Has Bekele just legitimised his WRs? Clean? GOAT?

No, he is too inconsistent over the marathon, and also fails to produce any marathon WR as did Geb. Thus, Geb is still the GOAT, sorry about that.

Does inconsistency matter? Also, he beat Geb's time.

List of things Geb > Ken:

More *world records at the time*

More marathon victories

Consistency

List of things Ken > Geb:

Faster at all distances (now)

Better at XC (yes, not that important, but still worth mentioning)

For me, if your times at the three most important distances are WR, WR and very nearly WR, that makes you GOAT.

Geb took awhile to get it right in the marathon too, so I really wouldn't say Bekele has been any more inconsistent than Geb through his first 5.

If you take Olympic distances, Bekele is No 1 now....if you take all distances, Haile is still the best, because of his (then) half marathon world record. Exceptional Kenenisa Bekele!

come on He was injured for 6+ years. Imagine he is healthy from now on. the WR in Marathon is for sure. I think he has also a plan to run one track 10k in London next year. considering his XC , WRs, Olympic and championship gold, Today in Berlin and his next WR he is the Goat.

He was GOAT before this.

He is GOAT after this.

what? XC not worth mentioning?????......World cross is the most competitive distance race in the world!....and KB was KING!

34:49 Hobby Jogger wrote:

Bekele must now be the undisputed GOAT

I would still not say undisputed, but for me Kenenisa Bekele now is the greatest distance runner in history. Still relatively close to Haile Gebrselassie, but the better PBs now in the 5000m, 10000m and the Marathon, as well as more outdoor track titles and for sure his unique success in XC should give the Nr. 1 spot to Bekele. We should not forget all of Gebrselassie's achievements (especially his unique string of recocrds and the length of his career and global titles in the 1500m(i) and the Half-Marathon), but it already was close before and this great victory against Wilson Kipsang in almost WR

finally has decided it for me in the favor of Bekele.

I thought Bekele was very close to beeing "finished" - but was completely wrong. But it also has to be said that the conditions today were close to perfect.

Will he defeat Farah in the WC 10k next year?

Discus.

He should stay run both the London marathon and the WC marathon in London.

Remove the 'stay'

TrackBot! VDOT 2:03:03 marathon

VDOT for 2:03:03 42.195km: 83.6

Equivalent race times based on VDOT:

Marathon: 02:02:50

Half marathon: 00:58:37

15K: 00:40:50

10K: 00:26:40

5K: 00:12:48

3Mi: 00:12:20

2Mi: 00:07:56

3200m: 00:07:53

3K: 00:07:20

1Mi: 00:03:43

1600m: 00:03:41

1500m: 00:03:26

I am a bot. Info:

http://habs.sdf.org/trackbot

Well on Letsrun, no matter how much testing has improved since KB set his WRs, getting tested after this win in Berlin won't mean much to the peanut gallery.

said88 wrote:

I would still not say undisputed, but for me Kenenisa Bekele now is the greatest distance runner in history. Still relatively close to Haile Gebrselassie, but the better PBs now in the 5000m, 10000m and the Marathon, as well as more outdoor track titles and for sure his unique success in XC should give the Nr. 1 spot to Bekele. We should not forget all of Gebrselassie's achievements (especially his unique string of recocrds and the length of his career and global titles in the 1500m(i) and the Half-Marathon), but it already was close before and this great victory against Wilson Kipsang in almost WR

finally has decided it for me in the favor of Bekele.

I completely agree/my thoughts exactly. It was close before (but I still gave Bekele the edge before), but now it is sealed and finished: Bekele is the GOAT. In fact, it shouldn't be disputed, and even Geb would admit it.

&BYisadf90782 wrote:

Well on Letsrun, no matter how much testing has improved since KB set his WRs, getting tested after this win in Berlin won't mean much to the peanut gallery.

Aside from the significance of results management to whether an athlete gets caught or not, the standard screening does not test for testosterone, hgh, insulin, or CERA. Many samples are not tested for EPO at all, as the analysis for EPO is a seperate protocol. Tests have improved, but not every lab has the same, equipment. It all meets a baseline standard, but some labs are more sensitive than others. Finally, a urine test can only show what was in an athlete's system that day. With many drugs having fast clearence times, or having their clearence times accelerated by other substances or methods, even an all-knowing, all-seeing test can't detect a drug that has already cleared.

Half marathon record doesn't matter. Has KB even run a sub hour half (i.e. a fast effort)?

Half marathon success of Geb just about cancels out KB's XC.

So in terms of road and track:

KB surely has track due to WRs and 8 outdoor titles vs Haile's 6

Only question is road. Surely it is ambiguous enough to say track gives him GOAT? Even so, I think KB can argue for road:

1st in Berlin (admittedly Olympic year...)

1st in Paris

3rd in London which was a talent supercollider off no training

Great North Run

2:05 low debut

Far superior time

I was a little in doubt before, but now I see the light.

All hail King Ken, distance GOAT!

Haven't they proved that the long term effects of some drugs stay in your system for years?

Not sure which ones off the top of my head, but one of the arguments levelled at Gatlin is that he is able to still run at the same level he did when doping because of the long term effects of the drugs he was using a lot of earlier in his career!

Indisputable wrote:

He was GOAT before this.

He is GOAT after this.

This.

All you haters who said he's a 2:05 guy at best need to line up..