Will Absel Kiprop be the Usain Bolt of middle distance?

TURFMAN

Kiprop looked incredibly easy running a 3:48 mile in the US at the weekend (video on letsrun.com)

He has charisma and confidence way beyond what we generally get from the humble African distance athletes

Geurrouj's world records must surely be under threat from this guy?

and he is soon to be declared Olympic champion provided Ramzi's second sample holds up !

Any thoughts

thirtyfoot

TURFMAN wrote: »

Kiprop looked incredibly easy running a 3:48 mile in the US at the weekend (video on letsrun.com)

He has charisma and confidence way beyond what we generally get from the humble African distance athletes

Geurrouj's world records must surely be under threat from this guy?

and he is soon to be declared Olympic champion provided Ramzi's second sample holds up !

Any thoughts

If you mean will he have cross-sport appeal and be recognisable by the average man on the street or be potentially the man who can drag our sport back to where it was before all the problems of the 90's and 00's, then no. If he was white and American or British and he also had a great rival from the same country and they both dominated the sport yet would never race and we all believed they hated each other when in reality they had a grudging respect, then I'd say yes. He may dominate middle distance running and set many records and we will all marvel at him but he won't be a Bolt and have the appeal outside the sport (if thats what you mean by the Usain Bolt of middle distance running).

myflipflops

Tingle wrote: »

If you mean will he have cross-sport appeal and be recognisable by the average man on the street or be potentially the man who can drag our sport back to where it was before all the problems of the 90's and 00's, then no. If he was white and American or British and he also had a great rival from the same country and they both dominated the sport yet would never race and we all believed they hated each other when in reality they had a grudging respect, then I'd say yes. He may dominate middle distance running and set many records and we will all marvel at him but he won't be a Bolt and have the appeal outside the sport (if thats what you mean by the Usain Bolt of middle distance running).

Really good post Tingle.

The first thing i noticed about the Bowerman Mile when i watched it was that we were back to the case where there were a large number of Kenyans (and Bahrain Kenyans!) running in the exact same gear with no names on the front. It doesn't make for great viewing. It's difficult to discern individuals (Kiprop maybe an exception due to his height) and enhances the view of faceless distance runners.

To get to Bolt's level, he needs a personality and a rival.

ecoli

I wouldnt get too carried away just yet i mean he is a great runner but he reminds me of Noah Ngengy. Its consistency that is the mark of true greatness and if he can continually improve in a year or two we can talk of his credentials for greatness

ss43

TURFMAN wrote: »

Kiprop looked incredibly easy running a 3:48 mile in the US at the weekend (video on letsrun.com)

He has charisma and confidence way beyond what we generally get from the humble African distance athletes

Geurrouj's world records must surely be under threat from this guy?

and he is soon to be declared Olympic champion provided Ramzi's second sample holds up !

Any thoughts

I think he's a little bit off being as cool as Bolt cool t-shirt

I'd say El Guerrouj would have looked incredibly easy running 3:48 too. I reckon Kiprop will be the best in the world this year and has a good chance of being there for the next few years. He could possibly dominate like El Guerrouj and get his records but he still has more than 4 seconds to take off his 1500m time to get there.

ss43

ecoli wrote: »

I wouldnt get too carried away just yet i mean he is a great runner but he reminds me of Noah Ngengy. Its consistency that is the mark of true greatness and if he can continually improve in a year or two we can talk of his credentials for greatness

In fairness, Ngeny went backwards because he was in aserious car crash and never fully recovered from the injjuries he got in it.

ecoli

okay maybe he was a bit of an unfair example but there have been many flash in the pan runners who look like they have record breaking potential who stall and never reach that potential

walshb

Not yet 20 and running a 3.31 1500 metres. Hicham's 1500m record is one of the toughest of them all. Can this man go 5 seconds faster? Maybe when he hits 23 or 24 we
will be in a better position to assess. I think he's a few years to go before he reaches his peak.

Bolt is not only the most famous track athlete, he is fast becoming one of the worlds biggest global athletes. He is also the Laureus winner for 2009.

ecoli

walshb wrote: »

Not yet 20 and running a 3.31 1500 metres. Hicham's 1500m record is one of the toughest of them all. Can this man go 5 seconds faster? Maybe when he hits 23 or 24 we
will be in a better position to assess. I think he's a few years to go before he reaches his peak.

Bolt is not only the most famous track athlete, he is fast becoming one of the worlds biggest global athletes. He is also the Laureus winner for 2009.

I am always dubious of the ages that come out of Kenya. Solomon Haile is a prime example of this coming out of America and i think that factor should come with a pinch of salt

myflipflops

ecoli wrote: »

I am always dubious of the ages that come out of Kenya. Solomon Haile is a prime example of this coming out of America and i think that factor should come with a pinch of salt

Pretty sure Solomom Haile is Ethopian but you make a valid point anyway.

The system for obtaining birth certs in Kenya (essentially: go into post office, tell them your age, get given a birth cert) means that a LOT of athletes take advantage to compete illegally in under age competitions.

I would argue that Asbel Kiprop does actually look young though and he is cleaning up as a senior as opposed to dominating as a junior and then disappearing.

ecoli

pwhite587 wrote: »

Pretty sure Solomom Haile is Ethopian but you make a valid point anyway.

The system for obtaining birth certs in Kenya (essentially: go into post office, tell them your age, get given a birth cert) means that a LOT of athletes take advantage to compete illegally in under age competitions.

I would argue that Asbel Kiprop does actually look young though and he is cleaning up as a senior as opposed to dominating as a junior and then disappearing.

Oh yea you right he is oops my bad. Oh i completely agree with the later part of your post i just saying that because of this we cant take the fact he so young as a gauge of his potential is the point i was trying to make