37

7. Joseph, Fabiano TAN 36:49

8. Admassu, Yibeltal ETH 36:52

9. Kifle, Yonas ERI 36:53

10. Talel, Wilberforce KEN 37:01

11. Korir, John Cheruiyot KEN 37:03

12. Chatt, Hicham MAR 37:09

13. Mottram, Craig AUS 37:10

14. Goumri, Abderrahim MAR 37:17

15. Yenw, Tibebu ETH 37:26

if based on his last year performance I would assume Eliud will be running the 12k but probably will only marginal improvement over last years placing. At this point there is no tactic to beat a healthy Kenenisa in X-Country but to go as hard as you can and hope to catch him having a terrible run.

VIPAM

I just read on the front page were Eliud says they're gonna beat Kenny B. aren't the Kenyans tired of saying that after three years and failing. In fact didn't Eliud say that last year for X-Country and finish 4th not even a threat to the 3rd Ethiopian not to mention the best one Kenny B. Hey Kenya try Nike's old slogan and stop talking and "JUST DO IT".

don't expect too many records from KB from now on, it's pretty hard to keep shooting up when you've just seen your fiancee die from doing it.

duff-man, the fork tongue of an idiot is only noticed when he opened his mouth and sprew out nonsense and poison. One who is a heir to the title of pre mentioned is he who speak with no evidence and seek to belittle that which is riddled in trouble and sorrow. The ruler of long races on the oval will raise once more and continue to lead all opposition to new levels.