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

Maybe there is no proof that Geb has taken EPO, but he hasn't run 12:39 or 26:22 since EPO testing began. I would hope not but I'm not so naive as to say I'm positive he wasn't.

Geb's coach/agent is Jos Hermans.

If it lookslike a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck.......

Usher

You are ONE of the most ignorant and narrow minded

individual that have posted lately! All elite athletes

have personal best that the have achieved in their careers

and there were VERY, VERY FEW that approached their pr's

in 2002 (san a handful; Paula, Edith, & Turkish 1500m queen). The men had even few notable athletes who lowered

their personal best/world record, not even the great Hicham

El Guerrouj really approached his 1500m best!

The fact that Geb was injuried seem to have no bearing with

your illogical thinking as to why he didn't break any records or the fact that he trained for the marathon and ran a great one. If you are going to assume or insinuate

that Geb take or has taken ban drugs, then the same can be

said for all elite athletes including Paula Radcliffe!

In case you haven't noticed Usher this is a thread about KENENISA BEKELE not Geb!!!!

Vipam

Usher wrote:

I'm not so naive as to say I'm positive he wasn't.

Okay then I'll say it, you're positive, he wasn't.

Vipam, this thread is about Bekele breaking the world records. World Records which, last I checked, were possessed by Geb. Therefore its within the range of this discussion to discuss Geb alongside Bekele. If we are going to talk of Bekele's chances of breaking them, then we have to talk about how he compares with Geb at the moment. Talking about Geb is fair game I'd say.

Pepsi Twist

You are correct on that; however, it is trivial to slang rumors about Geb when he has shown about as much evidence of using ban drugs as Paula Radcliffe. HONESTLY I DON'T THINK EITHER ARE GULITY OF USING BAN DRUGS, yet SEVERAL individuals can point the figure at Geb and forget about AWESOME Paula Radcliffe.

In the last year the Kenyans and Ethopians have come under attack far more then the rest of the world combined (in regards to anything negative by SOME members of this board)! NO PROOF Geb or Paula's dirty so drop it!

Kenenisa, Hicham, Edith Masai, Gete Wami, and Paula Radcliffe will all SHOCK the athletic world in 2003!!!

Vipam

Innocent till proven guilty. Thats how it should be.

AGREED!

If the conditions are right, I predict:

Hicham El Guerrouj will win the Outdoor 1500m title, despite a scare from Cornelius Chirchir at 1150m (then Hicham pulls away slightly in a tremendous time).

Edith Masai- will have a spectular season scaring the 5000m (Paula or Berhane Adere will break the 5000m WR) World Record in Europe before winning Gold at the Worlds!

Gete Wami and Paula Radcliffe both should go under 30 minutes in the 10000m and will fight it out for the Gold, leaving Yingje Sun and Derartu to duke it out for the Bronze!

Kenenisa will continue his forray on the track forcing the world to leave the 12:55 behind (End of Year Leader time 2001 and 2002) and run much faster. Hicham will decide not to contest the 5000m (secretly because of Kenenisa).

Think I got it right, lets wait and see!

I forgot two incredible athletes who will play a MAJOR ROLE

at the 2003 Worlds:

Gaby Szabo-if healthy can run with anyone!

~

Berhane Adere-if healthy can stick with any pace and outkick the best most of the time. Her problem will be choosing between the 5000m or the 10000m!

I am a avid fan of letsrun.com and come here often during the Major Outdoor track season. Being that I am not a big fan of x-country or indoor track I don\\\'t visit often during that time of season, yet I decided to see if anything good was being discussed. The subject matter containing Kenenisa Bekele is encouraging and I think he will shock the world, because KENENISA WILL BE BETTER ON THE TRACK THAN X-COUNTRY!

Our countrymen who will be contesting the 5000m or 10000m should be treating their training like a compulsive,

obessive training ritual.

Also, lets take back over the 200m and 400m don\\\'t let Michael legacy be the last of the great long sprinters!

If Kenenisa stays healthy in 2003 the only person who could challenge him in the 5000m is Hicham El Guerrouj and he won't run the 5000m at the Worlds. Kenenisa next cross country rac will farther seperate him from the other elite athletes!

John Yuda, Sammy Kipketer, and Geb will make the 10000m remarkable in 2003. The U.S.A. should have 3 males in the finals (I would love to see that more than I would like to see Kenenisa win gold). Alan, Dan, Brad, Abdi, Clint, and Meb all have the potential to reach the finals (Meb, Abdi, and Alan have the potential to medal).

What do you think the Americans prospect are up against Kenenisa in the 5000m and the african contingent in the 10000m?

Vipam

Vipam wrote:

What do you think the Americans prospect are up against Kenenisa in the 5000m and the african contingent in the 10000m?

Zero. You must be joking.

dunes runner

I agree that the Americans may not have a prayer against Kenenisa or any World Finalist in the 5000m; however, do you honestly think Meb*, Alan*, and Abdi can't improve and run 27:05-27:12 and medal this year!??

*remember their Marathon training in late 2002 and how it pays of for MOST elite 10000m runners.

Vipam

Vipam wrote:

dunes runner

I agree that the Americans may not have a prayer against Kenenisa or any World Finalist in the 5000m; however, do you honestly think Meb*, Alan*, and Abdi can't improve and run 27:05-27:12 and medal this year!??

*remember their Marathon training in late 2002 and how it pays of for MOST elite 10000m runners.

Vipam

Meb and Abdi don't have the kick to medal.

Culpepper may but hasn't shown the nuts to go with a quicker pace.

Jeff

You may be correct about Abdirahman not possessing the kick to medal, but if he had 60 meter lead with 400m to go he would have to kick a la Paul Kipkoech or John Ngugi. Lets face it Abdi's not strong enough to build such a lead!

Alan Culpepper*

1500m 3:38.64 (1999)

5000m 13:27.52 (2002)

10000m 27:33.93 (2001)

Meb Keflezighi**

5000m 13.11.77 (2000)

10000m 27:13.98 (2001) and 27:20.15 (2002)

*Culpepper marathon training should help him ALOT in 2003

--------

** Keflezighi ran 20 miles at 2:07 pace, and his added strength will make him a Top 5 threat at the Worlds.

Not sure but wasn't Keflezighi a NCAA champion in the 1500/Mile while at UCLA.

---------

Keflezighi has the best chance KICK OR NO KICK

Vipam

Vipam

Keflezighi never even ran a 1500m/Mile in NCAA championship. The four NCAA titles he won came in 1997:

X-Country, 5000m indoors, 5000m outdoors, and 10000m outdoors.

Correction

Vipam wrote:

I agree that the Americans may not have a prayer against Kenenisa or any World Finalist in the 5000m; however, do you honestly think Meb*, Alan*, and Abdi can't improve and run 27:05-27:12 and medal this year!??

*remember their Marathon training in late 2002 and how it pays of for MOST elite 10000m runners.

I think they can improve, and make the final and maybe even place in the top 10. But unless everyone else falls down, they haven't developed the speed to approach the top 3.

Remember when Barrios had the WR at 27:08 and couldn't even keep up with the first tier of runners. They'll need to be able to run 26:50 or better to have any chance of a medal.

dunes runner

They (Meb or Alan) could very easily medal in the Worlds,

considering they both make the team and Alan show up in better 10000m shape than his 27:33 personal best. In the

last 7-8 years the 27:20 barrier has been bettered by three

individuals in the OLYMPICS/WORLDS only twice. Since 1999

there has been 23 performers* to run 27:20 or faster-13

kenyans, 5 ethopians, 1 American, 1 Spainard, 1 Tanzanian,

2 Moroccans. While it is evident many can break the 27:20 barrier only 4 Kenyans and 3 Ethopians can go, always factor in "the wind blows differently in the MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP" (QUOTE by Naoko Takahashi (Jap).

If Meb and Alan showed up at the Worlds and ran 13:39 for the first 5000m not many would follow or many would keep up with the second half also at 13:39.

The only two event Olympic/Worlds with 3 finishers under 27:20:

1995 Worlds

Haile Gebreselassie (Eth) 27:12.95

Khalid Skah (Mor) 27:14.53

Paul Tergat (Ken) 27:14.70

Salah Hissou (Mor) 27:19.30

2000 Olympics

Haile 27:18.28

Paul 27:18.29

Assefa Mezegbu (Eth) 27:19.75

_____

*M Mourhit not one of the 23 sub performers due to his drug suspension during the time/year he broke 27 minutes!

Vipam

No chance.

dunes runner

What do you mean No chance?

-it would not work

-they (Meb or Alan or both) could not run 27:18 at the Worlds

-they wouldn't work together

-they could follow the above plan and still not medal

I know your entitled to your own opinion; however, I am curious as to why you think it wouldn't work.

Vipam