Please, Keni, let yourself - after 16 years of extraordinary training and racing - rest. We all honor and can now celebrate your legendary career and remaining world records.
Please, Keni, let yourself - after 16 years of extraordinary training and racing - rest. We all honor and can now celebrate your legendary career and remaining world records.
If he retires, he will become fat and weak and adopt some dull profession like owning a restaurant. Better to keep running fast and lose than end up completely unathletic.
He also hasn't tried triathlons yet.
Bad Wigins wrote:
If he retires, he will become fat and weak and adopt some dull profession like owning a restaurant. Better to keep running fast and lose than end up completely unathletic.
He's already a business mogul and entrepeneur. Like Haile Geb, you can expect him to remain highly engaged with everyday Ethiopians as he strives to improve his country. Kenenisa is simply trying to follow in the footsteps of Haile, who had a long, impressive career.
The most exciting distance runner I’ve ever seen for sure. Unfortunate to see his struggle with the marathon, but I think due to injury he started too late in life. Of course he had more success than most runners, but not like on the track. The GOAT should retire.
Disappointing for sure but his accomplishments will not be forgotten. I’m wondering why he just didn’t finish though. He was so close. He must of been in lots of pain. Not sure when he will retire. Must be hard for these guys to stop racing. Training and racing have been the focus for so long. But at 36 you need to start thinking that way. Sounds like he a smart guy. He will do ok.
Just because he's not running as well now doesn't mean that his prior accomplishments never happened. If you're one of the greatest athletes and competitors of all-time you're not going to give up after some bad results, you will rage against the dying light of mediocrity for as long as you physically can.
Why do people continually praise the likes of Bekele and Farah- both achieved great things under less than believable means. Bekele was crushing people and records in the heart of the EPO era; and well, we know Farah's association with Aden, missed tests, and fabrication of whereabouts. Are you really ok with cheaters?
I've been following and rooting for the great Bekele for 15 years now. I love the guy. I feel sad for him.
I hope he finds a gold label half marathon to run. Run's fast. Wins it. And retires on a high note.
celery wrote:
I've been following and rooting for the great Bekele for 15 years now. I love the guy. I feel sad for him.
I hope he finds a gold label half marathon to run. Run's fast. Wins it. And retires on a high note.
I think you are right that he should go for the shorter races for a while. To run really fast at the half and then test the marathon again.
Kenenisa Bekele has been a top dog getting top billing for about 15 years. Like Geb, he will find it very hard to get in a race and NOT go with the leaders because it's just too fast. KB (and Geb before him) could have run several more years getting good results in lower tier marathons in 206 to 208, but their former greatness (pride) prevents it.
KB might try a couple more times but he will not be in Tokyo 2020 and I doubt will ever get within 2 minutes of his PR.
celery wrote:
I've been following and rooting for the great Bekele for 15 years now. I love the guy. I feel sad for him.
I hope he finds a gold label half marathon to run. Run's fast. Wins it. And retires on a high note.
My goodness, let it go.
Skomekele wrote:
Please, Keni, let yourself - after 16 years of extraordinary training and racing - rest. We all honor and can now celebrate your legendary career and remaining world records.
You either retire to early when there is still some left in the tank or hang on to long. It is very hard to find examples of in between for the great ones. And with the confidence/ego of the great ones it is almost always the later.
Kenny might have another great race in the tank but he has earned the right to go out on his terms. Unless he sets a WR Geb is the GOAT. Bekele surpassed his times but was never the larger than life figure in the sport Geb was. Geb had a charisma no other elite has matched.
Any you should retire from posting with such poor use of English.
. doclove wrote:
Any you should retire from posting with such poor use of English.
??
He is done with highly competitive running.
If he wants to appear at the Shelter Island 10k for a plane ticket and a lands end gift certificate than so be it.
Otherwise his competitive days are over.
LRC posters who laud his past successes may be tacitly acknowledging his former drug use.....
Skomekele wrote:
Please, Keni, let yourself - after 16 years of extraordinary training and racing - rest. We all honor and can now celebrate your legendary career and remaining world records.
As a big fan of Bekele, these last few races have been hard to watch and really don't want to see another DNF (although yesterday would still have been a sub 2:10 marathon if he just finished up the last km).
With that said, I still don't see him retiring until at least 2020 for his last shot of Olympics. It's obvious from what has been said by Jos Hermens that he doesn't train to his great potential. If he really wants to do well again, he needs a drastic change in lifestyle with his business not the #1 priority...so i guess we'll see what happens. I'd love to see him race some half-marathons as it seems at this moment he can get by with his half-ass preparations at that distance