Tokyo : Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega won the men’s 10,000m gold at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday after a thrilling sprint on the final lap.
Barega moved to the front of the lead pack with 400 meters to go and kicked clear in the closing stages, finishing in a time of 27:43.22 ahead of Ugandan duo Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo.
With temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and the humidity levels high, any chances of a fast time seemed slim, even with world record holder Cheptegei in the field.
The 21-year-old Barega joins a prestigious list of Ethiopian runners to win Olympic gold, notably Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie.
Between those three, Ethiopia has won six of the last eight 10,000m titles at the Olympics, with the other two going to Great Britain’s Mo Farah.
Barega’s previous best result of his career was a silver medal in the 5,000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
CNN
