CAUGHT IN A BOX with 600m to go, Joshua Cheptegei made quick work of what appeared to be a dicey finish as he pulled wide and got the jump on the 7-man lead pack, hitting the gas with 500m left and staying clear in a flat-out sprint to the finish to win his third straight Worlds 10,000 gold — timed in 27:51.42.
Daniel Simiyu (27:52.60), a late addition to the Kenyan team, ran through the finish line to pass Olympic champion Selemon Barega (27:52.72) and claim silver. List leader and Olympic 4th-placer Berihu Aregawi (27:55.7) again finished a place short of a medal.
“I am very excited and proud that I have succeeded in winning my third world title in a row,” Cheptegei proclaimed. While holding World Records at 5000 (12:35.36) and 10,000 (26:11.00), the 26-year-old Ugandan asserted, “It has always been important for me to win major titles like the legends of running, Kenenisa [Bekele] and Mo Farah.”
Starting off on a sweltering 90-degree, 68 dew point evening, no one save Cheptegei’s teammate Joel Ayeko seemed in a hurry, and he led the pack through 4K in 11:32.71. Aregawi stepped into the void, upping the pace a bit to cross halfway in 14:21.75.
At 6400m (16 laps) Barega took the lead and added some tempo with a 65.95. Aregawi was quick to up the ante with a string of 64–65 laps netting a 4:19.54 split for the 1600 through 8400m. That move pared the lead pack down to 7.
With a bit of resignation, Aregawi eased up a bit and a tightly bunched pack of 7 headed into the final 800. Cheptegei ran just off the lead between Aregawi and Barega, Canadian Moh Ahmed and the Kenyan trio of Simiyu (aka Ebenyo), Kibet and Nicholas Kipkorir.
As Aregawi lifted the pace, the chasers scrambled for position down the backstretch. Barega pulled wide and zipped up to Aregawi’s shoulder leading an elevator dash to the pole that in the span of 30m dropped Cheptegei from 2nd to a well-boxed 6th.
Looking remarkably composed, the Ugandan ace waited for the back door to open, pulled out to the third lane and lengthened his stride around the turn, reaching full speed as he blew by his surprised rivals with 500m to go.
Off a flying start, Cheptegei streaked up the straight in 12.77, seizing a stride lead over Aregawi at the bell. As Cheptegei’s unsuspected move literally turned the heads of his rivals, they did well to scramble an…
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