Are they, though? wrote:
I think the narrative that Dubai winners are one hit wonders is a bit overblown...
If you look at the past 6 years, you have Desisa (star, 3 WMM titles), Lemi Berhanu (4 marathon wins after Dubai, including Boston, 2nd in Dubai, 4th in NY), Tola (2nd in Worlds, beat Rupp in Prague Half, 3rd in Dubai, 4th in NY) and Geremew, who came 2nd in Chicago last year and won a couple of halfs (beating Karoki in one of them).....Mekonnen and Abera didn't do much after their Dubai wins, but I wouldn't call any of the others one hit wonders
What the OP is referring to is a common observation. Of course it is true Desisa, and Tola have managed to succeed elsewhere( note: I didn't mention the others like Berhanu, Abera or Mekonnen) and certainly the winners there have been quite competitive in other races. But those who finish behind the winner and in the top ten, running 2:04s and low 2:05s have disappeared from the running scene almost immediately. This race is mostly reserved for Ethiopians and just like them, the few Kenyans(Bernard Koech, Jonathan Maiyo) disappeared almost immediately. And even for Desisa and Tola, there PRs are still from Dubai, they have not run faster elsewhere or close to those times.