Did Alan Webb Have Olympic Medal Potential at 10,000m?

Great mile ability does not necessarily imply great kicking abilities over longer distances.

He could have probably paced Bekele's world record about 80 percent of the way with recovery breaks.

Old Man Winter wrote:

Great mile ability does not necessarily imply great kicking abilities over longer distances.

It sure does me boy...

Old Man Winter wrote:

Great mile ability does not necessarily imply great kicking abilities over longer distances.

Yes it does.

24 laps in 25:50 or so would have had Webb's kick long sapped. More likely he would have been half a lap behind. A world class 5000 guy seems more plausible.

tiredwebb wrote:

24 laps in 25:50 or so would have had Webb's kick long sapped. More likely he would have been half a lap behind. A world class 5000 guy seems more plausible.

Watch Said Aouita's kick being sapped against Mark Nenow.

Obviously Nenow blew himself up with that 18 second lap.

I don't think they'll ever run an Olympic 1500 at that altitude.

Tenzing wrote:

I don't think they'll ever run an Olympic 1500 at that altitude.

9/10

ngvc wrote:

Old Man Winter wrote:

Great mile ability does not necessarily imply great kicking abilities over longer distances.

Yes it does.

No it most certainly does not. Strength is more important than speed.

Strength is speed wrote:

ngvc wrote:

Yes it does.

No it most certainly does not. Strength is more important than speed.

You cannot run a great mile without strength and speed.

Strength is speed wrote:

No it most certainly does not. Strength is more important than speed.

Only if it is a fast race. If the criteria is just "longer distances" like the poster said, then great mile ability most certainly does mean great kicking ability.

ngvc wrote:

Strength is speed wrote:

No it most certainly does not. Strength is more important than speed.

Only if it is a fast race. If the criteria is just "longer distances" like the poster said, then great mile ability most certainly does mean great kicking ability.

Doesn't matter, fast or slow, strength is more important than speed. The guys who are kicking fast in the final lap are the ones who are least tired. To medal at 10,000 you need to be capable of well under 27:00.

brown bunny wrote:

tiredwebb wrote:

24 laps in 25:50 or so would have had Webb's kick long sapped. More likely he would have been half a lap behind. A world class 5000 guy seems more plausible.

Watch Said Aouita's kick being sapped against Mark Nenow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsNuzBGZHo0

So sad that Aouita never explored this distance further. One race, one win in 13 seconds off the WR at the time (despite being very badly spiked during the race), one #1 world ranking by Track & Field News (

)...

Strength is speed wrote:

ngvc wrote:

Only if it is a fast race. If the criteria is just "longer distances" like the poster said, then great mile ability most certainly does mean great kicking ability.

Doesn't matter, fast or slow, strength is more important than speed. The guys who are kicking fast in the final lap are the ones who are least tired. To medal at 10,000 you need to be capable of well under 27:00.

Exactly, if the pace is wearing him out too much or he can't hang w/ the pace AT ALL he can't use his 3:46 speed, it's meaningless at 9600m

Plus he ran 27:34, the London 10k was won in what, 27:22? If he can't even run that, how was he going to run it in a race where the pace was all over the place (70-61-65) AND w/ a 53 last lap?? I doubt Alan could've even medaled at the 5k... People forget, at the elite level, last laps aren't that different

The 1500m- Mac Daddy 51 high last lap

The 5k- Farah 52 last lap (Gebremeskel 51 high)

The 10k- Farah 53 last lap

Not only that, the last 1600m was under 3:55 for the 5k and just under 4 for the 10k

Strength is speed wrote:

ngvc wrote:

Only if it is a fast race. If the criteria is just "longer distances" like the poster said, then great mile ability most certainly does mean great kicking ability.

Doesn't matter, fast or slow, strength is more important than speed. The guys who are kicking fast in the final lap are the ones who are least tired. To medal at 10,000 you need to be capable of well under 27:00.

Those who say that have never watched the 2007 WC 10000m. Bekele was clearly more tired than Sihine with one lap to go. Guess who won?

I guess it depends on how deep into 10k training he was when he ran 27:34. If he ran that race on a whim and had been doing his business as usual early-season miler training beforehand then quite possibly.

Regardless, I think Webb is too much of an enigma in terms of "could he have done/been x if he done this or that" type questions to really come close to anything resembling an accurate answer.

Basically what I'm saying is that with an athlete as historically inconsistent in his performances as Webb it's impossible to accurately deduce what he could have achieved and/or what his upper limits were if he had been more even-keeled. Then again maybe he never would have touched the performances he achieved if he hadn't flown so close to the sun in terms of the training he did (i.e. the brightest lights burnout the fastest).

If the whole "brightest lights" is the case then I guess it's a bit of an indicator for Webb not using PED's that might have kept him in one piece and yielded a more consistent and fruitful career.

Makes you wonder how many of the top, medal-winning guys that are at the highest tiers of the sport for long periods of time are taking PED's so they can train to stay at that level for so long and avoid the issues that plagued Alan.

Strength is speed wrote:

ngvc wrote:

Only if it is a fast race. If the criteria is just "longer distances" like the poster said, then great mile ability most certainly does mean great kicking ability.

Doesn't matter, fast or slow, strength is more important than speed. The guys who are kicking fast in the final lap are the ones who are least tired. To medal at 10,000 you need to be capable of well under 27:00.

No, it does matter. If the pace is slow enough, then the miler will have a great kick.

You don't need to be "well" under 27:00 to medal in the 10000 these days (see Farah). He was likely barely under 27 ability at the last championship 10k and he is the one that won.