There was a little drama in the opening heats. World record holder Joshua Cheptegei did not run. In the first heat, Sam Parsons tripped. As he went down, Stewie McSweyn tripped over him and was taken out of contention. Referees awarded McSweyn a place in the final.[2]
Seventeen athletes toed the line. After sorting things out for two laps at 68 seconds per lap pace, Ishmael Rokitto Kipkurui threw in a 62 and nobody went with him. They let him have his day in the sun for 4 laps, then the peloton reeled him in. A leading pack mostly led by Berihu Aregawi then picked up the pace, 65, 62, 63, but the pack stayed as a group, very few were dropping off the pace. Three laps to go, it was time to race. While the Ethiopians Aregawi and Hagos Gebrhiwet were driving the pace, Luis Grijalva, Mohamed Ismail and Jimmy Gressier were always lurking on the front of the pack, defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Mohamed Katir, both of whom had competed in the 1500, were towards the back. Both felt they had something to prove. Ingebrigtsen was upset he had only won a silver medal in the 1500, losing gold to a Scottsman, this time Josh Kerr, for the second championships in a row. Katir, a bronze medalist from 2022, was upset he did not even make the 1500 final. With 3 laps to go Katir, followed by Ingebrigtsen, drifted towards the front. This move also brought the attention of Jacob Krop, Yomif Kejelcha and Mohammed Ahmed. The next 62 second lap strung out the back of the pack while there was a crowd near the front. The next lap at 58 pace congealed to 9. Coming in to the bell, there was a scramble. Seeing an opening one the inside as Aregawi drifted out, Gressier tried to sneak by on the inside. Aregawi closed the door and Gressier drifted back. Gebrhiwet, riding Aregawi's shoulder, was the reason he drifted out in the first place. When one door closed, it opened another for Gebrhiwet who pounced into the lead at the bell. Through the turn, Katir followed Gebrhiwet. Onto the backstretch, Katir used his 1500 speed to move to the lead, opening up 2 metres. Behind him, Ingebrigtsen had been boxed to the inside by Kejelcha. Ingebrigtsen had to drift out to lane 3 with Kejelcha still to his outside. Then he had to outrun Aregawi to get running room. Through the final turn Ingebrigtsen got around Gebrhiwet, the last of the three Ethiopians, spending considerable effort. Coming off the turn, he looked back to see if they were still mounting a challenge, no problem there, then he took off after Katir quickly getting to within a metre. But Ingebrigtsen was not making any more progress. Halfway down the straightaway it was as if he thought to himself, "I could just run in to get a Silver medal. No, I'm here to get Gold." He made one more push, slowly getting past Katir. Having given all he could to the effort, he even leaned for the line to make sure. It was not easy, but Ingebrigtsen had defended the title. 10 metres in back of the duo, the rest of the large pack were still battling the three Ethiopians. Six runners, four lanes wide halfway down the home stretch, Grijalva, Ahmed and Krop were racing for bronze. Sprinting down lane 3, from seventh place with 200 to go, Krop emerged in front to take the third medal.[citation needed]
Records
Before the competition records were as follows:[3]
↑ "Results 5000 Metres Men - Round 1"(PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. 24 August 2023. Archived(PDF) from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
↑ "Summary 5000 Metres Men - Round 1"(PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. 24 August 2023. Archived(PDF) from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
↑ "Results 5000 Metres Men - Final"(PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. 27 August 2023. Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
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