No British person has ever won a medal in the Men’s 10,000m
but Britain’s Mo Farah will go into tonight’s final as a hot favourite to seal
a his place in British Olympic history by taking the first of what could well
be two golds on the track tonight.
Farah who hasn’t even raced over 10,000m on the track this
year with his training a racing greated in a bid to win this one event, arrives
with the momentum of four 5000m victories in as many starts this year. The World 5,000m champion would be a world
title holder at this distance had a little known athlete from Ethiopia by the
name of Ibrahim Jeilan suddenly outpaced Farah in the final metres of the race
to win by 0.3sec, stealing glory in the last strides to deny Farah what would
have been an amazing double. That versatility sees him as the man to beat in
both events according to the bookmakers and it’s hard not to agree with that,
although he faces some serious competition in a a bid for gold.
Kenenesia Bekele, one of the greatest athletes of all time, is
the Olympic defending champion in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and also won
the gold for the 10,000 at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He’s not been at his
best for more than a year now thanks to the sort of high profile injury that
saw him fail to finish – breaking down at the last lap in Daegu – but even at
30 and on the mend, he managed to earn his spot on the Ethiopian squad with a
27:02.59 run in Birmingham in late June, the third fastest time of the year. It
may be his reputation that entitles him to be second favourite for gold, but he’s
still got the talent to match and if all is well, he should push Farah every
step of the way and rates a huge danger and viable alternative to the hometown
boy.
Tariku Bekele, younger brother of Kenisa, was beaten by less
than a second at the trials in Birmingham after a promising win in Hengelo
(27:11.70) and looks to be a notable threat, as that gives him the world’s
fourth best time this year. Look for the two to try and team up tactically if
they are together entering the last lap – as you’d expect they would be – and
go head to head with Mo for the gold.
Both men are behind Wilson Kiprop (right), who broke his personal
best when running 27:01.98 in early June of this year, overhauling Moses Masai
with thirty metres remaining and shocking many established athletics experts in
Eugene during the country’s Olympic trials. They lead the world times this year
and while the half marathon runner might lack a kick at the sharp end of the
race, odds of 3/1 for a medal are too big based on that personal best.
Don’t totally discount Glen Rupp – Farah’s training partner
who’s on a roll since his American record (26:48.00) last 2011 and his equally
impressive PR of 12:58 over at the 5k just this year – Moses Ndiema Masai, who was second to Kirprop
and has since gone under 13 minutes in Barcelona.
Advice
2 pts Wilson Kiprop to win a medal (3/1 general)
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