IN A RACE that produced an unexpected amount of drama and excitement, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali successfully defended his Olympic title.
The final began with India’s Avinash Sable going for the early lead, followed by the three Ethiopians, Getnet Wale, Samuel Firewu, and Lamecha Girma, the silver medalist at Tokyo and the last three Worlds. Wale, the 4th-placer at the last Olympics and at two World Championships, soon passed the Indian, but had to do it all over again when Sable shot back into the lead at 600. Finally, Firewu took over and brought the pack through 1K in 2:39.5, with El Bakkali moving up to join the Ethiopians. Meanwhile, Kenneth Rooks, the only American to make the final, ran near the back.
Near 1400m, Firewu slowed the pace, causing the field to bunch. The Kenyans moved up, with both Leonard Chemutai and Simon Kiprop joining the leaders. Rooks, who had been last, started gradually moving past people.
Koech led past 2K in 5:29.8 before Morocco’s Mohamed Tindouft took a spin at the front. Rooks kept moving up, and finally joined the lead pack. With 400 to go, Firewu led, but in the tight pack there were 9 other contenders within a second of him, with El Bakkali 7th at that point.
Then Rooks shocked everybody by bursting out of the pack and gaining a quick 3-meter lead. He sprinted madly down the backstretch, looking over his shoulder. Could he possibly get away with such an audacious move? Behind him, panic ensued as the veterans sprinted after him.
World Record-holder Girma, moving fastest, got up to 2nd before the last barrier on the backstretch but caught his trail leg and slammed to the track hard, hitting his head.
El Bakkali and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, the Worlds bronze medalist, caught Rooks at the final water jump. The 24-year-old American continued to fight, and as El Bakkali strode ahead to win in 8:06.04, he battled to the line against Kibiwot and eked out an 0.06 margin to capture the silver, 8:06.41–8:06.47.
Rooks’ performance makes him the No. 2 American of all-time, and his silver matches Evan Jager’s 2016 performance as the second-best U.S. showing in the event.
The celebration was muted as eyes turned to the far side of the track, where medics attended to Girma, who appeared to be seriously injured in his horrific fall. He convulsed and then lay…
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