IAAF Diamond League Lausanne: Top 3 Finish for Ethiopian Athletes in Men’s 5,000m race

Kejelcha capitalises on Gebrhiwet’s miscalculation

Hagos Gebrhiwet put in an impressive final sprint to cross the line well clear of his rivals in the men’s 5000 m. Unfortunately for the Ethiopian, though, he had misjudged his laps and still had another circuit to run.

The race had been set up to be a fast one, but once the pacemaker drifted off the target pace at 3000 m, reached in 7:51, it became more of a tactical affair. The field bunched up and everyone was reluctant to lead in the closing kilometres, but Gebrhiwet made his way to the front of the pack with Yomif Kejelcha, Telahun Bekele and Abadi Hadis close by.

But when Gebrhiwet started kicking hard with 700 metres left to run, it became clear that he had either launched the start of a long run for home or had miscounted his laps. Sadly for the Olympic bronze medallist, it was the latter.

He sprinted away from the field and, despite crossing the line with the clock reading 12:00, still hadn’t realised his error and started celebrating. It was only when Kejelcha continued past him that Gebrhiwet realised and willed his weary legs back into action, re-joining the chase pack.

Kejelcha maintained his new-found lead on the final lap and held off a strong finish from Barega to win in 13:00.56. Barega finished second in 13:01.99 and Bekele third in 13:03.09. Gebrhiwet faded to 10th but still managed to clock a respectable 13:09.59.

“I got injured after Shanghai and it took me some time to recover,” said Kejelcha. “Today’s win is a great boost to my confidence.”however, was still something of a surprise.

Read more at: IAAF.org