So you think he should set a 10k world record. Pretty bold. We must remember that the half marathon has been dramatically impacted by super shoes. Wanjiru, Z. Tadese, and Kamworor were all phenomenal half marathon runners (all either Olympic marathon champions or World XC champions who were best suited to the half marathon distance) and the fastest they could go before super shoes was 58:20s. The fact that we’ve seen multiple races where the 4th placer runs sub-58 speaks to the benefit that shoe tech offers.
This 10K was finished with a 54.5 last 400 and some faster laps before. It is hard to project how it would’ve gone had it been a time trial, but I certainly think Yomif was closer to his limit in the 5K than here.
Said Aouita is this range GOAT. He has global medals in both the 800m and 5000m. He had world records in the 1500, 2000m, 3000m, 2 mile and 5000m. He also ran 27:26 in the 10k when the world record was 27:13.
Agreed. He is unstable here, but I see a sub 3.30 on a perfect day. And there are clearly other distances to improve (f.ex 2000m) but first and foremost his 10000m (26.31 cannot be his ceiling) -no reason for him to be worse there than Bekele, Geb and Cheptegei (given his half m pb)…
So you think he should set a 10k world record. Pretty bold. We must remember that the half marathon has been dramatically impacted by super shoes. Wanjiru, Z. Tadese, and Kamworor were all phenomenal half marathon runners (all either Olympic marathon champions or World XC champions who were best suited to the half marathon distance) and the fastest they could go before super shoes was 58:20s. The fact that we’ve seen multiple races where the 4th placer runs sub-58 speaks to the benefit that shoe tech offers.
Eliud Kipchoge has demonstrated better "range". He just about matches Kejelcha at the short end: 1500 (3:32.59 vs 3:33.20), but also has his incredible XC and marathon performances that are outside both the range in surface (XC) and distance (marathon) that Kejelcha has even attempted.
He had the 1500m world record indoors, but I don't remember him having the 200m record.
Alltime Athletics.com
Haile did hold the 2000m indoor record. 4:52.86 in 1998, now #3 all time (though maybe worth mentioning, a LOT of guys could have run faster if they’d been so inclined).
Aouita has a case just because his 800 is so good. The 1500 is still a primary aerobic event, and you can get pretty fast with just pure fitness, but the 800 is so anaerobic that it's really really hard to run a fast 800 AND do well at 5k/10k. Even in 3:47 shape I doubt Kejelcha is coming close to 1:44. Maybe 1:46 at best, likely 1:47-1:48.
Aouita could have run 142 or better as well , he got injured when he focused on it. With the 10k, seldom run it is not indicitative (weak).
Fernando Mamede ran the 4x4 and 800m in the olympics.
And got the WR in the 10,000
Mamede I think could not handle heats well, too much fast twitch to recover fully.
Aouita has a case just because his 800 is so good. The 1500 is still a primary aerobic event, and you can get pretty fast with just pure fitness, but the 800 is so anaerobic that it's really really hard to run a fast 800 AND do well at 5k/10k. Even in 3:47 shape I doubt Kejelcha is coming close to 1:44. Maybe 1:46 at best, likely 1:47-1:48.
Aouita could have run 142 or better as well , he got injured when he focused on it. With the 10k, seldom run it is not indicitative (weak).
Fernando Mamede ran the 4x4 and 800m in the olympics.
And got the WR in the 10,000
Mamede I think could not handle heats well, too much fast twitch to recover fully.
you don't get to just assume someone COULD have run a 1:42 OR BETTER. It is much too fickle an event.
it is exceedingly more likely that he COULD NOT have run a 1:42 or better. if nothing else, history has told us this much.
He had the 1500m world record indoors, but I don't remember him having the 200m record.
Alltime Athletics.com
As someone else already pointed he got the 2000m indoor record at 4:52.86 in February of 1998, but also to your comment, he never had the 1500m indoor record. His best indoor 1500m was 3:31.76 in 1998. El G ran 3:31.18 in 1997, so Geb only reached #2 at the time for indoors (5th now.)
Said Aouita is this range GOAT. He has global medals in both the 800m and 5000m. He had world records in the 1500, 2000m, 3000m, 2 mile and 5000m. He also ran 27:26 in the 10k when the world record was 27:13.
Aside from the global medals in the 800m and 5000m, which nobody else has ever done, he was also #1 world ranked at least once in his career in the 800m, 1500m/mile, 3000m, 5000m and 10000m - again, he’s all alone in that category.
The ranking is Aouita, Farah, Geb, and then maybe Kejelcha, IMO.
I expect Farah to be a controversial name here and I am a longtime hater. But his range was incredible, in the sense of being ‘not credible.’ when he ran 3:28 at Monaco it changed the sport. We learned that the combination of elite mid-distance chops and the endurance to hold on through rounds would win distance races. Hassan and Jakob follow the same playbook.
And yes, I think it’s very likely that Mo could have run much faster than 26:46, and would have if anyone had pushed him.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
