The 12 Greatest African Athletes in Order

Bekele... 5k adn 10k world records, 10k OG, has DOUBLED at world xc the last 4 years in a row.

El G... one world record, the first guy to win 1500/5k OG's ever? or in recent memory at least (nurmi i guess)

tough call... i'd go with bekele though just for his sheer dominance in XC.

both i would think need to be higher than 5/6 just for their sheer domiannce, but then again all those guys higher than them were dominant.

Ur an idiot. REALLY!!

name ur list instead of calling me an idiot.

How about this ? Bekele is # 4

Rank First Name Last Name Country

1 Kipchoge Keino - Kenya

2 Haile Gebraiselaise - Ethopia

3 Henry Rono - Kenya

4 Kenenesia Bekele - Ethopia

5 Said Aouita - Morrocco

6 Hicham El Guerroudj - Morrocco

7 Paul Tergat - Kenya

8 Daniel Komen - Kenya

9 Moses Kiptanui - Kenya

10 Noureddine Morceli - Algeria

11 Wilson Kipketer - Kenya (now Dane)

12 Noah Ngeny - Kenya

you're nuts if you think Morceli should go after Tergat, Komen, and Kiptanui. He's had a better winning streak, more WR's and more championship golds.

noah ngeny?

why not put anyone who's ever medaled on there then

actually i take that back - Tergat does have a crapload of XC wins, so it would be close. Probably give Tergat the slight nod given his range and the XC wins though he never won gold in a track championship.

Id revise your list a little but the right athletes are there.

1. Haile Gebrsellasie ETH

2. Hicham El Guerrouj MOR

3. Henry Rono KEN

4. Paul Tergat KEN

5. Said Aoutia MOR

6. Kenenisa Bekele ETH

7. Nourredine Morceli ALG

8. Wilson Kipketer KEN

9. Kip Keino KEN

10. Abebe Bikila ETH

11. Milion Wolde ETH

12. Gezahenge Abera ETH

Geb should be at the top of this list almost no matter what. Henry Rono is 3 because although his career was short its agreed upon that he was maybe one of the greatest talents ever. Bekele is 6 Because he has 2 World Records and a gold Medal, but will continue with his dominance, and could be 1 a few years from now. Keino is 9 because he was the first dominant Kenyan and claimed 2 gold's but the talent pool of other africans was not as deep at the time. Milion Wolde won gold in the marathon is 68 right? I always liked him for some reason. I put Abera down in 12 because he was always a great strategist and could straight up win races when it counted, (ex: Sydney 2000, Edmonton 2001, London 2003).

why the hell would you put El G 5th?

1 or 2, no lower

Rank First Name Last Name Country

1. Kipchoge Keino - KEN

2. Haile Gebraiselaise - ETH

3. Henry Rono - KEN

4. Kenenesia Bekele - ETH

5. Said Aouita - MOR

6. Hicham El Guerroudj - MOR

7. Paul Tergat - KEN

8. Noureddine Morceli - ALG

9. Daniel Komen - KEN

10. Moses Kiptanui - KEN

11. Wilson Kipketer - KEN (DEN)

12. Abebe Bekila - ETH

I'd put Kipketer over Komen - he's had a much longer and more successful career. I'd also put Kiptanui over Komen now that I think about it. Komen's lack of an Olympics and one real championship gold kind of hurt him.

aoutia over el gerrouj? how is that?

Some things I notice: First, the thread doesn't limit this to track & field athletes, but since that's the domain of this website and that's the scope of the original poster's list, I can accept that limitation. Second, why does everyone act as though Africa has only had distance runners? I would submit that John Aki-Bua (I think I misspelled that) and Frank Fredericks, at least, belong on any such list. Third, why only men? How about Maria Mutola? Finally, I think that older guys who aren't Kenyan, such as Mamo Wolde and Emile Puttemans, deserve some mention, too.

Ghost of Ashenfelter wrote:

Finally, I think that older guys who aren't Kenyan, such as Mamo Wolde and Emile Puttemans, deserve some mention, too.

I'm an idiot. I meant Mohammad Gammoudi (Algerian), not Puttemans (Belgian).

Unless it is a men's only list I would include Derartu Tulu in there. Before Tergat.

And Yifter the Shifter!

Ghost of Ashenfelter wrote:

Some things I notice: First, the thread doesn't limit this to track & field athletes, but since that's the domain of this website and that's the scope of the original poster's list, I can accept that limitation. Second, why does everyone act as though Africa has only had distance runners? I would submit that John Aki-Bua (I think I misspelled that) and Frank Fredericks, at least, belong on any such list. Third, why only men? How about Maria Mutola? Finally, I think that older guys who aren't Kenyan, such as Mamo Wolde and Emile Puttemans, deserve some mention, too.

ok let's call this thread: Greatest Male African Distance Runners of All Time

The original list is a pretty good one. People who are dissing Kip Keino don't understand his huge impact on the sports world, he was a legend back then and still is in Kenya. I think the top 6 is good, except maybe put Morceli ahead of Bekele, and Abebe Bekila MUST be higher. I'm not sure how popular Morceli was/is in his home country, which I think factors into an athlete's "legendary" status, whereas I know Bekele is a god in Ethiopia, so I'm not sure. Then, the list gets a little fishy. Komen should not be up there, I'm sorry. He set a couple of world records and won one world title. Give me a break. Ahead of Abebe Bekila, who was the first EVER gold medalist from Africa, won TWO golds back to back in the marathon, AND set the marathon world record? Bekila destroys Komen. In summary - knock Komen off the list, knock Tergat down some, put Morceli up some, and put Bekila third and you have a helluva list.

I was trying to think of the 10 greatest, T&F, CC, Road Runners and Marathoner from African and decided to write them down and that was my list of 12. (I could not decide on only 10.) I was hoping to what names and in what order other lists from other

www.letsrun.com

web-page visitors and would have and to compare with mine.

As you all know all Kenyans will lead their list with either Kipchoge Keino or Henry Rono, all Ethiopians will lead their list with either Haile Geb~ or Ken~ Bekele.

Likewise Algerians will say Noureddine Morceli needs to be at the top, and Moroccans will either have El G or Said Aouita as first. Mozambique and Namibia will have Marie Mutola ( although she is female) and Frankie Fredricks respectively.

The question now is what do the letsrun.com fans say.

Here is my list again.

Rank First Name Last Name Country

1. Kipchoge Keino - KEN

2. Haile Gebraiselaise - ETH

3. Henry Rono - KEN

4. Kenenesia Bekele - ETH

5. Said Aouita - MOR

6. Hicham El Guerroudj - MOR

7. Paul Tergat - KEN

8. Noureddine Morceli - ALG

9. Daniel Komen - KEN

10. Moses Kiptanui - KEN

11. Wilson Kipketer - KEN (DEN)

12. Abebe Bekila - ETH