Team running maybe be legal but there has to be a fair attempt to complete the race. He can't just run two laps and drop out. Otherwise he will be penalized since his spot in the race could have gone to real competitor.
@SonNative Bullshit. Fire hydrants are able to direct water while international1ify can't spit without drooling all over his sad-ass self. So get your facts straight. :)
Right, I'm the idiot because I notice that no contemporary runners could even touch any of the top 5 runners in this race. No one can get close to the times they ran in the widespread epo era. You all can't seriously believe none of the three medalists weren't doped out of their minds. EPO could not be tested for at this time!!!
@International1ify On that assumption, you'd have to say that Ovett, Coe and Cram were doped out of their minds too. No british runners have come anywhere near those times since.
Wow, 54.14 1st 400m! Then a 60.5? Then a 7 man race with 2 to go. 2:51 for 1200m. WOW. Great lesson to the youngsters. Don't lead early. Olympic Record. .runsub4.com
@kozmon0t You can have your views, but many would pick Hicham as their top runner, just based on his times alone, something Ngeny never came close, but also how he took defeat with humility and determination. Morcelly was good, Aouita was better I think, my favourite was Ovett, but I think Hicham tops all of them.
@brianclough I think a 3.43.40 mile is pretty damn close, especially for a 3rd-lap rabbit who decides to stay in the race and almost wins. If Ngeny hadn't been injured, the mile would be 3.42 by now.
Hicham's times aren't dominant enough for lasting greatness, they're barely ahead of Lagat's and Ngeny's. Only Aouita consistently beat everybody. But Ngeny made the greatest performance of all in the mile WR race. And this race is still the OR.
@kozmon0t Forgive me, but this post is nonsensical. Hicham's times are the most "dominant" mile times since the onset of the IAAF: they have lasted over a decade, far longer than any mile time in history. Hicham has also run seven of the top ten times in both the 1500m and the mile, as well as more sub 3:30/ sub 3:50 clockings in history.
@kozmon0t "they're barely ahead of Lagat's and Ngeny's" Rubbish. Ngeny, Lagat, Baala, and Cacho are four of the fastest men in the history of the 1500m, they all ran their best times when finishing second to El Guerrouj. None of these athletes have ever run as fast as 3:28 in races without El Guerrouj; Hicham pulled them to the fast times.
@kozmon0t "If Ngeny hadn't been injured, the mile would be 3.42 by now" Again, rubbish. Ngeny only ran once under 3:45, and it was in that race won by El G. El G has run 3:43, plus several 3:44, 3:45. Check out the all-time lists. No one in the last decade has come even close to touching El G's dominance.
And need I remind you that El G beat Ngeny on ten occasions prior to this final and beat all of the top milers of his generation.
If you saw a college sophomore run 3:43.40, you'd be a fool not to expect 3:42's within 10 years. I'd be expecting 3:41's. Milers don't peak at 20 - unless they suffer injuries that ruin their careers.
El Guerrouj was simply lucky Ngeny never got the chance to develop his astonishing talent. He'd have been surpassed, just as he surpassed Morceli.
@kozmon0t Again, your ignorance shows. How many 1:54s did Pamela Jelimo run after age 19? How many world championships did Eliud Kipchoge win after his WC win in 2003 as an 18 year old? How many sub-12:50s/ sub 7:25s did Daniel Komen run after 1998? Just because these young Kenyans ran extroardinary times as 18-21 year olds does NOT mean that they will have long, consistent careers.
@kozmon0t This is all speculative. Ngeny was a great athlete for sure, but you can't just assume he'd achieve all these things. I reiterate that Ngeny only ran his best times while chasing and finishing 2nd to El Guerrouj; just that year, before the Olympics, El Guerrouj and Ngeny raced twice: London (one mile) El Guerrouj first in 3:45.96, Ngeny 3:47.67; Zurich (1500m) El Guerrouj first in 3:27.21 (7th fastest all-time), Ngeny second in 3:28.12. El G = #1, need more proof?
@YiftertheShifter1 Those races are exactly why El Guerrouj lost the Olympics. You don't waste all your fast times on the Euro circuit in an Olympic year. If he was really that great, he'd have had the sense not to do it.
Ngeny set the 1000 wr with nobody named Hicham in the race.
@kozmon0t Absurd. Ngeny set his personal best on the Euro circuit during this Olympic year (in Zurich). El G didn't lose simply because he wanted some tune-up races to show that he was in great form coming to the Olympics- he lost simply because he wasn't at his best (this was a month or so removed from Zurich, a month which his coaches describe El G seriously overtraining) and Ngeny was better on the day.
@kozmon0t "If he was really that great, he'd have had the sense not to do it." So, if he was really that great, he would just run slow times and get beaten by Ngeny and any other top miler on the circuit. Is that what you're saying? There's a reason El G won every 1500m race between Atlanta and Sydney; there's a reason that he only lost 5 races at 1500m/mile between 1996 to 2004. Does Ngeny have one year like Hicham's seven? Didn't think so. Hicham #1
@kozmon0t@YiftertheShifter1 Sorry, like Hicham's NINE. Nine years at the top of the mile/ 1500m. And don't give me that Ngeny was too young, Hicham was 21 years old when he began to dominate the event. In fact, we still haven't talked about indoor times. Who has held the 1500m/ mile world records since 1997 (plus two world championships to boot)? El G. Case closed.
@YiftertheShifter1 Why did you even bother arguing with Kozmon0t? Waste of time arguing with someone who thinks Ngeny was better than El G. I will have to point out though that it is highly likely Ngney was older than his stated age. I believe Brother
Colm O' Connel has said that he was about 5-6 years older than he said he was and on a Letsrun thread a while back Renato Canova (assuming you know who he is) said that Eliud Kipchoge was born around 1975-1976. Cheers!
@7agneskickingbird7 I argued to put him and similar-minded people in their place. I don't really buy much into the age discrepancies; the point I make is that some athletes never improve after a certain performance, so it's useless to describe what a person could've run based on statistics gathered at, say, age 20. In other words, running times don't follow a straight trajectory! And yes, I know Mr. Canova, he's one of the world's most renowned coaches of distance runners.
@YiftertheShifter1 Just curious, if you had to say, bet your life savings on whether El G
was doped or not, what would you say? He was still very talented, but the fact that he was from Morocco and then when Kaouch who was his rabbit for many races was caught when better testing came out have to make me believe it is likely he was doped. I still believe he could have been a low 3:30's guy. Now that he is retired, no proof is going to come to light, but what do you think? Cheers!
@7agneskickingbird7 Ugh, I don't like this question, but I'll be willing to give El G the benefit of the doubt. To claim that "Kaouch doped, ergo El G doped" is a nonsensical guilt-by-association claim. Furthermore, El G had a high-profile career in which he was consistently the best miler in the world for eight straight years; Kaouch improved very rapidly btw. 2004-2006; he was 9th in the Athens Olympics, then 2nd the following year.
@7agneskickingbird7 To my knowledge, Kaouch and El G weren't even in the same training camp/ coached by the same person. Like I said, I'll give El G the benefit of the doubt, and just say I really hope I'm not wrong about El G. Moroccans have a bad reputation for athletes testing positive for banned substances, but so do many other countries and we can't lump them all into one bad category.
@YiftertheShifter1 True, on another note, El G's 7:23 with the last 3 laps was just uploaded, he was definately hurting on the last lap. All those 57's in the middle to get back on schedule killed his chances
@7agneskickingbird7 Yeah I watched it earlier today or yesterday (and when it was available a while back). The first kilometer was only 2:28-2:29 or so, compared to Komen's 2:25. Accelerating to 2:25 in the middle of the race is... well, a recipe for a tough, slow final km. I don't know if El G was capable, but he was closer than anyone else. As a sidenote, you can see Komen finishing in that race in 8th place, reaffirming my point that you can't speculate on times based on stats at age 20
@YiftertheShifter1 It must be kinda weird being in a race where one of your competitors is trying to break your world record. Komen was probably around 23 when he ran his 7:20 and 26 when he was 8th. A lot of Kenyans seem to peak at "20" and then fall by the wayside. Most of them were probably in their mid 20's when they were at their best and then started to see a drop in form when they were in their late 20's, even though on their birth certificate they are only "23". Cheers mate
now i know thats fast, but not for el guerrouj... that would be roughly 1:50-1:51 last 800m.
i would have expected el g to run a 54-55 sec. lap at 1200m, and a 53 second last lap. thats what he always manages to do anyway right? xD so that would be 1:48-1:49 last 800m.
I can't agree more. El G overtrained himself and realized, days before the final, that he wasn't in the best shape of his life. With the exception of Atlanta, this was his slowest last lap in a major championship ('97: 52.4; '99: 53.8, easing; '01: unsure; '03 1500: 53.7, 5000: 53.4; '04 1500: 51.91, 5000: 52.8). Oh well... it made '04 even better.
@GetUpAndTryAgain Hicham spent the night before crying..he couldnt get Atlanta's image off his mind..physially Hicham was ready..but mentally he wasnt..I was in Morocco after sydney olympics when Hicham ame back..he told me the whole story in his own words..btw Hicham and together together since 1989 years before he became famous..I used to run the 800m..another friend of ours is goumri who stills competes to this day
Baba did not understand what to do, which is to pace the race. He couldn´t run 800m in 1:51-1:52. So the race was slow and this is one reason why El G lost this race. If one compares this race with sevilla 1999, one can see the difference. Baba did a bad Job!!
Ngeny defeated El G only once (in this race). El G has I believe six victories against Ngeny and at least 10 times faster than Ngeny's personal best over 1500m. How is he better?
than El Guerrouj or mentally more hungry to win the race - or perhaps both. Anyway, it was a great race and both chief contestants were superb runners, although El Guerrouj was overall a more successful runner than Ngeny.
Noah Ngeny was as worthy of the gold as el G... if it wouldn't have been for some car accidents, he may have been remembered as the best 1500/mile runner of this era. At 19 years old, he pushed El G to the mile record and ran the second fastest mile ever! They are both amazing runners, but I don't think that Ngeny gets enough respect.
That's because Noah Ngeny, despite how close he's been, didn't beat El G until this race; 2nd in Rome '99, Seville Worlds, London mile, '00 Zurich, all to El G, the fastest miler in the world who hadn't lost since '97.
This race would have marked the beginning of Noah Ngeny's era. He was a much younger athlete than El G and had bagged a world record in 1,000m that still stands. Remember before this race Noah Ngeny had already established himself as El G's tough challenger.
Don't be deceived by Ngeny's age. Kenyans seem to peak at around age 20... few have had the consistency of someone like El Guerrouj. Examples: Daniel Komen set his WRs over 3000m and 5000m in 1996/1997, but hardly did anything of note afterwards. Eliud Kipchoge won the world title at age 18, but has failed to impress since (placing 5th 2 days ago). There's Charles Kamathi, who beat Gebreselassie in 2001, but hasn't done so since.
Kipchoge Keino, Ben Jipcho and Henry Rono became more dominant in their late 20s and early 30s. Other Kenyan late bloomers include Wilfred Bungei, Moses Tanui, William Tanui, Nixon Kipritich, Billy Konchellah. Even Wilson Kipketer Bernard Lagat, Tegla Loroupe and Catherine Nderaba became better with age.
Still, few of them have the consistency of El Guerrouj. Ngeny, Bungei, Tanui/Tanui won one championship each, Konchellah winning two (compared to El G, who won 2 olympic golds, 4 world championships outdoors, and three world championships indoors). Keino, Kipketer, Lagat, Tergat, Ndereba are among the more consistent Kenyans, because they didn't peak so early.
I'm not trying to downplay Ngeny's achievement here... he deserves this gold, but I don't think he would have consistently beaten El G even without his car accident. Lagat basically filled Ngeny's shoes Sydney - Athens.
what an awful disappointment for el g, winning constantly through 1997-99, and then all of a sudden losing and of all places, the olympics. i can understand why he didnt want to run any more 1500's after this. its a good thing he came back and ran them again though.
Comment removed
7agneskickingbird7 1 month ago
Its Amazing That Lagat Is Still Running 12 Years Later And Still Getting Medals
Savill26 1 month ago
Why the heck is the American wearing sunglasses??? It's at night! Is he really sacrificing a half ounce of weight just for style?
tripleMmagic 2 months ago
So many blood dopers.
Zaxxen69 6 months ago
there bust have been money involved for baba
mrgoodfight14 7 months ago
Team running maybe be legal but there has to be a fair attempt to complete the race. He can't just run two laps and drop out. Otherwise he will be penalized since his spot in the race could have gone to real competitor.
iMaDeMoN2012 8 months ago
@International1ify,
You have the IQ of a fire hydrant.
SonNative 9 months ago
@SonNative Bullshit. Fire hydrants are able to direct water while international1ify can't spit without drooling all over his sad-ass self. So get your facts straight. :)
MultiLhc 8 months ago
Right, I'm the idiot because I notice that no contemporary runners could even touch any of the top 5 runners in this race. No one can get close to the times they ran in the widespread epo era. You all can't seriously believe none of the three medalists weren't doped out of their minds. EPO could not be tested for at this time!!!
International1ify 6 months ago
@International1ify On that assumption, you'd have to say that Ovett, Coe and Cram were doped out of their minds too. No british runners have come anywhere near those times since.
seanofafrica 3 months ago
Wow, 54.14 1st 400m! Then a 60.5? Then a 7 man race with 2 to go. 2:51 for 1200m. WOW. Great lesson to the youngsters. Don't lead early. Olympic Record. .runsub4.com
jschiefer 10 months ago
And the best user of EPO is..........Noah Ngeny, a close second is Hicham el Guerrouj!
International1ify 9 months ago
@halfhott nice. Christian Smith talked to mine last year before we went to state
skullkrushr93 10 months ago
Kevin Sullivan talked to my HS xc team before we went to state
halfhott 11 months ago
Mais uma final Olimpica, impressionante!!
RunShopBrazil 1 year ago
Huge upset like Kipketer's defeat in the 800m, but Hicham, the greatest middle distance runner would have his day 4 years later
brianclough 1 year ago 5
@brianclough Only because 4 years later, Ngeny, the real greatest middle distance runner, wasn't there.
kozmon0t 4 months ago
@kozmon0t You can have your views, but many would pick Hicham as their top runner, just based on his times alone, something Ngeny never came close, but also how he took defeat with humility and determination. Morcelly was good, Aouita was better I think, my favourite was Ovett, but I think Hicham tops all of them.
brianclough 3 months ago
@brianclough I think a 3.43.40 mile is pretty damn close, especially for a 3rd-lap rabbit who decides to stay in the race and almost wins. If Ngeny hadn't been injured, the mile would be 3.42 by now.
Hicham's times aren't dominant enough for lasting greatness, they're barely ahead of Lagat's and Ngeny's. Only Aouita consistently beat everybody. But Ngeny made the greatest performance of all in the mile WR race. And this race is still the OR.
kozmon0t 3 months ago
@kozmon0t Forgive me, but this post is nonsensical. Hicham's times are the most "dominant" mile times since the onset of the IAAF: they have lasted over a decade, far longer than any mile time in history. Hicham has also run seven of the top ten times in both the 1500m and the mile, as well as more sub 3:30/ sub 3:50 clockings in history.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@kozmon0t "they're barely ahead of Lagat's and Ngeny's" Rubbish. Ngeny, Lagat, Baala, and Cacho are four of the fastest men in the history of the 1500m, they all ran their best times when finishing second to El Guerrouj. None of these athletes have ever run as fast as 3:28 in races without El Guerrouj; Hicham pulled them to the fast times.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@kozmon0t "If Ngeny hadn't been injured, the mile would be 3.42 by now" Again, rubbish. Ngeny only ran once under 3:45, and it was in that race won by El G. El G has run 3:43, plus several 3:44, 3:45. Check out the all-time lists. No one in the last decade has come even close to touching El G's dominance.
And need I remind you that El G beat Ngeny on ten occasions prior to this final and beat all of the top milers of his generation.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@YiftertheShifter1 How many 3:43's did El Guerrouj run by age 20?
If you saw a college sophomore run 3:43.40, you'd be a fool not to expect 3:42's within 10 years. I'd be expecting 3:41's. Milers don't peak at 20 - unless they suffer injuries that ruin their careers.
El Guerrouj was simply lucky Ngeny never got the chance to develop his astonishing talent. He'd have been surpassed, just as he surpassed Morceli.
kozmon0t 2 months ago
@kozmon0t Again, your ignorance shows. How many 1:54s did Pamela Jelimo run after age 19? How many world championships did Eliud Kipchoge win after his WC win in 2003 as an 18 year old? How many sub-12:50s/ sub 7:25s did Daniel Komen run after 1998? Just because these young Kenyans ran extroardinary times as 18-21 year olds does NOT mean that they will have long, consistent careers.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@kozmon0t This is all speculative. Ngeny was a great athlete for sure, but you can't just assume he'd achieve all these things. I reiterate that Ngeny only ran his best times while chasing and finishing 2nd to El Guerrouj; just that year, before the Olympics, El Guerrouj and Ngeny raced twice: London (one mile) El Guerrouj first in 3:45.96, Ngeny 3:47.67; Zurich (1500m) El Guerrouj first in 3:27.21 (7th fastest all-time), Ngeny second in 3:28.12. El G = #1, need more proof?
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@YiftertheShifter1 Those races are exactly why El Guerrouj lost the Olympics. You don't waste all your fast times on the Euro circuit in an Olympic year. If he was really that great, he'd have had the sense not to do it.
Ngeny set the 1000 wr with nobody named Hicham in the race.
sorry to pick apart your proof.
Ngeny #1!
kozmon0t 2 months ago
@kozmon0t Absurd. Ngeny set his personal best on the Euro circuit during this Olympic year (in Zurich). El G didn't lose simply because he wanted some tune-up races to show that he was in great form coming to the Olympics- he lost simply because he wasn't at his best (this was a month or so removed from Zurich, a month which his coaches describe El G seriously overtraining) and Ngeny was better on the day.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@kozmon0t "If he was really that great, he'd have had the sense not to do it." So, if he was really that great, he would just run slow times and get beaten by Ngeny and any other top miler on the circuit. Is that what you're saying? There's a reason El G won every 1500m race between Atlanta and Sydney; there's a reason that he only lost 5 races at 1500m/mile between 1996 to 2004. Does Ngeny have one year like Hicham's seven? Didn't think so. Hicham #1
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@kozmon0t @YiftertheShifter1 Sorry, like Hicham's NINE. Nine years at the top of the mile/ 1500m. And don't give me that Ngeny was too young, Hicham was 21 years old when he began to dominate the event. In fact, we still haven't talked about indoor times. Who has held the 1500m/ mile world records since 1997 (plus two world championships to boot)? El G. Case closed.
YiftertheShifter1 2 months ago
@YiftertheShifter1 Why did you even bother arguing with Kozmon0t? Waste of time arguing with someone who thinks Ngeny was better than El G. I will have to point out though that it is highly likely Ngney was older than his stated age. I believe Brother
Colm O' Connel has said that he was about 5-6 years older than he said he was and on a Letsrun thread a while back Renato Canova (assuming you know who he is) said that Eliud Kipchoge was born around 1975-1976. Cheers!
7agneskickingbird7 1 month ago
@7agneskickingbird7 I argued to put him and similar-minded people in their place. I don't really buy much into the age discrepancies; the point I make is that some athletes never improve after a certain performance, so it's useless to describe what a person could've run based on statistics gathered at, say, age 20. In other words, running times don't follow a straight trajectory! And yes, I know Mr. Canova, he's one of the world's most renowned coaches of distance runners.
YiftertheShifter1 1 month ago
@YiftertheShifter1 Just curious, if you had to say, bet your life savings on whether El G
was doped or not, what would you say? He was still very talented, but the fact that he was from Morocco and then when Kaouch who was his rabbit for many races was caught when better testing came out have to make me believe it is likely he was doped. I still believe he could have been a low 3:30's guy. Now that he is retired, no proof is going to come to light, but what do you think? Cheers!
7agneskickingbird7 1 month ago
@7agneskickingbird7 Ugh, I don't like this question, but I'll be willing to give El G the benefit of the doubt. To claim that "Kaouch doped, ergo El G doped" is a nonsensical guilt-by-association claim. Furthermore, El G had a high-profile career in which he was consistently the best miler in the world for eight straight years; Kaouch improved very rapidly btw. 2004-2006; he was 9th in the Athens Olympics, then 2nd the following year.
YiftertheShifter1 1 month ago
@7agneskickingbird7 To my knowledge, Kaouch and El G weren't even in the same training camp/ coached by the same person. Like I said, I'll give El G the benefit of the doubt, and just say I really hope I'm not wrong about El G. Moroccans have a bad reputation for athletes testing positive for banned substances, but so do many other countries and we can't lump them all into one bad category.
YiftertheShifter1 1 month ago
@YiftertheShifter1 True, on another note, El G's 7:23 with the last 3 laps was just uploaded, he was definately hurting on the last lap. All those 57's in the middle to get back on schedule killed his chances
7agneskickingbird7 1 month ago
@7agneskickingbird7 Yeah I watched it earlier today or yesterday (and when it was available a while back). The first kilometer was only 2:28-2:29 or so, compared to Komen's 2:25. Accelerating to 2:25 in the middle of the race is... well, a recipe for a tough, slow final km. I don't know if El G was capable, but he was closer than anyone else. As a sidenote, you can see Komen finishing in that race in 8th place, reaffirming my point that you can't speculate on times based on stats at age 20
YiftertheShifter1 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@YiftertheShifter1 It must be kinda weird being in a race where one of your competitors is trying to break your world record. Komen was probably around 23 when he ran his 7:20 and 26 when he was 8th. A lot of Kenyans seem to peak at "20" and then fall by the wayside. Most of them were probably in their mid 20's when they were at their best and then started to see a drop in form when they were in their late 20's, even though on their birth certificate they are only "23". Cheers mate
7agneskickingbird7 1 month ago
Noah Ngeny,Hicham El Guerrouj, Bernard Lagat
Argtser 1 year ago 5
@Argtser lol ok but guerrouj the BEEEEEST hhh
amog100 2 months ago
The 60 second 2nd lap killed him
BillyBootlig684 1 year ago
Astonishing Quality!!
bijection765 2 years ago
you can tell that el guerrouj wasn't in his top form in this race just based on the splits
56.9 split at 1200m after only a 1:54 800m..?
we all know he's done way better...
and then only a 54 second last lap.
now i know thats fast, but not for el guerrouj... that would be roughly 1:50-1:51 last 800m.
i would have expected el g to run a 54-55 sec. lap at 1200m, and a 53 second last lap. thats what he always manages to do anyway right? xD so that would be 1:48-1:49 last 800m.
GetUpAndTryAgain 2 years ago
I can't agree more. El G overtrained himself and realized, days before the final, that he wasn't in the best shape of his life. With the exception of Atlanta, this was his slowest last lap in a major championship ('97: 52.4; '99: 53.8, easing; '01: unsure; '03 1500: 53.7, 5000: 53.4; '04 1500: 51.91, 5000: 52.8). Oh well... it made '04 even better.
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
@GetUpAndTryAgain Hicham spent the night before crying..he couldnt get Atlanta's image off his mind..physially Hicham was ready..but mentally he wasnt..I was in Morocco after sydney olympics when Hicham ame back..he told me the whole story in his own words..btw Hicham and together together since 1989 years before he became famous..I used to run the 800m..another friend of ours is goumri who stills competes to this day
estifanico 1 year ago
es la primera vez que veo esta carrera
pinche el guerrouj vale verga como pudo cagarla
unos dicen que la razon que perdio hicham fue porque la carrera no fue rapida
eseperro213 2 years ago
Ngeny, would have been the best no doubt. The 1000 record is insane, went through 800 in 1:44
pavelkostov 2 years ago
don't forget ngeny is fastest, he have 2'11 in 1k!!!!
thats a crazy time even for the fastest 800m runner
croixe27 2 years ago
Baba did not understand what to do, which is to pace the race. He couldn´t run 800m in 1:51-1:52. So the race was slow and this is one reason why El G lost this race. If one compares this race with sevilla 1999, one can see the difference. Baba did a bad Job!!
chijanai 2 years ago
Ngeny was better than El G, if he had not been hurt in a car accident he would have broken the world record and defeated El G over and over
pavelkostov 2 years ago
Ngeny defeated El G only once (in this race). El G has I believe six victories against Ngeny and at least 10 times faster than Ngeny's personal best over 1500m. How is he better?
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
Even the greatest runners occasionally
have weak or comparatively weak days.
El Guerrouj had one in this Olympic final.
Ngeny was either physically slightly fitter
than El Guerrouj or mentally more hungry to win the race - or perhaps both. Anyway, it was a great race and both chief contestants were superb runners, although El Guerrouj was overall a more successful runner than Ngeny.
Zndwls 2 years ago
Noah Ngeny was as worthy of the gold as el G... if it wouldn't have been for some car accidents, he may have been remembered as the best 1500/mile runner of this era. At 19 years old, he pushed El G to the mile record and ran the second fastest mile ever! They are both amazing runners, but I don't think that Ngeny gets enough respect.
dglodows 2 years ago
That's because Noah Ngeny, despite how close he's been, didn't beat El G until this race; 2nd in Rome '99, Seville Worlds, London mile, '00 Zurich, all to El G, the fastest miler in the world who hadn't lost since '97.
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
This race would have marked the beginning of Noah Ngeny's era. He was a much younger athlete than El G and had bagged a world record in 1,000m that still stands. Remember before this race Noah Ngeny had already established himself as El G's tough challenger.
HeshimaJameni 2 years ago
Don't be deceived by Ngeny's age. Kenyans seem to peak at around age 20... few have had the consistency of someone like El Guerrouj. Examples: Daniel Komen set his WRs over 3000m and 5000m in 1996/1997, but hardly did anything of note afterwards. Eliud Kipchoge won the world title at age 18, but has failed to impress since (placing 5th 2 days ago). There's Charles Kamathi, who beat Gebreselassie in 2001, but hasn't done so since.
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
Kipchoge Keino, Ben Jipcho and Henry Rono became more dominant in their late 20s and early 30s. Other Kenyan late bloomers include Wilfred Bungei, Moses Tanui, William Tanui, Nixon Kipritich, Billy Konchellah. Even Wilson Kipketer Bernard Lagat, Tegla Loroupe and Catherine Nderaba became better with age.
HeshimaJameni 2 years ago
Still, few of them have the consistency of El Guerrouj. Ngeny, Bungei, Tanui/Tanui won one championship each, Konchellah winning two (compared to El G, who won 2 olympic golds, 4 world championships outdoors, and three world championships indoors). Keino, Kipketer, Lagat, Tergat, Ndereba are among the more consistent Kenyans, because they didn't peak so early.
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
I'm not trying to downplay Ngeny's achievement here... he deserves this gold, but I don't think he would have consistently beaten El G even without his car accident. Lagat basically filled Ngeny's shoes Sydney - Athens.
YiftertheShifter1 2 years ago
Also without his pace maker baba, he didn't know what to do and could not handle the pressure for a win.
pavelkostov 2 years ago
what an awful disappointment for el g, winning constantly through 1997-99, and then all of a sudden losing and of all places, the olympics. i can understand why he didnt want to run any more 1500's after this. its a good thing he came back and ran them again though.
GetUpAndTryAgain 2 years ago
o man makes me want to cry all of his WR and his trainin but he won 04 GO EL G!
paintballx2008x 2 years ago