By Matthew Futterman

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the gold medal in the men’s 5,000, surviving a physical and tactical race to hold off Mohammed Ahmed of Canada and Paul Chelimo of the United States.

Cheptegei established himself as the top distance runner in the world in 2020, rewriting the record book for the 5,000 and 10,000.

Cheptegei took his time in taking control of the race on a heavy night at the National Stadium. He was in the middle of the pack halfway through as the runners took turns keeping the race honest from the front.

As the race moved toward its climax, it became distance running as contact sport. There were elbows and knees and heels clanging together as the leaders battled for position.

Chelimo, the 30-year-old American who runs with the U.S. Army’s high performance team, moved to the front with three laps to go before giving way to Nicholas Kimeli of Kenya.

But as the bell sounded, Cheptegei did what he was expected to do, moving to the front and opening up just enough of a gap on the back stretch to make it a race for second and third place. Ahmed came on strong in the final 100 meters with Chelimo outstretching Kimeli in the final 5 meters and falling over the finish line to take the bronze.

Site Index

Site Information Navigation

Source: Read Full Article