kenenisa bekele - lets get it right guys stop hating

10klegend wrote:

Raisin Bread wrote:

As a big fan of Bekele myself, I have watched hours of video of him running while closely examining and analyzing his technique. Through this I have noticed that he has a unique style. It is very subtle but he is the only person I have ever seen run with that exact technique. What he does is slightly over stride hitting the ground with a straight leg and the outside of his foot. He then vaults off of his leg causing him to have a bouncy stride. And then he also has the obvious part of his technique which is his high foot recovery with him kicking his but on every stride. My theory is that the bounce at the start of his stride may aid him in putting more of the force from later part of his stride in to pushing forward instead of upwards. I also think that it may be more neurologicaly efficient because he can tighten his quads before his feet even touch the ground. I think this may be one of the reasons that he can maintain crazy speeds for such a long time. I think that this technique is unique to him because it requires very specific phisiology and a very high fitness level.

You can see what I’m talking about here.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/haile-gebrselassie-kenenisa-bekele-and-sileshi-sihine-of-ethiopia-picture-id72464723https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b2/54/b9/b254b9d35a433799b030bd4dcc22ef77--ethiopia-track.jpg

I would be interested to know what you guys think (especially banana bread, as the bekele expert.

Big Bekele fan here, but the picture is slightly deceptive as Geb and Sihine are further along in their strides than he is (he's just landing). I've always thought Bekele naturally runs like a sprinter, compact and powerful. His form never really changed when he launched into his kick. High leg kick, light on his toes, feet outward 45-degrees for push off, leaning forward. Put a lot of torque on his achilles/calf which over time came back to bite him.

sprintslow wrote:

Hfdfg wrote:

His form and technique are absolutely NOT like a sprinter. Sprinters strike the ground almost completely under the center of mass, and at initial contact with the ground their knees are at the same line.

https://i2.wp.com/athletex.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Overpush-butt-kick.jpg?resize=1280%2C720&ssl=1

I didn’t find stills of elite sprinters but if you look at slow motion clips, all of the land like in the pic above- under center of mass, almost no bend at knee, and both knees are at the same line.

Interesting article here on what Michael Johnson saw in Bekele and what Salazar wanted to replicate. Salazar called Michael Johnson early in his coaching to determine why Bekele looked so different from the other Africans was at a 5k race in Rome. "The Kenyans all ran with long strides, swinging their legs all the way backwards, while Bekele was running differently, almost like a sprinter,” says Salazar. Johnson answered: "it was sprint biomechanics 101".... Salazar: "I credit Michael Johnson for that idea about running like sprinters. I think that distance runners should look more like sprinters than not look like them."

https://spikes.iaaf.org/post/alberto-salazars-school-of-running

electron1661 wrote:

sprintslow wrote:

His form and technique are absolutely NOT like a sprinter. Sprinters strike the ground almost completely under the center of mass, and at initial contact with the ground their knees are at the same line.

https://i2.wp.com/athletex.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Overpush-butt-kick.jpg?resize=1280%2C720&ssl=1

I didn’t find stills of elite sprinters but if you look at slow motion clips, all of the land like in the pic above- under center of mass, almost no bend at knee, and both knees are at the same line.

Interesting article here on what Michael Johnson saw in Bekele and what Salazar wanted to replicate. Salazar called Michael Johnson early in his coaching to determine why Bekele looked so different from the other Africans was at a 5k race in Rome. "The Kenyans all ran with long strides, swinging their legs all the way backwards, while Bekele was running differently, almost like a sprinter,” says Salazar. Johnson answered: "it was sprint biomechanics 101".... Salazar: "I credit Michael Johnson for that idea about running like sprinters. I think that distance runners should look more like sprinters than not look like them."

https://spikes.iaaf.org/post/alberto-salazars-school-of-running