Geoffrey Kirui had no idea who Galen Rupp was - he just asked him what his name was in the press conference

How do we know he wasn't pretending to not know who Rupp is?

That makes up for people thinking Kurui was Korir.

That's savage

Kenyans only know (and respect) Evan Jager. Helps that he looks like a real simba on top of his fearless racing. The rest (Rupp, Centro, Murphy ...) don't register.

Um ... ask Kirui if he's ever heard of Jordan Hasay.

All Mzungus look the same to Africans. Even Rupp.

That's really rude. Winning in a race didn't grant him the right to disrespect his competitor.

the one with a heart of a lion wrote:

Um ... ask Kirui if he's ever heard of Jordan Hasay.

+1

El Keniano wrote:

Kenyans only know (and respect) Evan Jager. Helps that he looks like a real simba on top of his fearless racing. The rest (Rupp, Centro, Murphy ...) don't register.

I think they used to know Ryan Hall

El Keniano wrote:

Kenyans only know (and respect) Evan Jager. Helps that he looks like a real simba on top of his fearless racing. The rest (Rupp, Centro, Murphy ...) don't register.

I think this is very much true. The top Kenyans who have been competing in the big stages for a while now know who Rupp is, of course, but these lesser known guys that have 2 or 3 marathons under their belt don't know/care who the other guys are. They're there to race or die trying, no matter who they're up against. And let's be honest, Olympics are a great event but if you let all the East Africans get in there on any given day Rupp probably doesn't crack top-20 in the marathon.

I truly believe Jager is probably one of the only white guys they know/respect. He's the only one able to put up a fight in his event. The rest, not so much. With the Robertsons and Hawkins things are changing a bit as of late. They're getting up there in the mix pushing the pace from early on and it's nice to see that give it your all mentality coming up in races.

Great racing from Rupp and Osako though. Kirui was just too strong at the end. Maybe if Rupp had made a run for it mid-way he would have gotten the win…

I think they know who Matthew Centrowitz is.

Don't you think Kiprop etc respect Centro?

Kirui must be the guy that posts here on letsrun all the time.

Galen Rupp

Who?

DJsock wrote:

That's really rude. Winning in a race didn't grant him the right to disrespect his competitor.

He called Rupp his friend. That seems nice to me.

Sort of shocked that they wouldn't have met at a press conference before the race.

But honestly to you think that Rupp could have picked Kirui out of a lineup before he decided to run boston?

Kirui is very young. Youngsters don't always know all the history of their sport. I would expect him to know Rupp's name from Olympic medals in 10 and marathon, but not necessarily. Kenyans probably keep their eye on fellow countrymen and rival Ethiopians and don't follow runners from other countries much. Outside of top Americans (because I'm an American), Kenyans, and Ethiopians, I know very few of the top marathoners from any other country.

The Boston announcers thought Kirui was Mutai

maybe this wrote:

Kirui is very young.

Isn't he 30?

DJsock wrote:

That's really rude. Winning in a race didn't grant him the right to disrespect his competitor.

says the guy on a message board that refers to east African runners as "the Kenyans".