Farah to defend Olympic 10k title

yerwanthere123

NIMAN wrote: »

If he's juiced up enough he might!!:D

I'll get my coat.

Ah here he's never failed a test :pac:

walshb

I don't see him medalling. It's more a swan song event to be part of the whole experience.

But be great if he did medal, even if just to see the rage on here....!:P

yerwanthere123

I wouldn't call it a swan song event really, more an act of desperation after he knew he couldn't cut it in the marathon.

Don't think I'd be that upset if he medalled, if the field were stupid enough to have him there at the bell and Farah could take advantage of that then fair play to him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

robinph

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

... , if the field were stupid enough to have him there at the bell and Farah could take advantage of that then fair play to him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Could have said the same thing before the 2012 Olympics as everyone knew exactly what he'd do... Yet they let him do it four times in the Olympics.

Itziger

I think people underestimate the nerves of an Olympic final and together with the personal desire to get a medal of any colour, fellas get caught up in the moment. How many times have we said/heard, He should have pushed on earlier?

Swashbuckler

Very easy to say the field should do something about it. The specialised fitness needed to kill that kick and the risks involved make it a more difficult task than simply "if they leave him there at the bell its their own fault." Ever tried to take the legs out of someone ahead of the last 400m?

SuspectZero

The only person I put with a higher probability than Farah to medal is Cheptegei, The rest are more likely to win or bust. The Favourites to make the Kenyan team right now are probably Rhonex Kipruto, Matthew Kimelli and Bravin Kiptoo/Rogers Kwemoi, none of whom can kick even off a slow pace. The Ethiopian team is up in the air as usual, usually about 15 of them, 12 or 13 unkowns outside of ethiopia show up at the FBK games in Hengelo in June to run the trials and neither Kejelcha or Gebrewhit are certain to make the team, nevermind the olympic podium. An extra spanner in the works is that there is rumours Rhonex Kipruto will be in Hengelo attempting the 10,000m world record that day and if that happens, expect chaos among the ethiopians where a strength type runner ala Abadi Hadis or Yegrem Demalesh 2016 could become a major factor in ethiopian selection.

Finishing speed in the 10k is all relative, cheptegei absolutely blew Kejelcha socks off over the last 400 in Doha despite been much slower and been a much less vicious kicker over 5k. Kipruto who has no kick was closer to Kejelcha than Kejelcha was to Cheptegei. Strength matters and the 10k in Tokyo will be a race of attrition, because Rhonex cant win if its slow so it will be fast if he is there. And after coming off his fastest ever half marathon in September during marathon training, I'm willing to bet Farah still has 26:4x fitness in his locker, his finishing speed may be diminshed but people may forget just how dominant he was over the last lap in fast races and slow races even in 2017 even when his speed wasn't what it was so I'm guessing he still has the ability to easily run under 60 in a 26:4X/26:50 type race which will easily pick up a medal. The 1ok will be more a test of strength and has who has some left than a pure last lap kick I believe

I think Rhonex and Cheptegei are much bigger threats than the speedy Ethiopians though, The way Rhonex is running lately, he might be able to just run away from the entire field but if he doesnt, he will be eaten up by the rest. Cheptegei is dangerous in any type of race and I dont see either Kejelcha or Gebrewhit(if they make the team) outsprinting him if its sub-27 pace

And as bizarre as it sounds, I think Farah will be hoping for a sub-27 effort as it probably suits where he is in his career right now.

Alot of assumptions and guesses but it's months away yet so who knows for sure.