Moses Mosop - WTF Happened to Him?

Last active season was 2016. Sub 13 min 5k, sub 27 min 10k, world record holder in the 30,000 meters, and a 2:03 marathon pr

https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/kenya/moses-cheruiyot-mosop-188308

fartleks and bagels wrote:

Last active season was 2016. Sub 13 min 5k, sub 27 min 10k, world record holder in the 30,000 meters, and a 2:03 marathon pr

https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/kenya/moses-cheruiyot-mosop-188308

Interesting, thanks for posting. I think the reason he really ever came into the major spotlight was because of that Boston 2:03 and then the track 30K in Eugene. But ever since that, he never seemed to do much... though a 2:05 on legit, non-wind aided course shouldn't be considered "not doing much."

Dude had a heck of a first year in the marathon. 2nd in Boston with a 2:03:06 in that legendary tailwind. 1st at Chicago with a course record.

He had a 10000m bronze in 2005 and a World Cross Country silver in 2007 when they held the race in Mombasa. Seemed to leave the track early in his career and started to hit the roads.

My guess is that he made his money, maybe had a few injuries, and decided to do something else. Placing well in a few major marathons is worth a small fortune in a place like Kenya.

Renato has been on here saying that he lost his professionalism. I can't remember if that was meant to be that he wasn't training hard, or started a business or something.

Post by Renato:

and Article

and

"Unprofessional" is Italian for "Off the sauce".

Wow, so the guy just quit running. Can you imagine another high profile athlete doing that in a different sport?

Track30K wrote:

Wow, so the guy just quit running. Can you imagine another high profile athlete doing that in a different sport?

Probably became an alcoholic like Johnny Football, John Daly, Daniel Wanjiru and Henry Rono.

"Daniel Wanjiru"

Huh? Do you mean Samuel, the runner who died of alcohol related causes?

Lived by the sword, died by the sword. Too much volume x intensity.

Coaching errors, including overtraining, too much racing and an astoundingly stupid track 30000m which paid well, but also injured him so severely, comeback was unlikely to impossible.

Ryan Hall pretty much did the same thing

I really like this old Canova quote:

Renato Canova wrote:

Too many times, when American or European people see that a top Kenyan disappears, they suppose this fact depends on training.

Instead, the most part of times are problems not connected with their athletic activity, but with their normal life, to provoke a break in their career.

Normally, a top Kenyan athlete, going home, becomes the referement for all his village, not only his family, and goes to be disturbed by a lot of problems of other people. As is very difficult for an African to have in his mind at the same time more than one problem, the first effect is they become confused, and quit training.

It is a sad case of burnout, like Komen and Kimetto. Look at a car's clutch. When you drive hard you can break it. Long lasting runners like Bekele, who has been the best for 20 years, are like cars which have been double clutched(watch the first race in the original Fast and Furious to understand).

Amerikano wrote:

Ryan Hall pretty much did the same thing

True, and that was a pretty big deal for the sport that caused lots of chatter; however, Mosop's "retirement" was relatively unheard of and did not attract much attention. And I think it's pretty clear that Mosop was more accomplished than Hall.

Yeah, in retrospect that 30K was ill advised, but it was great theatre.

I love watching every second of a marathon, but I have to admit that I went to that Pre Distance Night wondering how exciting a track 30K could really be. But the crowd was into it from the gun, cheering and rhythmic clapping every lap for an hour and a half. Somewhere around 12-15K, Moses was getting annoyed with another runner who was not sharing the pace and not giving him enough space, maybe clipped him a couple times. Moses effortlessly drops a couple of 63s, and that was that - no more company. It was sweet.

The Kenyan 10K Olympic Trials were also that night, probably a once-in-lifetime opportunity to watch if you're not going to go to Nairobi. Watching those guys strut out onto the track like gladiators to do their pre-race strides was one of my all-time non-obvious (i.e., race) spectator highlights. Such a great night. So, yeah, thanks Mosop.

Track30K wrote:

Wow, so the guy just quit running. Can you imagine another high profile athlete doing that in a different sport?

He didn't quit running. He got injured and slowed down like every other athlete in the world

Moses had a great career. Spanned 10 years. I to saw his 25,000-30,000 meter W.R. at the Pre Classic in 2011. Simply awesome!

Great runner, great guy.

olyrun wrote:

Moses had a great career. Spanned 10 years. I to saw his 25,000-30,000 meter W.R. at the Pre Classic in 2011. Simply awesome!

Great runner, great guy.

This puts into perspective the approach of the great (est) and current (15+yrs) athlete Eliud Kipchoge. Routinely runs workouts back to middle pack and his daily runs look that of 8+minute miles.

"As is very difficult for an African to have in his mind at the same time more than one problem, the first effect is they become confused,"

Ah, those simple Africans.