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Hellen Obiri competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games. PHOTO/Reuters

Athletics

Obiri taunts new record ahead of Olympics 5,000m final

TOKYO, Japan, July 30 – Two-time World Champion Helen Obiri believes a new world record could be in the offing in the Women’s 5000m final at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The final is slated for Monday and Obiri is leaving nothing to chance as she looks forward to bag the elusive gold that she lost to compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot at the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“The 5,000m final will no doubt be the mother of all battles,” quipped Obiri.

She reckons that the final will, by and large, be a mind game.

“This will definitely not be a walk in the park. I will run the race of my life because it will not be an easy one. A 5,000m Olympic gold is the only medal lacking in my cabinet. In the qualifier, I kind of tried to reserve my energy because the final will be coming up in two days.”

“What I wanted was to be in the final, because as you can see, I didn’t have to use extra energy. The essence was to save energy for that Monday epic final. It’s one of those races where you can hardly predict the outcome. I’m looking at a race that will culminate into a world record,” Obiri explained.

 “It’s that occasion where you really have to keep your fingers crossed but again fight to the very end. It’s an epic battle,” Obiri added.

Kenya’s charge in the 5,000m will revolve around Obiri and her teammates, Agnes Tirop, the 2015 World Cross Champion and Lilian Kaist, the Commonwealth Games champion who all made it to the final.

Bitter rivals Ethiopia will be represented by 2015 world silver medalist Senbere Teferi, World Under-20 silver medalist Ejgayehu Taye and Gudaf Tsegay. Other contenders in the race will be Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who is also the women’s 10,000m record holder.

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Obiri reckons that missing the title in back-to-back Olympics will be disastrous for her career.

“It’s all about focus for the upcoming final. The weather has been tough for everyone, but we have been here like for a week and we have acclimatized well in time. The final will definitely be decided by speed and mental strength.”

“All and sundry will feel the race because this is one race that has a very different format from the Diamond League and without pacemakers.”

 Obiri won the 5000m world championship gold in London in 2017 and successfully defended the title in Doha two years later, setting a new championship record.

She won the 3000m race event at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey and also holds the Kenyan National Record for the mile, 3000m and 5000m events.

-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Tokyo, Japan-

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