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The first final on track for Athletics will be the men 10000m, which is the final event scheduled on the second day of Athletics at the Stade De France Stadium.
The elusive men’s 10,000m gold for Kenya
Most of the previews on the 10000m event tend to overlook the Kenyans, but perhaps understandably so since no Kenyan has won gold in it at the Olympics since 1968 when Naftali Temu last did it at the Mexico City Games.
56 years later, having eluded some of the big names like Paul Tergat, Geoffrey Kamworor, and Moses Tanui, among others in the history of Kenya’s long distance running, it will be a huge surprise if a Kenyan finally gets to break the 10,000m jinx.
However, it is worth noting that the relatively new Kenyan 10,000m stars did earn their places rightfully after defeating the world’s number one ranked runner, Daniel Ebenyo, in the event at the Kenyan trials that were conducted in Eugene, Oregon. Daniel Mateiko had won the trials in 26:50.81 ahead of Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli in 26:50.96 and Bernard Kibet in 26:51.09. The results from the Eugene trials placed the four Kenyans following each other into 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th fastest times this year. Perhaps all that Kenya ever needed to win the 10000m event at the Olympics were fresh legs in the event, like we do have this time round.
25-year-old Mateiko has had a great season so far, having won the RAK half marathon in a personal best time of 58:45 in February before registering a personal best in Hayward Field to win the Kenyan Olympic trials in May. The other 25-year-old, Kipkorir, on the other hand, seems to be the most experienced of the three Kenyans, having finished fourth at the Tokyo 2020 5000m event, won a diamond League final in 2022 and won silver at the 2022 Common Wealth Games. 24-year-old, Kibet is equally less experienced, with his first running performances having been captured in late 2018.
Main Challengers for Kenya’s Men 10000m Runners in Paris
The three Kenyans will face the toughest challengers in an exciting final before 80,000 spectators, mostly from the Ethiopian runners who have been in superb form this year. All the top six fastest times this year in 10,000m are owned by Ethiopians, with Yomf Kejelcha (26:31.01), Berihu Aregawi (26:31.13), and Selemon Barega (26:34.93) being placed in the top three places and all being part of their national team in the highly anticipated race.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, 2019, 2022, and 2023 world champion and 5000m reigning Olympic Champion will be another big threat, although he has not raced much recently, and his current form has not yet been tested. His countryman, Jacob Kiplimo, the 2024 world cross country champion, will also be the other runner to watch out for in this race.
Grant Fisher and Nico Young, representing the US, are the two runners outside Africa who could get into the medal bracket.
But before the 10,000m final, which is the last event of the evening, there will be plenty of exciting track action throughout the day.
The women’s 100m heats and the men’s 1500m heats will begin in the morning. Sha’Carri Richardson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jacob Ingebrigtsen, Josh Kerr, and Timothy Cheruiyot are some of the big athletes to watch out for.
The women’s 5000 m and 800 m heats, as well as the mixed 4 x 400 m, will create the fanfare for the 10,000m in the evening. Faith Kipyegon, Keely Hodgkinson, Sifan Hassan, Gudaf Tsegay, and Beatrice Chebet will be some of the big names who will take on the purple track to test their spikes.