Ethiopia Marathon Trials Official Discussion Thread - Bekele Is Protesting His Exclusion, Can He Get in On Appeal?

So, this is fair as much as I am a Bekele fan and being close with his brother Tariku, I feel that this is appropriate because you have these superstars that are selected based off old result. Sure on paper bekele has the fastest time, but if you go solely off time you pick Bekele, Birhanu Legese and moisenet geremew. You neglect the championship running of Lelisa Desisa that included runner up in Boston 2019 and world champ in Doha 2019 wins and New York 2018 wins (prior to pandemic). You neglect shura Kitata sit and kick London 2020 win. There are so many new talents in Ethiopia that are partaking in these marathon trials 35k in sendefa flat at altitude (where they regularly train just outside Addis Ababa). For the women too this is fair as you have Rosa Dereje, ruti aga, and so many that this is the fairest move.

I have a friend who is from Ethiopia. He has confirmed that Bekele's statement is actually an appeal to the federation.

I've added this to the article: We have confirmed that Bekele's statement is an appeal. An Amharic speaker tell us that Bekele is writing to the Ethiopian Athletic federation requesting to participate in Tokyo and added that in the letter he also complains about being left off the Rio team.

#FreeBelele

PS. I think I may start a petition

But when were they told of these trials? In the past Ethiopia only selected based on fastest times so this is a departure from prior precedent. Obviously both methods have their advantages but seems like a last minute decision to hold these trials. The fact that 3 top contenders aren’t competing isn’t great either

They had been told about this months ago, the original Olympic selection had it been 2020 would have had a similar selection process perhaps but more likely would have been based off of 2019-2020 results however 2-3 of the biggest spring selection races had it been 2020 including Boston. And London were cancelled for the spring with pandemic. I am good friends with Lelisa Desisa, and had it been by time criteria , he would be left off of the team, I also regularly FaceTime with Kitata and same would be for him, these are championship style runners with personal bests in 2:04 and in Desisa case was pre carbon plated shoes. And as for the distance, 35 kilometer is good because most coaches over there make 35 kilometer the standard fast long run for marathon training so for those building up for marathons it would not harm so much as running the extra 7.2 kilometers

His appeal will hold no merit as the Ethiopian federation does not have as much transparency as you wish. Bekele can either run the 35k or miss Olympics or try to run the 10k trials in June in hengelo. Besides Feyisa Lelisa Ethiopia has had disappointing showings in the 2012 and 2016 by choosing superstars that already have obligations for fall races should they decide to back off when out of medal contention. 2012 zero top 5 finishes for Ethiopia and 2016 just one of the 3 finished. This is a way to ensure fitness leading in rather than having a dormant Bekele just enter and withdrawal at halfway because he’s tired

Your post confuses me from a logic standpoint? Why would Bekele want to go to the Olympics if he's not in shape and drop out? It does nothing but hurt him. Let's say he's named to the team now, but realizes he's not in shape come June 1st. He'd be way better off skipping the Olympics and continuing to train and getting an appearance fee from a major in the fall and letting someone take his spot. Why in the hell would he want to go to the Olympics not in shape?

Personally, I think they should run a 30k a 4-8 weeks out. It makes no sense to run it in April. You should just have them train assuming they are going to the Olympics and then run a 30k 6 weeks out or something.

If Bekele's not in sh ape, it would show up there or I assume he'd decline his spot anyway. But if he's in shape, let him go. The other guys - if in slightly worse shape - would probably prefer to go to a major and win it and get some much needed $$$ as they are going to be so watered down this fall.

I’m simply saying Bekele should have the same opportunity to qualify as all the other top competitors who want to run. If by the logic of just going solely off of personal best Bekele would get in. But then Desisa would be the 4th or 5th guy on list. That’s the defending world champion in the marathon. Even if they made it 30k, Bekele wouldn’t have ran it. Point is I’m a huge Bekele fan, but this is about fairness. It’s Ethiopia trying to correct their selection process from rio by having trials of sorts. Bekele can run like everyone else or he can not

Frankly, lelisa desisa and Kitata should be at the Olympics. Anyone with a brain knows that them healthy leads to top 3 finishes. I don't know (or care) who the third runner is. Bekele will likely drop out. If he refuses to run the trials then there's either a concern training wise or he's too soft to prove himself. The other 2 appear to be hurt. Otherwise I'd pick either of them over bekele.

desisafan wrote:

I’m simply saying Bekele should have the same opportunity to qualify as all the other top competitors who want to run. If by the logic of just going solely off of personal best Bekele would get in. But then Desisa would be the 4th or 5th guy on list. That’s the defending world champion in the marathon. Even if they made it 30k, Bekele wouldn’t have ran it. Point is I’m a huge Bekele fan, but this is about fairness. It’s Ethiopia trying to correct their selection process from rio by having trials of sorts. Bekele can run like everyone else or he can not

I’m not saying Bekele definitely should get a bye and all competitors with fastest times should go.

Bekele does make some good points and the federation could always take first two from these trials and give him the third spot if he can prove he’s healthy

On that note, I know before his great Berlin marathon, Bekele trained with Desisa. Do you know if they still train together and if Desisa knows if he’s actually healthy?

rojo wrote:

I have a friend who is from Ethiopia. He has confirmed that Bekele's statement is actually an appeal to the federation.

I've added this to the article: We have confirmed that Bekele's statement is an appeal. An Amharic speaker tell us that Bekele is writing to the Ethiopian Athletic federation requesting to participate in Tokyo and added that in the letter he also complains about being left off the Rio team.

#FreeBelele

PS. I think I may start a petition

I spoke to Ethiopian journalist Tefere Debebe tonight and he translated the document for me. I've updated the article extensively with what he told me. Amazing news, Debebe says he thinks Bekele's appeal will be successful.

VIP subscribers, I taped 10 minutes of my chat with Debebe. You can listen to that here:

If Bekele is left off the team, the IAAF need to just add him as a neutral athlete or something. It's a marathon with 180+ entrants, not a track race with a limited field. And this is the last opportunity to see the two fastest marathoners in history throwing down in a championship race - the world NEEDS to see this. It's time for rules to be bent or broken if necessary to get Bekele on that start line. The fact is, there will be people on that start line who ran 2:07-2:10 in 2019 while a person who ran 2:01 in 2019 would be sat at home. It's ridiculous

The only way he can participate as a “neutral” athlete is if he flees Ethiopia, seeks asylum and thereafter applies for the refugee Olympic team…the field for the marathon may reach 180 plus due to the new shoes but it’ll be 180 plus if you combine the men’s and women’s marathons entries

Well then as moisenet geremew is 2;02:39, he can also make the same appeal,,, and then mule wasinun as ranked 3rd by time, so the. Cancel the trials

rojo wrote:

#FreeBelele

lmao rojo... sigh...

desisafan wrote:

Well then as moisenet geremew is 2;02:39, he can also make the same appeal,,, and then mule wasinun as ranked 3rd by time, so the. Cancel the trials

well they are known to be injured so its a bit different right? Bekele's appeal states he is healthy (who knows if that's true)....but if he is it's a different situation than the other two.

Tron wrote:

well they are known to be injured so its a bit different right? Bekele's appeal states he is healthy (who knows if that's true)....but if he is it's a different situation than the other two.

Yeah, personally I'm not siding with Bekele on this. Everyone else who is healthy is running this 35km Trial. There is plenty of time to recover before the Olympics. His recent track record is bad at getting to the line healthy and completing a race. I understand he's got quite a resume but the it's too close to the Olympics argument isn't working for me.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Tron wrote:

well they are known to be injured so its a bit different right? Bekele's appeal states he is healthy (who knows if that's true)....but if he is it's a different situation than the other two.

Yeah, personally I'm not siding with Bekele on this. Everyone else who is healthy is running this 35km Trial. There is plenty of time to recover before the Olympics. His recent track record is bad at getting to the line healthy and completing a race. I understand he's got quite a resume but the it's too close to the Olympics argument isn't working for me.

oh yeah, I'm a big Bekele fan and can see that it's definitely no guarantee given his track record of inconsistency in the marathon.

If it were me, if he can prove he's fit and ready by a certain time he can have spot, and if not i'd give to someone else.

Tron wrote:

oh yeah, I'm a big Bekele fan and can see that it's definitely no guarantee given his track record of inconsistency in the marathon.

If it were me, if he can prove he's fit and ready by a certain time he can have spot, and if not i'd give to someone else.

Agreed with this. I guess let's say the top 2 run pretty clear in this and 3rd/4th have underwhelming performances. I could see them leaving the third spot discretionary, but I'd need to see a 60 minute half or faster from KB in June. That being said if three guys run great here, it's gonna feel very unfair to bump the third-placer.

They screwed him in 2013 so I imagine they will screw him again here. You'd think they would be on the other end of the spectrum, making any excuse to put him in the race based on what he's done for them.

seasoned ranker wrote:

They screwed him in 2013 so I imagine they will screw him again here. You'd think they would be on the other end of the spectrum, making any excuse to put him in the race based on what he's done for them.

yeah, no matter what that journalist told Rojo, I'll believe it when the federation actually puts him on a team