Just as he did two years ago, Ethiopian Muktar Edris sprinted to win a dramatic 5,000-meter final. Edris overtook compatriot Selemon Barega in the final 70 meters to finish in 12:58.85, while Barega took second in 12:59.70. Moh Ahmed of Canada, who led at the bell, held on for the bronze medal in 13:01.11.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, 19, made a bid for the win with 300 meters to go, but was passed by Edris and Barega at the top of the homestretch and faded to fifth in 13:02.93.
American Paul Chelimo ran off the shoulder of several leaders throughout the race, and was still in it with 200 meters to go, but couldn’t match the others when the real sprinting started. He finished seventh in 13:04.60, a best for the season. The other American in the 15-man field, Hassan Mead, was 11th in 13:27.05.
“It tears me apart when I put it all out there. I ran a season’s best, but didn’t come out successful,” Chelimo said. “You know what, there’s next year. I go back and I’ll start. I could rest, but I’m not going to. I’m thinking about next year.”
At the 2017 world championships, Edris outsprinted Mo Farah to end Farah’s long streak in global meets, gaining automatic entry to this year’s championship. He took the lead on the first lap of today’s race, but dropped behind in the chase pack while Barega and the other Ethiopian in the field, Telahun Bekele, took turns up front.
Barega and Bekele pushed the pace in the second kilometer. Ingebrigtsen and his brothers, Henrik and Filip, ran together behind the lead pack. When the Ethiopians didn’t keep the pace going, the Norwegian brothers worked together to pull Jakob into position to contend for the win.
