Does Meb not know who Yuki Kawauchi is??

Thought this was interesting, guess not.

He was probably trying to avoid a John Travolta moment of mispronouncing his name.

I'd bet he really doesn't know him. I think we would be surprised at how little attention some of the pros pay to the sport outside of the very top level.

If I remember correctly, there was a story to the effect that Chris Derrick met Mo Farah at the 2013 world championships, and Mo proceeded to ask Derrick what event he was in-they were both in the 10k, and Derrick was one of the closest U.S. rivals to Mo's training partners, Rupp and Ritz. I might be wrong on the details, but you get the point, which is that many of the top-level guys may not even bother learning the names of second tier guys.

He knows what his back looks like.

So, a guy who has run 2:08 twice is not at the very top level? But Meb is even though Yuki has a better marathon PR? What????

Fair enough; let's change what I said to from "not at the top level" to "runners against whom they don't often compete directly", which would include lower tier runners. Yuki is a hero in Japan, but most casual fans in the U.S. haven't heard of him, and many of the races he runs are fairly obscure. Also, times aside, Meb has won a WMM, and Yuki has not.

Meb probably recognizes Kawauchi since they were both in the lead group for the first half of last year's NYC Marathon [before Kawauchi dropped back between half way and 25k], but may not have known his name since I believe that's the only previous time they've been in the same race.

I don't see why he needs to have known the guys name. I'm pretty sure he knows it now

Mebratom Keflezighi wasn't sure how to pronounce such an odd-sounding name as "Kawauchi".

Meb isn't exactly a genius.

Come on, all Asians look the same. He probably knows who Yuki is but couldn't recognize him.

captain brunch wrote:

Most blacks don't take the time to learn much. They are largely ignorant of the world around them. There are exceptions of course but most just don't care enough to learn things.

Great job moderators, stellar work allowing this garbage to remain up.

Dennis Reynolds -69 wrote:

captain brunch wrote:

Most blacks don't take the time to learn much. They are largely ignorant of the world around them. There are exceptions of course but most just don't care enough to learn things.

Great job moderators, stellar work allowing this garbage to remain up.

The recently released Dallas Cowboy running back Joseph Randle was allegedly an engineering major at OSU. A recent article chronicled his missteps which prompted the Cowboys to release them, from stealing underwear to domestic abuse to unexplained absences. What I found most interesting was his answer to the reporter's question when asked to what he changed his major after deciding against engineering. He said he could not remember. He actually could not remember what his major was.

Who?

At least he knew Yuki is Japanese, and didn't refer to him as the Asian guy.

maybe he assumed the interviewer didn't know who yuki kawauchi was?

He probably doesn't wrote:

Fair enough; let's change what I said to from "not at the top level" to "runners against whom they don't often compete directly", which would include lower tier runners. Yuki is a hero in Japan, but most casual fans in the U.S. haven't heard of him, and many of the races he runs are fairly obscure. Also, times aside, Meb has won a WMM, and Yuki has not.

So, only WMM winners are "top level"?

He probably doesn't wrote:

Yuki is a hero in Japan, but most casual fans in the U.S. haven't heard of him.

Certainly not anybody who reads Runner's World.

Just chiming in really quick here but when I chatted with Meb on Monday, he mentioned Yuki by name. He chatted with him throughout the race or at least gave simple enough instructions to work together for a few miles.