Ostrava Golden Spike Live Thread: Bolt (2:55 pm ET) , Van Niekerk, Rudisha (2:05 pm) and Farah (10k 2:15 pm ET) all running.

Kicking is overrated wrote:

Rojo wrote:

Umm , hate to break it to you

Farah >> Pre.

Pre lacked something even more important - the ability to kick for victory.

But Pre could do something Farah is unwilling or unable to do, something that often leads to world records. Pre could strike for home a few laps out and keep turning the screw on his competitors. If Pre had been able to run against Viren the way he did against George Young in the USA trails he would have won the gold in Munich. If Pre hadn't died he would have certainly developed into a world beater and he wasn't a p***y like Farah.

A big Ben Blankenship fan here. Maybe Walmsley too.

The memberberries are gooooood this summer lol.

What makes you say that? Just because farah is the current FAD doesn't mean bekele wasn't popular during his timeframe. My point is, after farah is done with track, you're not going to hear about his "greatness" unless it's a diehard fan/UK supporter. Bekele raced often, and more often than most, raced for records. Farah has his medals, but so does bekele. What separates the two? 26:17 and 12:37.

Kicking is overrated wrote:

Rojo wrote:

Umm , hate to break it to you

Farah >> Pre.

Pre lacked something even more important - the ability to kick for victory.

But Pre could do something Farah is unwilling or unable to do, something that often leads to world records. Pre could strike for home a few laps out and keep turning the screw on his competitors. If Pre had been able to run against Viren the way he did against George Young in the USA trails he would have won the gold in Munich. If Pre hadn't died he would have certainly developed into a world beater and he wasn't a p***y like Farah.

Yeah, we all know that Young and Virén had similar capacity...

DMR TIME!! wrote:

This is why Farah will never be one of the all-time greats. He lacks the Komen/Prefontaine heart to just power round the track and push himself.

Who won the gold medal in the heart competition in Rio I can't remember?

idiot alert wrote:

Kicking is overrated wrote:

But Pre could do something Farah is unwilling or unable to do, something that often leads to world records. Pre could strike for home a few laps out and keep turning the screw on his competitors. If Pre had been able to run against Viren the way he did against George Young in the USA trails he would have won the gold in Munich. If Pre hadn't died he would have certainly developed into a world beater and he wasn't a p***y like Farah.

Yeah, we all know that Young and Virén had similar capacity...

It is malpo.

Trackster9494 wrote:

What makes you say that? Just because farah is the current FAD doesn't mean bekele wasn't popular during his timeframe. My point is, after farah is done with track, you're not going to hear about his "greatness" unless it's a diehard fan/UK supporter. Bekele raced often, and more often than most, raced for records. Farah has his medals, but so does bekele. What separates the two? 26:17 and 12:37.

26:17 and 12:37

When Mo grows a sac and drops times even CLOSE to those, then we can talk.

9 consecutive track gold medals, unbeaten at championship races over that period. When Bekele does anything....

Jesus. Their accomplishments are different. Bekele is my favorite runner and probably the best of all time. I am quite aware of his records.

But that's not the point. You guys are claiming "Farah won't be remembered" or "Farah is a wimp because he didn't run fast".

Well you're wrong. He will be remembered as the best championship racer ever. The lack of a truly fast time (at 5/10K, because he has them elsewhere) does not put an asterisk by that. Only a small crowd of idiots on letsrun, who hate Farah for some reason, will claim otherwise.

To the guys arguing all-time greats--it is tough to compare eras, but think about (among others) Zatopek, Clarke, Rono, and Gebrselassie before you start including Farah (and, may he rest in peace, Pre, who was a great runner but should not be in the all-time great discussion). Bekele deserves to be in the discussion for sure.

Not sure about Komen. Phenomenal times but what did he do in championships/how long was his career. I have no evidence of him doping, but that 7:20 is so much faster than other guys that I do wonder about what he did behind the scenes. If he didn't dope he can consider that a compliment as it's an almost literally unbelievable time.

the letter why wrote:

He will be remembered as the best championship racer ever.

You really upped the ante there with that gem of an idiotic statement.

27:12

Gold medal – first place 2002 Dublin Long race

Gold medal – first place 2002 Dublin Short race

Gold medal – first place 2003 Lausanne Long race

Gold medal – first place 2003 Lausanne Short race

Gold medal – first place 2004 Brussels Long race

Gold medal – first place 2004 Brussels Short race

Gold medal – first place 2005 Saint-Galmier Long race

Gold medal – first place 2005 Saint-Galmier Short race

Gold medal – first place 2006 Fukuoka Long race

Gold medal – first place 2006 Fukuoka Short race

if that matters at all

who is better?Farah is probably the best championship distance runner in the last 40 yearsthe fact that almost no one has done the double double proves it

real recognize real wrote:

the letter why wrote:

He will be remembered as the best championship racer ever.

You really upped the ante there with that gem of an idiotic statement.

mo farahs skeleton wrote:

who is better?

Farah is probably the best championship distance runner in the last 40 years

the fact that almost no one has done the double double proves it

real recognize real wrote:

You really upped the ante there with that gem of an idiotic statement.

Who is better? Geb and Bekele. Bekele had to race El G and Kipchoge, not just Ibrahim Jeilan.

Far Gone wrote:

Remind me, how many medals for "all-time greats" Prefontaine and Komen?

DMR TIME!! wrote:

This is why Farah will never be one of the all-time greats. He lacks the Komen/Prefontaine heart to just power round the track and push himself.

Komen has a gold medal actually

Does anyone know why bekele didn't run the 5k at World in '05&'07?

For 2005, he broke the 10km right after world championships. He needed fresh legs so that's the reason why he didn't double. For 2007 I don't know.