Yep, had Bekele been more CONSISTENT in the thon this wouldn’t even been a debate. However this past decade of overall thon performances compared to his XC/track ones has put a bad taste in the mouth.
He’s the best distance decathlete. By that his combination of track, XC, and marathon performances together. However, he was not the best individual in track, XC, or marathoner.
Best XC = Paul Tergat (dominate for many many years)
Best Track = Geb (His 2000 10k gold against Tergat is one of the greatest track performances of any event. Bekele didn’t have to face the level of Tergat in the 10k and he did lose to El G in the 5k.)
Best Thon = Kipchoge (no need to explain)
Best combination of all three = Bekele
Tergat won five gold medals in the XC long race. Bekele won 6, and an additional five in the short race. Surely that would make him the XC GOAT?
In the 90s XC was much more competitive. By the 2000s it was watered down with most moving to focus on winning all the big marathon money. Track became and continued to be watered too because of the marathon money.
Tergat won five gold medals in the XC long race. Bekele won 6, and an additional five in the short race. Surely that would make him the XC GOAT?
In the 90s XC was much more competitive. By the 2000s it was watered down with most moving to focus on winning all the big marathon money. Track became and continued to be watered too because of the marathon money.
Wrong. That’s not reality. It’s revisionist history and delusion. The best runners of the last 30 years - Bekele, Geb, Tergat, Farah, and Kipchoge - all moved to the marathon after they slowed down on the track.
People turn to the marathon when they are too old or too slow for track. Look at Yehualaw. She couldn’t make Ethiopia’s 10k team for the world championships this year, but she can dominate the marathon.
Kipchoge is a bigger name to the general public and has "transcended" the sport because the marathon is the world's largest participation medal hobby where you can still feel good about yourself running mediocre times. Actual track running distances are meant for the athletically gifted and most people realize they're genetically inferior by the time they're in middle/high school so have no interest in it outside the Olympics.
Kipchoge is a bigger name to the general public and has "transcended" the sport because the marathon is the world's largest participation medal hobby where you can still feel good about yourself running mediocre times. Actual track running distances are meant for the athletically gifted and most people realize they're genetically inferior by the time they're in middle/high school so have no interest in it outside the Olympics.