Kimaiyo is a tremendous athlete and is now unquestionably one of the world's best marathoners. The latter time was the fourth fastest posted in the world this year. And Kimaiyo is one of the likeliest candidates to break it. Consider that four of the six big-city marathons of the world this year have been won by Africans. Consider that 14 of the 21 marathoners who have come within 2 minutes of the world record this year are Africans.
Extraordinary performances breed suspicion.
And most of them are being turned in by Africans these days. I think he's the best marathoner in the world. And I guess it's interesting that we can have a performance here impressive enough to get people talking about it like that. Barahal, who has dealt with Rosa athletes since the late 1980s, was annoyed. The accusations are unsubstantiated and probably as much a result of jealousy as anything else.