Sifan Hassan's nightmare. Almaz Ayana says she's healthy as he "knee surgery went really well" and getting ready for 2020

Banana Bread wrote:

Almaz Ayana is the Bekele of cute girls. I can't wait to see her win gold in the 10,000m and Bekele gold in the thon.

You're going to have a long, long wait to see that.

LetsRun.com wrote:

If both are 100% fit, who wins at 5k?

Who wins at 10k?

https://twitter.com/Ayana_Almaz/status/1189171631601733633

It is not a nightmare. It can only be good for the sport to have these two exceptional athletes challenging each other. The floodgates have opened, and we are in a new era. Did you see the Kenyan woman in Frankfurt – she went out at around 2:11 marathon pace, actually faster than Kosgei, so more women are willing to take risks and go much faster than previously thought.

As for track. Both of them should be close to 14.00/29.00, and actually capable of sub 14/sub 29, which people would have thought ludicrous just a few years ago. Now these two lasses could actually get on most D1 teams in the country.

Yes, Ayana is more of a pace runner (hard pace), but we saw her weakness when she was beaten in the 5000. Hassan can go with any pace and finish very fast, so she is more like Mo Farah in that respect, and my slight favorite. Ayana is more similar to diesel runners like Kamworor and others.

So, actually – that title is actually a misnomer. The fact that we have these two superstars duking it out in the future (if all goes to plan), can only be good for the sport.

"The fact we have these two superstars doping (if all goes to plan) can only be good for the sport."

Fixed.

Sadly I think we may have already seen the best of both athletes. Ayana has had such a tough road with injuries these past few years, and while she can definitely still make a comeback, it's asking a lot to get back to her 2016/17 form where she made the rest of the world look like JV athletes. For Hassan, it's clear that Salazar was able to take her to a different level from where she was before, regardless of whether you want to credit the training or the drugs. It's the same pattern that we've seen with Farah and to a lesser extent Kejelcha, and I have my doubts that another coach will be able to fully replicate this year's success.

However, even at just 85-90 percent of peak fitness, Ayana and Hassan could still be the two best female distance runners on the planet I'd give Ayana the slight edge at 10k and Hassan a larger advantage at 5k, but I just hope this matchup actually happens next year. Both races in Tokyo could be classics. And for what it's worth, I think both of them are plausibly clean.

LetsRun.com wrote:

If both are 100% fit, who wins at 5k?

Who wins at 10k?

https://twitter.com/Ayana_Almaz/status/1189171631601733633

Neither of them! )) Might be my dark horse that will just come and sweeping the carpet with them, lol ))

Very sad that some people (many?) think that Sifan and Ayana are not clean.

Some points.

1. Ayana was tested in Rio and at many other venues during the Olympic year and after.

2. Hassan lives in the Netherlands, a country where opportunistic tests can take place at any time and Sifan always has to report where she is and what she is doing.

With the above in mind, highly unlikely that either of them have done anything untoward.

Let us recognize those two extreme ectormorphs for what they are - the most outstanding female athletes of the present era.

It is sad when people cast doubt on people who run fast, without any solid evidence, or even circumstantial.

Armstronglivs wrote:

If either is clean then Mike Tyson fights by Queensbury Rules.

Oh...C'mon Armstronglivs - you've got to have a favorite here. This could be the race of the 21st century. Give the two young ladies the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the show! ?

Showdown in Tokyo! wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

If either is clean then Mike Tyson fights by Queensbury Rules.

Oh...C'mon Armstronglivs - you've got to have a favorite here. This could be the race of the 21st century. Give the two young ladies the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the show! ?

I would care as much as if it was a showdown between Ben Johnson and Lance Armstrong. Or, if you prefer the same kind of athlete - Ramzi v Kiprop.

Ghost1 wrote:

Very sad that some people (many?) think that Sifan and Ayana are not clean.

Some points.

1. Ayana was tested in Rio and at many other venues during the Olympic year and after.

2. Hassan lives in the Netherlands, a country where opportunistic tests can take place at any time and Sifan always has to report where she is and what she is doing.

With the above in mind, highly unlikely that either of them have done anything untoward.

Let us recognize those two extreme ectormorphs for what they are - the most outstanding female athletes of the present era.

It is sad when people cast doubt on people who run fast, without any solid evidence, or even circumstantial.

Doping is reliably estimated as being 40+% amongst elite athletes. Some estimates by the like of Conte and Heredia put it much higher. 0.5% are caught. Testing clean means nothing.

Ghost1 wrote:

Very sad that some people (many?) think that Sifan and Ayana are not clean.

Some points.

1. Ayana was tested in Rio and at many other venues during the Olympic year and after.

2. Hassan lives in the Netherlands, a country where opportunistic tests can take place at any time and Sifan always has to report where she is and what she is doing.

With the above in mind, highly unlikely that either of them have done anything untoward.

Joking, right?

Armstronglivs wrote:

Showdown in Tokyo! wrote:

Oh...C'mon Armstronglivs - you've got to have a favorite here. This could be the race of the 21st century. Give the two young ladies the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the show! ?

I would care as much as if it was a showdown between Ben Johnson and Lance Armstrong. Or, if you prefer the same kind of athlete - Ramzi v Kiprop.

That was the showdown at Beijing.

Primetime Showdowns wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

I would care as much as if it was a showdown between Ben Johnson and Lance Armstrong. Or, if you prefer the same kind of athlete - Ramzi v Kiprop.

That was the showdown at Beijing.

Then, given time, we may see a similar outcome.

The real question is who would you take over over 5000m. Dibaba, Ayana, or Hassan all in their recent dominant years.

westsouthrunner wrote:

The real question is who would you take over over 5000m. Dibaba, Ayana, or Hassan all in their recent dominant years.

Well Ayana did run a 14:12... if the pacemaker in that race didn't drop out so early, she would have probably broken the 14:11 WR

Hassan only started seriously running the 5k in 2017 and has never been in a race that was an honest WR attempt.

With 8:18 in the 3k and her HM mark, she would certainly have run sub 14:20 if e.g. the DL final in Brussels had had WR pacing. Both DL London and Brussels were more at 14:35-40 pace until the last 3 laps or so.

I am not saying that she would have run WR or better than Ayana, just that 14:22 is certainly not her best possible effort in the 5k.

Hassan, Gidey and Klosterhalfen could all run sub 14:20 next year in an appropriate race, and maybe even get close to the WR.

Jo72 wrote:

Hassan only started seriously running the 5k in 2017 and has never been in a race that was an honest WR attempt.

With 8:18 in the 3k and her HM mark, she would certainly have run sub 14:20 if e.g. the DL final in Brussels had had WR pacing. Both DL London and Brussels were more at 14:35-40 pace until the last 3 laps or so.

I am not saying that she would have run WR or better than Ayana, just that 14:22 is certainly not her best possible effort in the 5k.

Hassan, Gidey and Klosterhalfen could all run sub 14:20 next year in an appropriate race, and maybe even get close to the WR.

No more 5000m in the DL. And Klosterhalfen isn't even in the same class as the other two you've mentioned.

Gidey and Klosterhalfen finished within less than a second of each other in the two races they ran against each other in the last season, so I don't know why they should not be roughly in the same class. (The former is better in the 10k which Koko has never raced but the latter is a much better 1500m runner, she has run 1:59 800m but basically is an Ayana type runner with ~3:56 1500m ability as we will see if she stays healthy.)

No need for DL, as Klosterhalfen ran 14:26 basically on her own (something unprecedented to my knowledge). If she keeps improving, she only needs a pacer for 2k in ~5:42 to get below 14:20 or even close to WR. This could be done at a sub-DL meet in the US, Holland or Germany. (Actually the pacing in the Brussels final was so bad that many middle size meets could provide better, Nike could easily set up something like that, in a pinch her teammate Hull could be one of the pacers.)

If they stick with the stupid decision and do not re-introduce the 5k eventually in the DL, I think we will also see some women running 8:12-15 in the 3k in the next few years.

What a shame we don't still have Chinese runners like we did in the 90's; we would then have a truly level playing field.

sulfurmaker wrote:

Banana Bread wrote:

Almaz Ayana is the Bekele of cute girls. I can't wait to see her win gold in the 10,000m and Bekele gold in the thon.

You're going to have a long, long wait to see that.

..

Instead of a long, long wait (will happen eventually) you apparently meant to say you will be waiting forever (never). In top shape a previous poster is correct Almaz has no equal not even 2019 Siffan in 10000m. Hassan. (2019 fitness)

would only push Almaz (2016 fitness) to sub 29:10 but this current poster is right Eluid would be my pick over The Great Kenenisa (both top fitness) in the marathon 6-4.