This is what Farah needs to do if he ever wants to mix it up with Kipchoge

It would be cool to see him again. Tokyo could be gold for Bekele, Silver for Mo and Bronze for Kipchoge. All the other 2:02-2:04 guys are just flash in the pans. They appear out of nowhere because they train and dope their whole lives, and because they never raced before they don't have to worry about testing. Then they enter their first race in their late 20's but pretend to be a junior otherwise it would be suspicious that their first race was so late in life. They do a fast race but now they need to cut down their dosage otherwise they could be catched because they are now in the testing pool. Look at Adola. Also look at Tola who was over a minute behind Mo in London although he ran course record in Dubai in 2017. These guys are just coming and going. It will just be Bekele, Mo and Kipchoge we will be following for the next few years.

So some world class runner is going to waste 10 years of his career doing PEDs and training, while living in poverty, just so he could falsely claim to be a junior? Sure.

Kipchoge is the GOAT and has a significant edge on everyone else right now. He will lose in Tokyo only if he suddenly shows signs of aging. It would be 50/50 that Bekele would DNF and Mo is unlikely to ever be good enough to medal in the marathon.

Wouldn't rule out a medal for Farah in 2020. He will probably never run 2:03/2 but the Olympic gold will be won in a time much slower than this.

Despite a very early start time it will be hot and humid, there won't be any pacemakers so expect a slow first half; then the race gets into the area where Farah is at his best - the half marathon and below.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

and Mo is unlikely to ever be good enough to medal in the marathon.

Um, what? Rupp medaled in the marathon, and Farah is better than him.

Didn't you guys read the news? Mo Farah said the best way for him to win the marathon is to wait for Kipchoge to retire. I think that's his best option!

Can Bekele even qualify for the Olympics? There are so many other Ethiopians faster than him.

milermb wrote:

Wouldn't rule out a medal for Farah in 2020. He will probably never run 2:03/2 but the Olympic gold will be won in a time much slower than this.

Despite a very early start time it will be hot and humid, there won't be any pacemakers so expect a slow first half; then the race gets into the area where Farah is at his best - the half marathon and below.

Better correct that to 10k and below. I seem to remember Bekele manhandling him fairly easily over the half marathon.

I agree that Farah is a very good contender for a medal in Tokyo, as sit in kick is his thing. However, as a four-time gold medalist, I don't think Farah should or will be satisfied with just a medal. I just think it would be great to see him go for GOAT status and give it a real go at taking down Kipchoge. And that would require a lot more for him.

Farah is 100% unwelcome in the Salazar group.

Bekele will be in Tokyo because Ethiopia will pick him off his experience and PRs. Remember.... he DID run 203 in the last 2 years, still owns the world record for 5000 and 10,000 , is Olympic champ in 5k, and 10k (twice)

per Farah beating kipchoge.... will never happen. Rio was hot and humid(not as hot as tokyo) and no one came close. No chance EK loses unless he actually gets hurt before hand and cannot race.... which , looking at Haile G as an example, the greatest can win their event being hurt and missing training. Ie 96 and 00 olympics

bekele G wrote:

Bekele will be in Tokyo because Ethiopia will pick him off his experience and PRs. Remember.... he DID run 203 in the last 2 years, still owns the world record for 5000 and 10,000 , is Olympic champ in 5k, and 10k (twice)

per Farah beating kipchoge.... will never happen. Rio was hot and humid(not as hot as tokyo) and no one came close. No chance EK loses unless he actually gets hurt before hand and cannot race.... which , looking at Haile G as an example, the greatest can win their event being hurt and missing training. Ie 96 and 00 olympics

They left him off the 2016 Olympic team despite winning what was supposed to be their Trials 10000m. They won't let him anywhere near the Tokyo Olympic squad.

Well on Wikipedia it says that Salazar said the breakup was mutual and that he would be happy to advise Farah in the future.

Op, you spelled “needs more epo” wrong

Needs to do a Seb Coe and start ducking the competition. Just do Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Fukuoka etc. Easy wins for him and it would be better for him to set up the pacers to go 2:04.

OPhere wrote:

Well on Wikipedia it says that Salazar said the breakup was mutual and that he would be happy to advise Farah in the future.

If you've ever broken up with someone or been jilted, you'll remember that rarely is it mutual.

I would have to say to 'Banana Bread' that this certainly seems like one of the formulas that is most likely used by Kenyans. There are other formulas that are used most likely, also. The main question is why is Kenya (and Ethiopia) allowed to even compete in IAAF and Olympic events with their "absurd" (or non-existent) testing situation in both countries that has gone on for years and years and years and years and years! By allowing this to go on, the IAAF and Olympic organizations actually promote and encourage the continuation of the absurd (or non-existent) testing along with the corruption and cheating attitudes and behavior.

Good point. I would say though at the very least he needs one or two training partners that are just about as good as him (2:06 or below), plus a more traditional setup where he won't get caught up in nonsense antics like in Ethiopia. Ideally, in my opinion, that would be back with NOP, where he had all of his success really, though I realize that might not be point. The most important thing I think, though, is to have better training partners. Look at Kipchoge, he's got a super strong group with guys like Kamworor to push him, and he's free from distractions like the ones Mo's been dealing with.

"100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team." - Eliud Kipchoge

This is dumb. Bekele is done and even if he does get to the 2020 olympics I doubt he would even finish and I would guarantee he doesn’t medal.

The Bekele disciples won't give up easily. Unless he rededicates to himself and gets better training and a better team around him, he won't be winning any other medals. He has all sorts of problems. Poor injury recovery, etc. May be he shd head over to NOP or to Kenya at Kipchoge's to get back into a serious running lifestyle. There are many Ethiopians currently running the marathon better than him.

By the way, Geremew and Kitata are the real deal.