Kurgat and Krop in action during the heat (C) Kelly Ayodi / Olympics Kenya
Kenya will have all three medals up for grabs as Edwin Kurgat, Jacob Krop, and Ronald Kwemoi cruised to the final of the 5 000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics after meeting the minimum qualification standard in dramatic heat races at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris on Wednesday morning.
Krop and Kurgat, running in Heat One, finished 4th and 5th, clocking 14:08.73 and 14:08.76 respectively. Kwemoi was sixth in Heat Two with a time 13:52.51.
The two heats were run at relatively slow paces which led to situation where the whole pack was in contention to finish in the top eight positions so as to guarantee their place in the final.
The early slow pace and the frantic finish to both races saw six runners stumbling and falling on the track after colliding with their opponents.
Mohamed Ahmed of Canada, who won silver in the event in Tokyo three years ago, running in Heat One, was the first casualty of the pack sticking together until the final phases of the race. Ahmed fell after being tripped in shortly before the bell and his attempts to was only good to see him finish 16th with a time of 14:15.76.
The final 200 metres of the first race saw more drama as the pack of 18 runners tried to outsprint each other to the finish line. With 100 metres to go, this crowding of runners claimed more casualties as George Mills (Great Britain), Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spain), Mike Foppen (the Netherlands), and Dominic Lobalu (Refugee Olympic Team) tangled and crashed to the ground with less than 100 metres to go. That quartet was later allowed to advance to the final by a referee's decision, one which favoured the Burundian-born Spaniard Ndikumwenayo as he did not finish the race as a result of the mini-stampede.
Fortunately for Krop, Kurgat, that drama eluded them, as they had already made significant progress in the sprints to the finish line.
That first heat was won by Narve Gilje Nordas of the Norway with a time of 14:08.16. Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, 14:08.18, was second. He was followed in third place by John Heymans of Belgium, 14:08.33.
Graham Blanks of the USA (6th, 14:09.06), Hugo Hay of France (7th, 14:09.22), and Thomas Fafard of Canada (8th, 14:09.37) also finished in the top eight positions in Heat One to make the final.
The Frenchman Jimmy Gressier, who set a national record in the 10 000 metres final on Friday, was unfortunate not to make the cut after finishing ninth with a time of 14:09.95.
Abdi Waiss of Djibouti (11th, 14:11.88) and Aron Kifle of Eritrea (17th, 14:16.77) were Africa's other representatives in the race and they were unfortunate not to make the final.
Heat Two was a replica of Heat One with this time the Somali-born USA athlete Abdihamid Nur falling in the final 100 metres, causing him to finish last with a time of 14:15.00.
The Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen put behind his disappointing fourth-place finish in yesterday's 1 500 metres final to win Heat Two with a time of 13:51.59.
Biniam Mehary of Ethiopia clocked 13:51.82, to finish second. The Kenyan-born Belgian Isaac Kimeli was third with a time of 13:52.18.
Including Kwemoi, who was sixth in that race with a time of 13:52.51, Grant Fisher of the USA (4th, 13:52.44), Oscar Chelimo of Uganda (5th, 13:52.46), Dawit Seare of Eritrea (7th, 13:52.53), and Addisu Yihune of Ethiopia (8th, 13:52.62) also qualified.
Mohammed Ismail of Djibouti, the other African in that race, did not make it. He finished 15th with a time of 13:57.47.
