NAIROBI, Kenya, August 7 – Kenya’s Edwin Kurgat, Jacob Krop and Ronald Kwemoi squeezed through to the finals of the men’s 5000m at the Paris Olympics in a hard-fought qualification rounds.
Krop ( 14:08.73) and Kurgat (14:08.76) finished fourth and fifth in Heat 1, in a race won by Norwegian Gilje Narve Nordas who clocked 14:08.16.
Hagos Gebrihwet of Ethiopia (14:08.18) and Belgium’s John Heymans (14:08.33) finished second and third respectively.
It was a close shave for Kwemoi in Heat 2, having to put on the nitroburners to finish sixth after clocking 13:52.51.
World champion Jakob Ingebrigsten of Norway crossed the finish line first in 13:51.59, ahead of Ethiopian Biniham Mehary (13:51.82) and Kenyan-born Belgian Isaac Kimeli (13:52.18) in second and third respectively.
The final for the 12-and-a-half lap race is scheduled for Saturday with Kenya hoping to win their first Olympics title since John Ngugi in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
