Really, what happened Rupp in the last two laps tonight?

Until Rupp does it in an international race?! As in finishing ahead of Kipchoge in his 10K American record? Or outkicking Merga in the Birmingham 5K last summer? Those were not big international races? Yes, he was 3rd and 2nd respectively in those races, but they were top level world class performances.

For this summer, who knows what will happen. I look forward to the action. I actually think Lagat and young Koech have as good a shot at 5K gold as Farah.

The track lost it's surface tension on the last two laps, meaning the last two laps of the race weren't Rupp-approved.

Yesterday was no different than Lebron going 1 for 5 in the fourth quarter in game 2 of a big series. Great players just saving his efforts for later. Remember Rupp still had a 1500m to run. Leave it at that. No excuses, no hate. Give him respect but don't gush over him.

Jee-bus. Lagat is one of the fastest 1500 meter runners in history and even with age slowing him down (not that much) comparing him to Rupp is incredibly unfair. Galen is doing fine. Like the Jenny thread... a bunch of hater a-holes here tonight.

Galen spent too much time on the beach prior to his race, thus had sand in his vagina.

altitude shouldn't be a factor since he's been training in Albuquerque off an on for about a month now.

AlSal's group (Galen included) does training blocks at altitude. I know they go to Park City, UT and other locations so he has lived at (real) altitude.

Also, consider that his first 1600 was 4:10. Given that they were over 5k feet, this is very close to his PR pace. I'm not sure I agree that taking it hard from the gun is the best way to beat Lagat, but hey what do I know.

run with the wom wrote:

Jee-bus. Lagat is one of the fastest 1500 meter runners in history and even with age slowing him down (not that much) comparing him to Rupp is incredibly unfair. Galen is doing fine. Like the Jenny thread... a bunch of hater a-holes here tonight.

There are certainly some posts like that, but I for one was genuinely concerned. I wouldn't have been surprised if Lagat had beaten Rupp solidly in a kick, but I fully believe that Rupp is hands down better than Lomong at the 3K. His 3K wasn't a normal performance for him at all, and I think some people (myself included) were just wondering if anyone had any insight into what went wrong; Rupp completely fell apart at the end of the race, and that's not typical of him at all. But it's nice not to hear any excuses from Salazar's camp (thusfar, anyway)...I think Rupp just had an off day.

Rupp held an even pace with 2 laps to go. He probably could have held it (7:50 low) but he didn't. He got gapped --not by a lot-- and he gave up. That is not going to get it done. Rupp maybe could have closer to Lomong but it didn't happen.

BTW, the Salazar campers have probably already posted. The race was not what they expect and several people indicate they know more about what Rupp was up to than the casual letsrun troll could possible know.

It was good to see Rupp lead a big race, for once in his life. It just didn't work out, but leading is what he needs to try to beat guys like Lagat. Leading and figure out how to take the kick out of someone is what should have happened. Instead, a steady pace is what did Rupp in.

What really happened was that Galen screwed up. The only way that Galen had any chance at all to beat Bernard was to sit and out kick him. Bernard is 37 years old! Old, but his tactics are usually spot on. Did you see the giant kick at the end. That was a game ender. If Centrowitz did the same in the 1500m instead of only pushing an extra gear to pass Galen, he would have never been passed by Leo.

Anyway, Galen decided, I'll go straight to the front, do all the work, at altitude, and when Bernard attempts to pass me, I will be strong enough to hold him off. WRONG.

I mostly blame Alberto. Sal surely wrote the game plan for the day, i.e., drive to the front, push the pace, and the take the kick out of Lagat. Come on.

Lopez Lomong knew exactly what to do. I knew exactly what to do. [And who the hell am I] Galen and Alberto are still strategy lost. And in a freakin' Olympic year no less. Damn!!!

wasnt he just there to collect 25K?

Rupp couldnt close fast because HE SUCKS!!! If SOLINSKY was in the race, he would have beaten rupp AND lagat by half a minute, enough said

Bad race?

Since when is it a bad race when

the top three times are separated by

hundredths of second.

1 Bernard Lagat 7:47.54

2 Lopez Lomong 7:51.75

3 Galen Rupp 7:57.36

From 1 to 3, that's a lot of hundredths of a second, nearly 1000 of them little suckers.

Oops!

Well, he thought he could tire out the AR Holder for the 5k by leading a race at elevation, and then still have enough to outkick the 2nd fastest man in the history of the 1500...I'd say things went perfectly for Rupp

That was a weird performance by Rupp. I think he actually slowed down the last couple laps. In almost all his races he seems to leave fuel in the tank to go as fast or faster in the end, even if leaders are kicking away from him.

But his 2 mile AR speaks for itself so I'm not too worried based on this race. Plus, its freakin February with the ultimate goal obviously being in August. I think there is a plenty of history of great olympic performances where the athlete had a lackluster indoor season.

Galen said, "I just died. It was pretty simple. I just died at the end ... no need to over think it or over complicate it; I just ran out of gas."

Well yeah. That's what happens to the pace-setting rabbit. They dart to the front, set the pace, and run until they're gassed out. The only difference here is that Galen forgot to jump off the track and into the infield. You could even say he got $25,000 for his pacing duties.

VS