Farah Achieves Olympic Distance Double
From USATF
LONDON – (August 11, 2012) – With a win in Saturday’s Olympic 5000 meters, Mo Farah of Great Britain stole the show with the 5000 / 10,000m double victory, while a quick-closing Bernard Lagat
(Tucson, Ariz.) was tripped up in his attempt to win his third
career Olympic medal. Regaining his composure in the last 20 meters,
Lagat moved into fourth to finish in 13:42.99 with gold
medalist Farah producing a 3:59 last mile and a final clocking
of 13:41.66 to an ecstatic Olympic Stadium crowd of 80,000.
“I was very confident. I
was just trying to go as I hard as I could. It would have been
better to have been on the podium. The fourth spot is tough,
but I have been the most blessed person in my career,” said
Lagat, 37, who is also a multi-World Championships medalist.
The 3.1 mile race unfolded with a slow opening 3000 meters that found Lopez Lomong (Beaverton, Ore.) leading a loping pack. The pace began to pick up when eventual silver medalist Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia moved into the lead. Despite the faster pace, the pack remained dense and congested.
Twice a medalist at 1500m
(Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004), Lagat came off the curve
positioned fifth, and while he managed to stayed upright, the
clip with Kenyan Isiah Koech tripped up Lagat long
enough to keep him out of the medals. Lagat regained his composure in
the final meters of the race to move into fourth. Galen Rupp
(Portland, Ore.) moved into the lead 600 meters out, but was
unable to answer as Farah and the rest of the pack pulled
ahead, leaving the 2012 Olympic 10,000m silver medalist seventh
in 13:45.04. Lomong finished 10th in 13:48.19.
Olympic Games
London, GBR, Saturday, August 11, 2012
Men’s 5000m
1) Mo Farah (GBR), 13:41.66, Gold
2) Dejen Gebremeskel (ETH), 13:41.98, Silver
3) Thomas Longosiwa (KEN), 13:42.36, Bronze
4) Bernard Lagat (USA), 13:42.99
5) Isiah Koech (KEN), 13:43.83
6) Abdalaati Iguider (MAR), 13:44.19
7) Galen Rupp (USA), 13:45.04
8) Juan Luis Barrios (MEX), 13:45.30
9) Hayle Ibrahimov (AZE), 13:45.37
10) Lopez Lomong (USA), 13:48.19
Full results and more at: www.iaaf.org/mini/oly12/Results/ResultsByDate.aspx
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