jago wrote:
Yeah that english is far too good to be the real Renato (no offense). It's a real shame Kenesia couldn't have a shot at the marathon in Rio, I would like to see him race Mo Farah in the 10K but he's been there done that, I want to see him push the boundaries with the Marathon now. The Ethiopia committee obviously don't' want to take a risk with Bekele knowing is injury history what with the amount of DNF last time for the Ethiopian team.
Why would someone go to such length to write an insightful post in Renato's style, not trolling at all if they weren't Renato. That's him. Renato's english has improved in the past few years. Compare recent posts to stuff from like ten years ago.
Anyways, the more I think about it, the more I think you're absolutely right. Even if Ethiopia doesn't really have potential medalists in the marathon, they can't risk dnfs. The only thing more embarassing than a Kenyan sweep would be a Kenyan sweep and 3 Ethiopian dnfs. A runner of Bekele's capability, if he is not going to medal, highly likely against a strong Kenyan team including a runner who run just a few seconds over the world record and probably another strong east african or 2 from uganda or tanzania or eritrea, has to consider dropping out to save himself for a fall marathon.
If a fit Bekele is truly in shape to challenge Biwott, he'll be able to run a 10,000 fast enough for selection, but Bekele has to decide does he want another Olympics or want to focus entirely on a fast race in Berlin (or Chicago or Frankfurt). Triple Olympic gold in the 10,000 would cement Bekele as the best 10,000 runner of all time, and with the world record, there is no question that Farah couldn't take this title, no matter how many golds and worlds he won. On the other hand, a marathon world record would cement Bekele as the best distance runner of all time, but the current world record seems almost inhuman, 2:02:57. If anyone could break that, I'd expect a double world record holder to have a shot, but Bekele seems better at the shorter distances, as he's never broken 1 hour in the half. He can't show the dominant form he had when he ran away in every 5000 and 10,000 (besides that one time Mottram beat him) and trounced the field time and time again in world xc when he's only racing a couple times a year. To me it seems like Bekele's best bet is to race more frequently at shorter stuff and try for the 10,000 team, then run Frankfurt for a fast time, try to win, and use something like Great North as a tune up in between. And go for a world record at London in the spring. Kipchoge ran 2:03:05, so we know a wr is probably possible there if the leaders don't go through 25 or 30 k at a 25 or 30 k world record.