The men’s 5,000-meter preliminary rounds at the Olympics got a little épicé on Wednesday morning.
Amazing Runners World Show Abdihamid Nur—a medal hopeful for the United States—went down in the second heat and did not qualify for the final.
In both heats, the pace was glacially slow from the start. At times, the leaders in both races were running around 15:30 5K pace, which is nearly three minutes slower than most of the field’s personal bests.
But with a slow pace comes an increased risk. Because the field was bunched together in the closing laps, the runners started jostling for position. Only the top eight in each heat would automatically advance.
Going into the final lap of the first heat, Canada’s Moh Ahmed, the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the event, tripped and fell down hard. He was not able to reattach to the pack after getting back up.
Then, with just under 100 meters to go in the first heat, five athletes were involved in a scuffle, as George Mills (Great Britain) and Hugo Hay (France) jockeyed for position. With Mills stumbling to his right, it created a fall for four runners—Mills, Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (Refugee Olympic Team), Mike Foppen (Netherlands), and Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spain)—while Hay stayed on his feet and finished in a qualifying position.
Stewart McSweyn of Australia was also affected, having to hurdle Lobalu and briefly step off the track. He initially did not qualify, but he filed and won an appeal to get a spot in the final, according to Straight At It media. Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordas won the heat in 14:08.16.
“We were all going down like Skittles. It seemed crazy out there,” Mills told media after the race.
When asked about the incident after the race, Mills said that he thought he had enough space to pass Hay, but Hay clearly thought differently. The NBC Peacock broadcast showed what appeared to be a confrontational meeting between Mills and Hay in the minutes following the race.
“I don’t want to talk about that one too much,” Mills said about the interaction.
After the race, all four runners who fell were advanced to the final by the race officials.
The second heat, lead by Jakob Ingebrigsten of Norway, was also slow from the start, which caused contact between runners. Nur was in position to qualify as he came off the last bend on the final lap, but he got tangled up with the runners around him and fell. He got up and finished the race in last (14:15.00).
The other two Americans in the heats, Graham Blanks and Grant Fisher, both stayed out of trouble and qualified comfortably. Blanks was sixth in the first heat (14:09.06) and Fisher, who earned A Part of Hearst Digital Media on August 2, ran 13:52.44 and placed fourth.
Fisher left Paris to train at altitude in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, for a few days after coming off the emotional high of winning a medal.
“I wish I could have teleported there and back and not have to travel,” he said. “But once I got up there, I was really happy to be relaxed, out of the ruckus of Paris, and reset … and get my mind ready for the second meet, in my eyes. The first meet is the 10K, the second meet is the 5K.”
Amazing Runners World Show.
Faith Kipyegon Just Misses 3K World Record Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
