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

2003 World Champs 5000 - finished third behind Kipchoge and ElG.

Interesting article from China Daily:

Bekele chooses shorter race to speed up

World and Olympic 10,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele, shrugs off failures in his previous attempts in the 3000m and even the 1500m and believes he will run faster by gaining speed and experience.

"I am happy to run in shorter races. I want to gain speed and experience for the future," said the 24-year-old Ethiopian in Shanghai earlier this week, as he prepared for the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 10,000m and 5,000m world recorder holder chose to compete in the 3,000m rather than the 5,000m in the World Cup last Sunday, only to see himself leapfrogged by Australian Craig Mottram in the last few metres.

"Losing sometimes is normal. Everyone will lose. Yes, I mind a little bit but it is OK for the future. From (losing) the race, I know I can get better," he said.

In the Shanghai tournament, Bekele will take part in the 1,500m and says he will try his best.

"There are many strong athletes here. It is great to run with them. I hope I will run my best," said Bekele, who took part in the 3,000m at last year's first Shanghai Golden Grand Prix with his brother and won the one-two finish for Ethiopia.

Bekele should have started his 1,500m debut in Karlsrune's IAAF Permit Indoor Meetings in January, but a minor training injury kept him out of the race.

He returned to the indoor track the following month at New York's Millrose Games, where he tackled his first mile-long race and finished second.

His best 1,500m result (3:33:08) came in July at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Stockholm of Sweden.

"I think I can run faster in the 1,500m. I will compete more in such events. It will help speed up my pace in long-distance runs," he said.

Bekele has been a dominant force in the 10,000m and 5,000m since 2003.

He began running in primary school, inspired by the success of Derartu Tulu, Fatuma Roba and Haile Gebrselassie. His first competitive success came in 1997, his seventh year of school, when he won a local school's cross-country.

After setting a world junior record for the 3,000m in 2001, Bekele achieved his first senior success at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, where he became the first man to win the long and short races at the same championships. Bekele retained both titles in 2003 and again in 2004.

At the 2003 World Championships of Athletics, Bekele won the 10,000m and finished third in the 5,000m. In the 2005 Helsinki World Championships, he repeated the feat in the 10,000m.

During a 10-day period in the run-up to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Bekele broke Gebrselassie's world records in both the 10,000m and the 5,000m. He demolished the mark again in the Brussels Goldern League in 2005.

At the Olympics, Bekele was victorious in the 10,000m but had to settle for a silver in the 5,000m.

For the future, Bekele said he will first have some rest before continuing to run in the 10,000m and 5,000m and also try out in shorter-distance races.

"Recently, I nearly had races every week. I am tired and I need some rest. Then I will start to prepare for the new season. I know my life and I will still try to get better."

Source: China Daily

predictions for k. bekele in 2007, he changes his mind and wins for the 11th time, but kenya has to much depth so kenya wins the team title, especially if they change it to 9 members per team with 6 scoring. k. bekele runs only the 10k at worlds in osaka so t. bekele will have a better chance at one of ethiopia's 3 spots in the 5k. k.bekele loses to a yet unknown kenyan in the 10k at worlds (at least to american running fans). he does not break his own 5 and 10k records, even though i hope he does.

when will this stupid thread f*** off

When you ignore it and don't respond to it.

hmmmmmmm wrote:

when will this stupid thread f*** off

Interesting predictions doug but the part about an unknown Kenyan beating Kenenisa in the 10000m is funny. If you had put Kenenisa gets injuried and still participate in the 10000m then that would be likely but healthy, I would have to think long and hard to see who have even a slight chance against a healthy Kenenisa in the 10000m.

He will have plenty of time and with well planned schedules, he will not loss a single race.

He will smash 10k and definitely compete at XC in Mombassa and as usual he will win convincingly

Well, I hope it will happen soon!!!

gbfan wrote:

When you ignore it and don't respond to it.

hmmmmmmm wrote:

when will this stupid thread f*** off

"I would have to think long and hard to see who have even a slight chance against a healthy Kenenisa in the 10000m."

folks, zersenay tadesse will challenge him in the 10000M. look at his improvements. as for the XC it will be a battle b/n sileshi and zersenay resp. kenia vs. eritrea for the team title!

Whereas Tadesse is great, I don't think he can beat Bekele at the 10,000m.

I can't for Bekele to try the HM and the full marathon. He might bring those records down.

I can say tadese and Radcliffe have got similarity.

While both of them are untouchables on the road race, they are vulnerable to track and have weak performance.

for sure tadesse will be a dominate factor to road race however, he is not intrested to the road race.

his ability to track is not that much attractive. he need extra effort

"his ability to track is not that much attractive."

26:37 ist not attractive? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

after lowering his PB he stated he could run 20 sec. faster, i.e. the world record. i do believe he is capable of breaking the WR. when it comes to a race vs. bekele, he knows he has no chances in the last 1-2 laps. so he will attack sooner.

kenny gainst sihine, tadesse, wanjiru, kogo, mathati and kiprop. that will be interesting

just what I am try to say is that athletes like abebe dinkesa(26:31), silish sihine, the guy who beat tadesse when tadesse run 26:37 and others can be seen as more or less equal performance.

When we come to kenenisa he is with high caliber and exceptional speed at the last lap .

**( with out doubt tadesse will be a big treat for kenenisa and of curse kenyan always produce lots of new talented athletes and I will be happy if we see fierce competition like Haile-tergat)

Monte-Carlo - The ten individual one day meetings which make up the calendar of IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings 2006/07 begin this weekend in Oeiras, Portugal, on Saturday 11 November 2006, and conclude in San Vittore, Italy on Sunday 4 March 2007, at the 75th edition of the Cinque Mulini.

in which event will kenenisa compete

Who do you think should win PERFORMANCE of the YEAR (not athlete of the year)?

...

2006 IAAF Male Performance of the Year Nominees

Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) for winning his fifth consecutive short and long race double at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Xavier Carter (United States) for making a dramatic appearance on the world scene by blazing to a 19.63 win in the 200 meters in Lausanne, Switzerland – second only to the legendary world-record holder Michael Johnson.

Francisco Javier Fernandez (Spain) for winning the 200 km at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in front of his home crowd in La Coruna, Spain.

Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) for winning the Berlin marathon in a world-leading time of 2:05.56 after breaking the 20 km and half marathon world records previously this year.

Christian Olsson (Sweden) for winning his second European title in Gothenburg, Sweden, after a 2005 season ruined by injury.

Asafa Powell (Jamaica) for the second time equaling his own 100-meter world record of 9.77 in Zurich, Switzerland, which matched the same performance in Gateshead, England, just over a month before.

Irving Saladino (Panama) for winning the long jump at the ISTAF Golden League in Berlin, Germany, to win a share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot.

Saif Saaeed Shaheen (Qatar) for doubling the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000 meters in Athens, Greece, a feat never achieved previously at an IAAF World Cup.

Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) for throwing the javelin at 91.59 meters to become the sixth all-time best thrower.

Jeremy Wariner (United States) for running a 43.62 in the 400 meters at the Rome Golden League meeting, the best time since Michael Johnson’s world record in 1999 and the fourth best time in history.

Liu Xiang (China) for producing a stunning 12.88 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to become the outright world-record holder of the 110-meter hurdles.

geb

Remember, while Vipam nailed the prediction of Kenny B beating Haile's 5k and 10k WR's (and I give him lots of credit for that), he also said during that famous initial post:

Vipam wrote:

I don't think Hicham have a chance in the 5000m at all now!

Vipam

Admit it Vipam, you BLEW that prediction, right??

[ and yes, Bekele did not run the best tactics, but you thought Bekele could still outkick him if it was a low 12:50's race, which it was in Paris. And then El G beat him AGAIN in Athens. C'mon Vipam, we give you credit for your Bekele-WR's prediction, so admit you underestimated El G at 5k, or overestimated Bekele's 5k CHAMPIONSHIP ability (not WR ability). Are we gonna get that admission out of you ever? ]

Lance-alot

You are extremely late or just to show posters up. It may not have been on this thread but I already stated, Hicham was a much better 5000m runner than I originally thought. In fact the only tactics I think Kenenisa could defeat Hicham:

1. 13 flat pace for 3000m and then increase pace to his limit for 2000m.

2. Time trial as no active 5000m runner (including Hicham) is within 8 seconds of Kenenisa's best 5000m.

Kenenisa is the WR in the 5000m but he needs to master tactics in the event.

KING OF CROSS COUNTRY RETURN

This time who is going to win motram or bekele?