ETHIOPIA marathon team goes home DEVASTATED

Steve The Addict^^^^^^^------- wrote:

These guys just want a major race payday. The Olympics don't mean anything to them. When you come from extreme poverty, your values are different. Sad but true.

“in what’s being called the greatest marathon in world history, Ethiopia’s Katata ran down reining champion Kipchoge in the last 5K to take the Olympic gold medal. Today has been declared a national holiday in Ethiopia as 2 million people turned out to receive the great hero in Addis Ababa in what’s now being called Katata Square, where a statue will eventually be placed. When asked by a “journalist” from Let’s Run dot Com if he wouldn’t have preferred to run for a payday in New York, Katata replied “Are you out of your freaking mind?” Laughs resonated around the room.

Moo G wrote:

I don't know if Bekele would have done any different. He has a history of dropping out too.

Believe me he would. He would have won. World record incoming @ Berlin.

Shura Kitata and Lelisa Desisa are both good friends of mine. I regularly facetime with them to discuss training and life. Desissa was very fit going into the race and well as anyone was in a field with 76 finishers of 150 starters can tell you it was beyond hot and humid. 1 out of 2 entrants dropped out. Desisa made it to about 35k before it became just too much. Shura Kitata had some hamstring pain that developed as evidenced by him grabbing his leg at 9k in the video. Kitata is 24 years old and has such a strong future in the sport.

Lelisa Desisa

2x Boston Marathon Winner (twice runner up)

1 x nyc marathon winner (podium multiple times)

DUBAI MARATHON WINNER in first marathon ever

Doha World Champion

I think desisa has proven his ability to perform!

Kitata wanted nothing more than to win a gold medal for his country and unfortunately tokyo wasnt the race for him to do so. If you are a fan of an athlete you admire them on their good days as well as their bad.

^Wow. Thank you for this first-hand account.

youre welcome.

Do you have any insight into what kind of shape Kenenisa Bekele was in? Weren't they all training together at some point?

It is true that E. Africans will DNF in the Olympics if they are not in contention for a medal. In 2016, 2/3 Kenyans DNFed. In 2012, the entire Ethiopian team DNFed. This is simply a function of the fact that the OG marathon is not a race with deep prize money, appearances fees and all the politics of race directors and agents. So, E. Africans know that coming in 8th or 9th isn't worth the risk of injury and long recovery period and there are no implications for dropping out. Business is business for E. African marathoners.

broadview joe wrote:

Those trials were about three months ago, about two weeks after Kipchoge's spring marathon.

1/5, I believe for ethiopian trials.

11/4, for NN mission marathon.

no i do not....

But, desisa and kitata were in terrific shape

Bekele must be thanking his lucky stars he wants picked for this race. He'd have dropped before 30k. His stature has grown more in his absence than if he'd have lined up and got roasted by Bashir Abdi. This way, there's also still interest in the Kipchoge-Bekele showdown

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

no i do not....

But, desisa and kitata were in terrific shape

Terrific shape?

They never were a factor in that race.

They were in terrific shape, they had bad days

Are you a 2:04 marathoner?

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

They were in terrific shape, they had bad days

Are you a 2:04 marathoner?

Kipchoge was in terrific shape.

The three Ethiopians were on a terrible level, they were useless.

They were a waste of space, they robbed us from seeing Bekele one more time.

I curse these tomato cans for ruining the Kipchoge-Bekele match up.

Lion heart wrote:

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

They were in terrific shape, they had bad days

Are you a 2:04 marathoner?

Kipchoge was in terrific shape.

The three Ethiopians were on a terrible level, they were useless.

They were a waste of space, they robbed us from seeing Bekele one more time.

I curse these tomato cans for ruining the Kipchoge-Bekele match up.

Ok there keyboard warrior, Perform on the level that Desisa or Kitata have and then get back to me..... Clearly youre someone in your moms basement just trolling. Bekele is great but rules are rules regarding selection.

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

Lion heart wrote:

Kipchoge was in terrific shape.

The three Ethiopians were on a terrible level, they were useless.

They were a waste of space, they robbed us from seeing Bekele one more time.

I curse these tomato cans for ruining the Kipchoge-Bekele match up.

Ok there keyboard warrior, Perform on the level that Desisa or Kitata have and then get back to me..... Clearly youre someone in your moms basement just trolling. Bekele is great but rules are rules regarding selection.

Kenya did not ask Kipchoge to go through selections.

Jeanbon wrote:

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

Ok there keyboard warrior, Perform on the level that Desisa or Kitata have and then get back to me..... Clearly youre someone in your moms basement just trolling. Bekele is great but rules are rules regarding selection.

Kenya did not ask Kipchoge to go through selections.

Kenya is not ethiopia! USA Does trials. Ethiopia started trials this year. It is a fair process

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

Jeanbon wrote:

Kenya did not ask Kipchoge to go through selections.

Kenya is not ethiopia! USA Does trials. Ethiopia started trials this year. It is a fair process

Trial is bad when you don't pick your best guy.

Kenya has gold, Ethiopia has nada.

Understand ?

Jeanbon wrote:

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

Kenya is not ethiopia! USA Does trials. Ethiopia started trials this year. It is a fair process

Trial is bad when you don't pick your best guy.

Kenya has gold, Ethiopia has nada.

Understand ?

Desisa and Kitata are two of the best... Thats why they won the trials. They had bad days running,

Keyboard Warrior, do you understand that you have NADA

Hatersgonnahate123 wrote:

Jeanbon wrote:

Trial is bad when you don't pick your best guy.

Kenya has gold, Ethiopia has nada.

Understand ?

Desisa and Kitata are two of the best... Thats why they won the trials. They had bad days running,

Keyboard Warrior, do you understand that you have NADA

I understand that Kitata and Desisa have not finished and were dropped by the leading pack very easily.

Everybody would have rather see Bekele than these two guys. He could not have done worse. He could have done much better.

What is your problem at understanding that? Ethiopia failed miserably at the marathon.