by Justin Lagat
Uganda’s three-time world champion, Joshua Cheptegei, bid his time during the men’s 10,000m final only to surprise everyone by suddenly dashing to the front with about 500m to go and maintaining one of the longest and strongest sprinting finishes ever seen in a long-distance track race to emerge victorious. The world record holder strode away to win his first 10,000m Olympic gold medal in a new Olympic record of 26:46.14. Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi took silver in 26:43.44, while USA’s Grant Fisher took the bronze medal in 26:43.46. This was Cheptegei’s second Olympic gold medal after he won the 5,000m in Tokyo.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July15-24, 2022, photo by Kevin Morris
After some 5000m races in May, Cheptegei stayed out of the limelight, and no one could tell what form he was in coming into the Olympic Games.
This was the first final on track and was the most anticipated event on the evening of the second day of athletics in Paris.
Selemon Barega, the reigning Olympic Champion; Cheptegei, the 5000m and 10,000m world record holder and multiple world champion; and the in-form Yomif Kejelcha, who holds the world-leading time of 26:31.01, were all there, yearning for Olympic glory.
The difference between the Ethiopian runners and Cheptegei was that their personal best times doubled as their seasonal best times, which was more accurate in portraying their current forms.
From the start of the race, it appeared obvious that the 27:01.17 Olympic record set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was going to be under threat.
France’s Yann Schrub took the lead just after the gun, to the delight of the home crowd, who cheered him on and created some excitement in the stadium. But before a kilometre was done, Barega took the lead and injected the pace, crossing the mark in 2:43.1. His countryman, Kejelcha, followed him closely.
As they approached the 3km mark, three Ethiopians, led by Berihu Aregawi, were in the lead. It was fast, and a single file had already formed behind them.
They crossed the 5000m mark in an incredible 13:23.2, Aregawi taking the lead from Kejelcha.
After 6000m, the Ethiopians separated, and Canada’s Ahmed Mohammed moved into second position behind Kejelcha and ahead of Kenya’s Bernard Kibet. Barega came to the front again at around 8000m, and for a moment, the pack started to get crowded again as the pace slowed a bit. Kejelcha surged, the rest reacted, and he slowed down again. It was as though no one was willing and ready to make the first move.
That was the moment when everything played into the hands of Cheptegei, who continues to be the greatest runner to ever come out of Uganda.
