Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres

The Men's 10,000 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4 August.[1] The race was won by 0.48 seconds by Mo Farah, the reigning 5000 metres World Champion, in a time of 27:30.42.

Men's 10,000 metres
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Podium
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date4 August
Competitors29 from 18 nations
Winning time27:30.42
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mo Farah  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Galen Rupp  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tariku Bekele  Ethiopia
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Official Video

Summary

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From the beginning Farah stayed close to the race leaders, who on the first lap were the defending champion Kenenisa Bekele and his brother Tariku.[2] After six laps, the half marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese and his Eritrean teammates began to push the pace. At the same time, Moses Kipsiro went down, causing the field to scatter and Farah to fall back in the field with his American training partner Galen Rupp. When Tariku Bekele came up behind Tadese, his attempt to force the pace slowed.[3] The 5000 metre mark was reached in 14:05.79, with Tadese in front, though Bedan Karoki Muchiri took the lead soon after. Thirteen runners remained in the lead pack including three Ethiopians, three Eritreans, two Kenyans, Kipsiro, Kenyan born Polat Kemboi Arikan running for Turkey, Canadian Cameron Levins, Farah and Rupp. Strategic play continued as Tariku elbowed Farah, causing him to step to the outside ready to cover a move. Then the third Ethiopian Gebregziabher Gebremariam, ran to the front, but rather than forcing the pace, he seemed to slow it down. With two laps to go, Tariku Bekele regained the lead, with Farah on his shoulder and Moses Ndiema Masai, Rupp and Michuri following in close formation. At the start of the final lap, Farah made his move into the lead. For most of the last lap, Tariku Bekele, Muchuri, Rupp, and Kenenisa Bekele respectively remained in tow until the final turn at which point Farah pulled away for the win with a final lap of 53.48 seconds. With 60m left, Rupp went outside and outsprinted Tariku Bekele to take the silver medal. Tariku Bekele held on for third place just ahead of his older brother and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.[4]

'Super Saturday'

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Farah's gold medal was the final of three gold medals in one evening for the host country, their most successful day in Olympic history.[5]

Competition format

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Only a final, without preliminary heats, was held.[6]

Records

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Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record   Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 26:17.53 Brussels, Belgium 26 August 2005
Olympic record   Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 27:01.17 Beijing, China 17 August 2008
2012 World leading   Wilson Kiprop (KEN) 27:01.98 Eugene, OR, United States 1 June 2012

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 4 August 2012 21:15 Finals

Results

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Farah leading Bekele in the final turn
Rank Name Nationality Result Notes
  Mo Farah   Great Britain 27:30.42
  Galen Rupp   United States 27:30.90
  Tariku Bekele   Ethiopia 27:31.43
4 Kenenisa Bekele   Ethiopia 27:32.44
5 Bedan Karoki Muchiri   Kenya 27:32.94
6 Zersenay Tadese   Eritrea 27:33.51
7 Teklemariam Medhin   Eritrea 27:34.76
8 Gebregziabher Gebremariam   Ethiopia 27:36.34
9 Polat Kemboi Arikan   Turkey 27:38.81 PB
10 Moses Ndiema Kipsiro   Uganda 27:39.22
11 Cameron Levins   Canada 27:40.68
12 Moses Ndiema Masai   Kenya 27:41.34
13 Dathan Ritzenhein   United States 27:45.89
14 Robert Kajuga   Rwanda 27:56.67 PB
15 Nguse Tesfaldet   Eritrea 27:56.78
16 Thomas Ayeko   Uganda 27:58.96
17 Moukheld Al-Outaibi   Saudi Arabia 28:07.25
18 Mohammed Ahmed   Canada 28:13.91
19 Matthew Tegenkamp   United States 28:18.26
20 Ben St.Lawrence   Australia 28:32.67
21 Diego Estrada   Mexico 28:36.19
22 Yuki Sato   Japan 28:44.06
23 Ayad Lamdassem   Spain 28:49.85
24 Daniele Meucci   Italy 28:57.46
25 Christopher Thompson   Great Britain 29:06.14
26 Mykola Labovskyy   Ukraine 29:32.12
Ali Hasan Mahboob   Bahrain DNF
Bayron Piedra   Ecuador DNF
Wilson Kiprop   Kenya DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  2. ^ "Mo Farah wins Olympic 10,000m gold for Great Britain". BBC Sport. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. ^ "London 2012 Olympics: Mo Farah wins gold medal in the 10,000 metres final". Daily Telegraph. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Olympics 2012: Live Report".
  5. ^ World Sports News: Today at the Olympics – Day 9
  6. ^ "Men's 10,000m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.