Kenenisa bekele set to rematch kipchoge at london!!!

I think he is already the GOAT

GOATs and sheep wrote:

I think he is already the GOAT

agreed

-10/10

What about Haile Geb then?

Looks like a great field! Interesting to see bedan karoki making his debut in an Olympic year only months before the Olympics. I would think he would have focused on the 10k.

Question for world class coaches: is London a must for selection to Kenya/Ethiopian Olympic marathon teams? Why is everybody good running this when historically it means they will not have enough time be back at full strength for the Olympics? Does this open the possibilities up for meb/ritz/puskedra to win or place?

Interesting. Karoli seems to have great potential for the marathon. Of course, so did Tadesse. I'll be rooting for KB to run well and make the team but I will not be betting on it.

Other options wrote:

Looks like a great field! Interesting to see bedan karoki making his debut in an Olympic year only months before the Olympics. I would think he would have focused on the 10k.

Couldn't agree more!

Kenenisa is already the greatest! He is unfortunately paying the price for his hard running through out his career. I dont think he will win in London but his place in history is already secured!

Agreed. He is the greatest. However, soloing a 2:05 marathon in your debut is not a poor performance. Ask Mo about his paced debut.

South dakota wrote:

Question for world class coaches: is London a must for selection to Kenya/Ethiopian Olympic marathon teams? Why is everybody good running this when historically it means they will not have enough time be back at full strength for the Olympics? Does this open the possibilities up for meb/ritz/puskedra to win or place?

A top place at London will likely be faster than a top place at Boston. At another marathon a 2:04/2:05 guy will likely be running on his own the whole race, difficult to do when a fast time is essential.

Beg to differ wrote:

What about Haile Geb then?

Who?

South dakota wrote:

Question for world class coaches: is London a must for selection to Kenya/Ethiopian Olympic marathon teams? Why is everybody good running this when historically it means they will not have enough time be back at full strength for the Olympics? Does this open the possibilities up for meb/ritz/puskedra to win or place?

It's all about $$$$$. London's appearance fees are sky high.

Not this again - yawn.

For Brits (not that they are troubling the elite end particularly), London is the Trials race (subject to achieving certain time targets), so British athletes have no option other than to run London and then try to peak again for Rio.

A gold medal Olympic winning marathon may put him over Haile G.

Geb put up 20 straight years of world class times from 1993 through 2012.

Bekele is well short of that.

And Geb did an assault on the record books that Bekele couldn't remote keep up with.

Geb's range was better from 1500m to the marathon.

They both earned track Gold medals in the same amount of years (6).

Bekele had the great XC career (not an Olympic sport).

Geb had a pretty good marathon career.

Running London in April is a bad plan for anyone with a serious interest in winning gold in the Olympic Marathon. But it certainly fits the picture of what the elite marathoners have done time and time again--chase the money and either skip the championships or drop out early enough to preserve the legs for the next money chase. The answer is obvious--combine the championship events (one day removed or together) with mass start marathons so that you can use some of the entry fees/sponsorship for prize money equivalent to or greater than that of London, Berlin, etc.

This is set to be one of the greatest marathons ever! You Eliud Chipchoge the up newest threat, Wilson Kipsang, the former world record holder and veteran, Dennis Kemito, the World Record Holder, Ghebreselassie, the young up and comer and current world champion, and Kenenisa Bekele, arguably the GOAT and such a wild card!

This is going to be insane.

tbh though I probably wont watch it if Radcliffe is announcing it. I hate her guts so much. She's so self centered and is an obvious cheat

MatthewTheHahn wrote:

tbh though I probably wont watch it if Radcliffe is announcing it. I hate her guts so much. She's so self centered and is an obvious cheat

She may announce a brand new excuse for the off-scores, that would be interesting. The lady doesn't know when to quit

There is no way bekele is GOAT until he does something big at the marathon. Hailes range and longevity still trumps bekele