On Sat, 30 September 2000, Alan Shank wrote:
> > It's a shame for El G that he won't have quite the place in history his times seem
>to warrant, but then, that's why they run the race. And I wonder if he's on the
>downslope of his talent now, as Morceli was a few years ago.
>
> He's only 26. I would expect that he will bounce back, and possibly improve some
>again. There are World Championships next year.
Let me clarify: I think El G was definitely a bit stale by August and September this
year, but I don't doubt he still has the wheels in him to run at the top. More
important, though, I suspect he may be mentally fried from the pressure of the past
four years, and failing to decisively chuck it in Sydney. The whole thing with the
picture from Atlanta suggests someone who saw only one way out of the box, and that
was to win in Australia.
Now that it didn't happen, I would think he'd have a really tough time staying
motivated at that level for another four years, and if he doesn't think he has a shot
at the gold in Athens, I figure it will be tough to keep it cranked up for the plain
ol' pro circuit, or even the World Champs. The talk about a move to 5000m sounds a lot
like an alternative route out of the box.
- Jay U.
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