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Have you ever wondered what would happen if a current world-class runner era went head to head with one of the all-time great runners from a by-gone era?
- Sebastien Coe vs David Rudisha in the 800m
- Hicham El Guerrouj vs Timothy Cheruiyot in the 1500m
- Kenenisa Bekele vs Selemon Barega in the 5000m or 10000m
- Zersenay Tadese vs Abraham Kiptum in the Half-Marathon
- Haile Gebrselassie vs Eliud Kipchoge in the Marathon
Better yet, imagine that the greatest ever 1500/Miler, 5000/10000m runner, Half-Marathon and Marathoner were all in the same race!
Oh, wait.. that race happened!
In the 2004 Olympic 5000m final, the field included:
- Hicham El Guerrouj – greatest 1500m/Miler
- Kenenisa Bekele – greatest 5000/10000m runner
- Zersenay Tadese – greatest Half-Marathoner
- Eliud Kipchoge – king of the Marathon
At the time, Tadese and Kipchoge had not yet established themselves in the half-marathon and marathon. But El Guerrouj and Bekele were already well established as world leaders in their track disciplines of 1500/Mile and 5000/10000m.
This is a must-watch race if you have never seen it. Let’s establish some context to add to the excitement.
The Runners
The 2004 games were El Guerrouj‘s final international race. He was looking to achieve an incredible double gold in the 1500m and the 5000m. El Guerrouj had failed to win gold in the 1500m in his previous two attempts at the 1994 and 2000 Olympics. But leading into the 5000m final, he was on a high like never because finally, he won the 1500m gold by out kicking Bernard Lagat on the home straight.
Bekele wanted to win the 5000m and 10000m gold medals. Since he already had world records in both events, this achievement would seal him as a 5000/10000m legend. He won the 10000m gold on the first day of Olympic competition. Now it was time to go for gold in the 5000m.
Kipchoge, only 19 years old at the time, had upset both El Guerrouj and Bekele at the 2003 world championships by winning the gold in the 5000m. Bekele and El Guerrouj had underestimated the young Kipchoge the year before. They did not want to make that mistake again.
Plus, Tadese had won a bronze medal in the 10000m earlier in the games. The first-ever medal for his home country of Eritrea. Could Tadese bring home another medal for his beloved nation?
The race was going to tactical. El Guerrouj wanted the race to be slow so he can use his 1500m speed at the end. Bekele wanted it fast to run the sting out the legs of El Guerrouj. But Bekele did not want to do all the work himself. He wanted help from Kipchoge who, at the 2003 world championships, ran a brilliant race allowing Bekele to do all the work onto to overtake him and El Guerrouj at the end.
Onto the Video!
What happened? Watch and find out