Augustine Choge: how good will he get and can he defeat the mighty Ethopians?

Hi Vipam,

Long time.

I have also been contemplating the same thing. Choge has won four (If I am correct) 1500m races by beating among others Komen, Lagat, Ramzi and Bekele. It is quite a feat by any measure.

I however think that his long time nemesis Tariku Bekele would beat him at the 3 and 5k right now. I think Tariku is in the best shape of his life. What say you?

Yes Tariku could beat Augustine in 3000 or 5000m race which he did this year; however, Augustine also beat Tariku in 2006. If the two faced each other more than the two meetings they did in 2006, I have no doubt that Augustine would have beat Tariku more than he would have lost to him. Augustine still holds 10 wins vs only 4 loses to Tariku from 2004-2006. What has Tariku done that Augustine hasn't? Now asked what has Augustine done that Tariku hasn't:

Won a World Youth Title

Won a Jr. World X-Country title

Set a World Junior Record

place in the top 5 on 1500m, 3000m, & 5000m Jr all-time list

Win Commonwealth title

beat Kenenisa Bekele

achieved world ranking from 1500m - 5000m

okay Tariku beat Augustine 4 out 15 races (28%), so why does that point to greatness for Tariku instead of Augustine?

Vipam wrote:

Win Commonwealth title

That's not a very fair point. It's not as if Tariku is elligible to compete at the Commonwealth Games.

Take away the Commonwealth accomplishment and it seems Augustine Choge has accomplished much more than the younger Ethiopian. Choge can now claim dominating record vs Tariku and a victory against his brother.

By the way, Tariku has never beaten big bro- in running that is. That is quite an eye opener.

As for the commonwealth title, it means something.

choge beat a great guy-Mottram who beat Bekele.

Both of them in the process also beat the Commonwealth title which is no mean achievement.

Although Ethiopia is not a member of the Commonwealth, the Melbourne games weren't lacking in stars and Mottram made sure the 5k was the event of the games without a doubt.

I have renewed respect for Tariku. I think he had a great seaason and he also beat a great runner- the youthful Feleke who might be the next big thing after Kenenisa.

Okay Augustine beat Kenenisa in a 1500m and have a dominating record over Tariku but will he do in 2007?

Okay now that STEVE CRAM has picked Augustine Choge performance as one of the two best races of 2006 and hinted that Augustine is better than most people thought. Maybe some of you will stop comparing Tariku Bekele to Augustine Choge.

excerpts from Steve Crams recent article:

Date: 20 March & 11 June 2006

Venue: Melbourne & Gateshead

Event: Commonwealth Games 5,000m & British Grand Prix

Result: Choge beats Mottram & Powell equals his record

In athletics, seasons like 2006, without a global outdoor championship, are often dismissed as “transitional.”

But I reckon this year connoisseurs had their money’s worth.

We had truly world-class performances by Asafa Powell, Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards in the Golden League, and new world records by China’s Liu Xiang and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar.

Asafa Powell twice equalled his own world record of 9.77 seconds in the men's 100m and a clutch of young British athletes proved their credentials, notably Mo Farah and Becky Lyne.

At the heart of all those athletics adventures, you can usually find BBC columnist and pundit Steve Cram. I asked him to cast his expert eye over the season and pick his favorite race. Here’s what he had to say:

"There were two very different races that stood out this season and they are; Craig Mottram against Augustine Choge in the Commonwealth 5,000m and Asafa Powell’s world-record equalling run at Gateshead.

"All Games need a local hero and Craig Mottram was Melbourne’s. The Australian media had been hanging the gold medal around his neck for weeks.

"What they didn’t understand was how good Choge was, in fact he is one of the best prospects the Kenyans have had for a long time.

"Everyone in the stadium was expecting Mottram to win. You couldn’t get a seat in the house, and there were 80,000 of them, the noise was deafening at times.

"Mottram is an aggressive runner and he tried to kick on from three laps out but it was never enough to break Choge.

"Choge ran away from Mottram on the back straight of the last lap, Mottram tried to answer him but couldn’t.

"It was one of those rare nights in athletics. A packed house, two athletes at the top of the game going head-to-head, the home crowd cheering on their man – and it was a true run race too.

2000 m

1 Augustine Choge KEN 21.1.87

4:56.30

PB

2 Yusuf Biwott KEN 12.11.86

4:59.48

PB

3 Mohamed Moustaoui MAR 2.4.85

5:00.98

PB

4 Khoudir Aggoune ALG 5.1.81

5:04.09

PB

5 Driss Maazouzi FRA 20.10.69

5:09.30

PB

6 Abdesslam Kennouche ALG 7.10.80

5:15.42

SB

7 Badre Din Zioini FRA 25.3.76

5:19.18

PB

Augustine Choge continues to improve in the 1500m and I knew he could be world class from 800m to 10000m. Ultimately I think the 10000m will be Augustine's best distance.

Stockholm Men 1500m,

1 Augustine Choge 87 KEN 3:33.79

2 Daniel Kipchichir Komen 84 KEN 3:34.69

3 Belai Ali Mansoor BRN 3:36.28

4 Isaac Songok 84 KEN 3:39.05

5 Anter Zerguelaine 85 ALG 3:39.87

6 James Nolan 77 IRL 3:42.11

7 Miguel Quesada 79 ESP 3:42.11

8 Bernard Kiptum 86 KEN 3:42.13

9 Rizak Dirshe 72 SWE 3:43.00

....

Whats the 2000m WR its now 4:49.99 by Kenenisa Bekele.

I think Isaac Songok will turn out to be a better runner than Augustine Choge, and I think Eluid Kipchoge will turn out to be a better runner than Augustine Choge.

Eliud Kipchoge:

Yearly progression 3000m/ 5000m: 2002 - 7:46.34 / 13:13.03; 2003 - 7:30.91 / 12:52.61 (WJR); 2004 - 7:27.72 / 12:46.53; 2005 – 7:28.56 / 12:50.22; 2006 – 7:33.07.

Other PBs: 1500 - 3:33.20 (2004), 3:36.35i (2006); mile - 3:50.40 (2004).

Isaac Songok:

Yearly progression, 1500/5000: 2001 - 3:35.55; 2002 - 3:34.20; 2003 - 3:31.54; 2004 – 3:30.99; 2005 – 3:31.72/ 12:52.29.

And I believe he ran 12:48.66 (PR) this past summer of 2006.

Weltklasse Zürich - Zürich (SUI)

Friday, August 18, 2006

Last Updated: 00:20:52 CET 21/10/2006

Official Result

Men - 5000 Metres

Pos Athlete Nat Mark Pts

1 Bekele Kenenisa ETH 12:48.25 20

2 Songok Isaac Kiprono KEN 12:48.66 16

3 Kipchoge Eliud KEN 12:57.69 14

4 Cheruiyot Jonas KEN 13:04.91 12

5 Kigen Moses Kipkosgei KEN 13:07.47 10

6 Soi Edwin Cheruiyot KEN 13:07.60 8

7 Salem Gamal Belal QAT 13:08.78 6

8 Limo Benjamin KEN 13:10.47 4

9 Kigen Mike Kipruto KEN 13:11.51 3

10 Menjo Kiprono KEN 13:31.98 3

11 España Jesús ESP 13:38.91 3

12 Belz Christian SUI 13:41.17 3

13 Kipsang Churchill KEN 13:41.44

14 Matheka Bernard Muinde KEN 13:54.08

15 Skoog Henrik SWE 13:55.70

Bett Charles Kiplangat KEN DNF

Rizki Monder BEL DNF

Songok Boniface Kiprotich KEN DNF

Eliud and Isaac are both super talented elite runners; however, I don't think either have the talent/potential of Augustine Choge. Its just a matter of Augustine learning to push his potential on a regular basis to the max in order to challenge Kenenisa.

augstine is the only guy who is capable of running 12:42 ...and win 5000me gold wc in osaka

vipam....

does he have a chance at getting any Kenyan records??

i believe tergat and some other guy alredy has most of those.

unfortunately answer looks no

he'd need a 3'26 or 3'43 or 7'20 or 12'39 or 26'27 & that doesn't look likely

he might get 4'48 for 2k but that record's only there because komen didn't aim both barrels at it in his prime & take it down to at least 4'46

Qatar IAAF World Super Tour 2007 - Doha (QAT)

Friday, May 11, 2007

Official Result

Men - 1500 Metres

Pos Athlete Nat Mark Pts

1 Choge Augustine Kiprono KEN 3:31.73 20

2 Simotwo Suleiman Kipses KEN 3:31.98 16

3 Baba Youssef MAR 3:32.13 14

4 Boukensa Tarek ALG 3:32.35 12

5 Korir Shadrack KEN 3:32.76 10

6 Komen Daniel Kipchirchir KEN 3:33.52 8

7 Ali Belal Mansoor BRN 3:35.24 6

8 Moustaoui Mohamed MAR 3:37.31 4

9 Cronje Johan RSA 3:37.67 3

10 Kipruto Brimin Kiprop KEN 3:38.38 3

11 Kiptum Bernard Kiptanui KEN 3:39.59 3

12 Ahmed Saïd USA 3:43.08 3

13 Shaween Mohammed KSA 3:43.40

Bashir Daham Najim QAT DNF

Kimutai Philemon Kipkorir KEN DNF

Kipchoge Gilbert KEN DNF

Kemboi Nicholas QAT DNS

kenyatta wrote:

unfortunately answer looks no

he'd need a 3'26 or 3'43 or 7'20 or 12'39 or 26'27 & that doesn't look likely

he might get 4'48 for 2k but that record's only there because komen didn't aim both barrels at it in his prime & take it down to at least 4'46

the 2000 record is 4:44 and its held by El Guerrouj

Kenyan not World!

There ain't a huge difference but there is a difference!

By your logic you really should have picked up on the 5k and 10k times as well though I'll give you the 1500 and mile as they're misleading!

I'm just giving those who want an update and may not have run across the Kenyan's information I included from 2007. After reading another thread asking:

RE: If Webb wins the Pre Classic will it cement him as the best in the world thus far, and an early favorite for Osaka? 6/5/2007 7:17PM - in reply to Trueism Reply | Return to Index | Report Post

my response was:

I'm not sayiing Webb will not win or medal at the Worlds but right now the favorite whould have to be:

Augustine Choge (Ken) 21 Jan 1987

indoors

3:36.73i..........1)Dusseldor........06 Feb 2007

3:33.79i..........1)Stockholm........20 Feb 2007

outdoors

3:31.73...........1)Doha.............11 May 2007

BEATING

3:31.98......Sul Simotwo KEN 21 04 1980 2)Doha 11 May 2007

3:32.13......Youssef Baba MAR 07 08 1979 3)Doha 11 05 2007

3:32.35......Tarek Boukensa ALG 19 11 1981 4)Doha 11 05 2007

3:32.76......Shadrack Korir KEN 14 12 1978 5)Doha 11 05 2007

3:33.52......Daniel Kipchirchir Komen KEN 27 11 1984 6) Doha 11 05 2007

3:35.24......Belal Mansoor Ali BRN 17 10 1988 7) Doha 11 05 2007

A couple weeks later in May he easily won a low key meet in

3:36; therefore, the young Kenyan who last year ranked #2 in the 1500 would be the favorite- off his undefeated 2007 season.

STACK FIELD in the Dream Mile:

whose your pick to win it? I'm going with Augustine Choge but I wish he would move back up to the 5000m!

15 June 2007

Entry List

Men - One Mile

Athlete Nat

Ali Belal Mansoor BRN

Baddeley Andrew GBR

Boukensa Tarek ALG

Casado Arturo ESP

Choge Augustine Kiprono KEN

Gallardo Sergio ESP

Iguider Abdalaati MAR

Kaouch Adil MAR

Kimutai Philemon Kipkorir KEN

Kipchirchir Alex KEN

Kipchoge Gilbert KEN

Komen Daniel Kipchirchir KEN

Mottram Craig AUS

Simotwo Suleiman Kipses KEN

Songok Isaac Kiprono KEN