NAIROBI, Kenya, August 10 – Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi fought gallantly to grab silver for Kenya in the men’s 5000m at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night.
Kwemoi timed 13:54.06 to finish second in a dramatic race clinched by Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten who timed 13:13.66 to win his first ever Olympic title in the 12-and-a-half lap race.
Grant Fisher of United States clocked 13:15.13 to bag bronze, his second at the Paris Olympics after a similar one in the men’s 10,000m.
It was a race in which the Ethiopian trio of Hagos Gebrhiwet, Biniam Mehary and Addisu Yihune sought to set the pace by interchanging the lead amongst themselves.
With two laps to go, Gebrhiwet unleashed a powerful kick to take the lead, which caught many in the race by surprise.
As if on cue, the Norwegian upped the ante, matching the Ethiopian pace-for-pace as the rest of the pack momentarily struggled to keep up.
With the bell ringing for the last lap, Kwemoi turned on the nitro-burners to make his way from the middle of the pack onto the top three positions.
Despite seeming to run out of steam with 50 metres to go, the Kenyan held on to grab silver and add to the country’s medal tally.
