This on is just tooo easy.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Geb only did the double once (in 1993, NOT 1995, and he got SILVER in the 5.
Get your facts straight) because it's too damn hard. He had to run his ass
off to beat Tanui in the 10,000 (after Chelimo pushed the pace) and then had
to come back in the most amazing 5000 of all time. Kirui threw in a 4:02
1600
in the middle of the damn race! That's why no one doubles anymore. It's that
simple.
A: Right, I agree no one doubles anymore because it is just too hard that
is what I am saying. If you believe that the races are harder than the 70's
that is up to you. But, the best guys in the 70's were at 27:30-50. Now
the best guys are at 26:22-27:00 ... they can tolerate much faster races.
And, every 10k Olympic champion has had to run "their ass off" to win
excepting Cova in 1984.
And, yes that was a hard 5k. What was it that allowed those guys to make
such a quantum leap from the past chamionship 5k's? I don't think it was
that they are all trying harder.
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Sure, anyone could've doubled at the 1983 Worlds. The races were won in
around 28:00 and 13:25. The Kenyans would never let the races go that slow
anymore (okay, they did in the 5 in Sydney, but those were not the top
kenyans).
A; How would they know ahead of time that the races would be slow? I
guess, with this foresight Tergat should have run the Olympic 5k this year,
and a bunch of other guys should have too? What is different about Kenyans
in 1983 vs. 2000 that makes them only push the pace now, but not before? Oh
... OK ... I guess only the "top" Kenyans run smartly.
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Who wants to double when you have Paul Kipkoech running the second half of
the 1987 Worlds 10K in 13:25? Who's gonna run all those rounds when Ngugi
throws in a 58 in Seoul?
A: Answer, no one wants to. That is what I have been saying all along.
Nobody wants to because they can't recover in time for the next race like
they could in the 70's/80's. What was it that let Kipkoech run faster in
his 2nd 5k (in Rome) than he could run in the Helsinki and LA 5k's? What
was it that let heretofore UNKNOWN Ngugi surge a 58 lap in 1988? Warning: I
am seeing another correlation here.
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Championship distance races are a whole new ballgame now with the true rise
of the Africans. Martii Vainio would be getting dropped at halfway in the
10,000 now. That's why there's no one doubling!!!!
A: They are a whole new ball game and Vainio would be right up there with
everyone else (if he was 26 years old) because he would be on EPO also. He
was on a lot of drugs (he admitted) but he definitely did not have the
benefit of EPO in 1978, 83, or 84.
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As an aside, Stephane Franke doubled in Atlanta. He's the last guy I can
remember doing it.
A: Franke has been publicly accused of EPO use. Does his doubling four
years ago support or knock down my theory? He is not a top runner. He did
not medal in either race. I am sure that several men and women double in
every Championship ... but the point was: "Why have the TOP RUNNERS not
been able to pull it off? Why are they dissuaded from even attempting it
when 16 to 28 years ago men were unquestionably successful at it.
It seems to me you are saying that the races are too fast/too intense to
recover enough to run the 5k after fighting it out in the 10k.
I'll agree with that ... I just think that this idea is correct for a
different reason.
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McEwen, you have to remember that a correlation doesn't necesarrily show a
connection. When you see 1987, you see EPO. Whem more astute observers see
that year, they see the true rise of the Kenyans.
sideshow
A: Hmmmm ... You have pointed out another correlation for me ... "the true
rise of the Kenyans" occurred in 1987 you say ...
I'll leave this alone, commenting on that seems to rile people up really
seriously.
