Would Hagos G have beaten Mo Farah in his prime last night? Closed 26:48 race in 54.4, Farah closed 26:49 race in 55.6

Mo will end this debate when he returns to the track

ex-runner wrote:

Mo will end this debate when he returns to the track

Forgot him?

hahahahahahahaha

Str8 Fax wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

The officials splits showed a sub-13 backstretch.

You can say that about anyone.

You missed this part. Almost nobody runs a sub-13 backstretch in a 5000. If not for Lagat, he'd have been on Mo's shoulder with 100 to go and his faster homestretch would have won it.

I don't know why you insist it's so hard for the bell leader to get passed, when the majority of the time they do.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Str8 Fax wrote:

You can say that about anyone.

You missed this part. Almost nobody runs a sub-13 backstretch in a 5000. If not for Lagat, he'd have been on Mo's shoulder with 100 to go and his faster homestretch would have won it.

I don't know why you insist it's so hard for the bell leader to get passed, when the majority of the time they do.

Okay, but you also seem to be overlooking that one of the advantages of having the lead at the bell (and having the ability to keep it, which is what separated Farah in his prime from the typical runner who takes the lead at the bell and gets passed) is that you avoid these sort of situations like HG ran into with Lagat. If you get to the front and are strong enough to hold it, you don't have to worry about getting caught up in traffic, or having to swing wide, or anything else that could throw you off. As long as you can avoid getting clipped from behind, you run the shortest distance all the way around the track.

epicTCK wrote:

Seyta wrote:Kipchoge was never actually that spectacular on the track.

Kipchoge's 2003 performance is one of, if not the greatest 5000m upset ever. Kipchoge beat the greatest 5000m runner ever, and the greatest miler ever, at a world championship, as a 18 year old. Bekele would go on to run 12:37 the next year, and El G would go on to complete the incredible 1500-5000m double the next year as well. El G already had the 1500m world record, and Bekele had won both the short race and the long race in world XC in 2003 and 2002, and the short race and the u20 race in 2001. At the same championship, Bekele closes a 26:49 10k in 12:57 & 55 last lap, dethroning the great Haile Gebresalassie.

Kipchoge's performance at 2003 WCs defines "spectacular on the track".

While I agree that the 2003 win was probably his high water mark on the track, its hard to discredit the ensuing years, as a group, as much below spectacular. He was consistent, fast and competitive, all while racing 3000-10,000m during the strongest period of time for those events. KB was reigning supreme with his lieutenants close behind , El G finishing his career, Lagat moving up in distance and Mo coming onto the scene, along with countless other fast guys in the mix.

Looking back, in his prime:

In 2003 he also won both IAAF 5000m races on either end of his Paris win.

In 2004 he won all four IAAF 3000/5000m races he entered, including a 7:27 win and his 12:46 ahead of Sihine, Birhanu and Gebre to win, and took the bronze behind El G and KB in Athens.

In 2005 he was 1st or 2nd in his regular IAAF 3000m/5000m races, but then 4th at the WC

He was pretty much always in the mix and didn't really have a "bad" race from 2003-2009, besides a couple medicore placings in his final 3000m races of the seasons. He ran sub-7:32 eight times, sub-12:55 nine times, and sub-13:03 twenty four times (more than all Americans combined). For contemporaries comparison: Lagat ran sub-7:32 THREE times, and sub-13:03 SIX times

Bad Wiggins, don't try to manipulate the thread to make your argument sound valid. You need to understand something here. Tactics is what wins races. Being at the front of the pack with 400 meters to go when you have one of the best kicks in the field is how you win a race. The "you can say that about anyone" statement I said was in response to you saying "if he had the lead going into the bell lap, he would've won". Well, he didn't. "if it werent for lagat, he would've been on Mo's shoulder". Well, bad positioning. If him and Mo swapped positions, it's very unlikely that Mo would've won the race. Hence why tactics are important in racing. Mo put himself in a much better position to win the race.

And yes, passing the bell lap leader is extremely difficult. Does it happen? Yes it does. It generally takes a heroic effort or some sort of mind blowing finish to do so. An example includes Mo outkicking Ndiku to win the 5k in 2015. Ndiku had the lead, but forced Mo to run a 1:47 last 800 to get him. 52 second last lap.

In Athens 2004, Lagat had a better back stretch than El G and whipped right onto his shoulder in the last 100. Did he win? No. El G held him off with a 52 second last lap. Would've taken a 51.xx to get him. Hope this explanation helps you understand haha.

+1

Kipchoge was nothing less than spectacular on the track.

Mo had mind control over the field. Hagos G would have been battling for 2nd in the Mo Farah era.

ex-runner wrote:

Mo will end this debate when he returns to the track

You think Mo wants any piece of the 4-6 Ethiopians who are demonstrably faster than he is at 5,000 and probably 10,000? What about that Hengelo race doesn’t scream Ethiopian Team Tactics (ala 2003-2005)?

Nevermind Rhonex, Cheptegei, and Paul Chelimo (in the 5k)?

Mo was beaten outright in his last Championship track race. He can’t be feeling invincible after his good, but very mortal marathon campaign.

You think he’s just gonna line up and take away these guys’ medals?

Farah is done. He ran during a weak era. And he got out at the exact right moment (well, one race too long, but he'd be getting smeared the last year or so).

FFF wrote:

Farah is done. He ran during a weak era. And he got out at the exact right moment (well, one race too long, but he'd be getting smeared the last year or so).

I agree with your post EXCEPT the part about one race too long. Mo won a silver medal in that 5000m race to go along with his 10000m gold, which was hard earned in a 26:49 effort.

It was the 10k in 2011 (correction ) that Jeilan beat him.

Runners gave Farah too much respect. But I always felt that anyone who took him on with 3 or 2 laps to go wd hv had a gd short to beat him. What the 2011, 10k race showed is although his closing 400m was always very good, if you took him out from much farther, he was vulnerable. Unfortunately, Kamworor who was supposed to be his rival didnt hv any closing kick. And no 1500m specialists were coming over to the 5k or 10k (Lagat or El Guerrouj type). Jeilan basically hunted him down for 600 -800m and passed him in the last 100-50m. Unfortunately like many African runners, Jeilan's injuries got mismanaged, healed badly that very soon he cdnt finish more than a few races in a single season. Their rivalry wd have been good or the sport. So basically, dont allow him to set the pace for the race, cos he sets a pace that allows him to save himself for the final 400m, and then take him out earlier than he planned. The 2017 5k, he had no control of it at all and that's why he lost it. The guys didn't allow him to determine when the final sprint took off.

Dherer wrote:

FFF wrote:

Farah is done. He ran during a weak era. And he got out at the exact right moment (well, one race too long, but he'd be getting smeared the last year or so).

I agree with your post EXCEPT the part about one race too long. Mo won a silver medal in that 5000m race to go along with his 10000m gold, which was hard earned in a 26:49 effort.

This one respectable (read: difficult) effort cost him the final medal. That says a lot. The field finally caught up to Mo and they made him work.

As said above, he’s not jumping back into the current feeding frenzy. Barega, Rhonex, Gebrhewit, Cheptegei, etc. aren’t afraid of Mo.