As promised, the distance action in Oslo was fast and exciting. Continuing a swell of American running success, Bernard Lagat and Chris Solinsky both ran easily under 13:00 for 5,000m. Finishing 3rd, Lagat notched a 12:54.12 American record and Solinsky clocked 12:56.66 to just miss Dathan Ritzenhein's old record of 12:56.28 set last year in Zürich. In the 800m, David Rudisha dueled Abubaker Kaki in what definitely was the race of the day to win 1:42.04 to 1:42.23. Asbel Kiprop closed the meet with his patented long-legged stretch kick to win The ExxonMobile Dream Mile.
Lagat Beats Solinsky As Chris Joins Sub-13:00 Club
Thanks to a fast start and solid pace-making, American duo Bernard Lagat and Chris Solinsky ran up to their excellent pre-race form. 2007 5,000m world champion Lagat ran near the front of the well-rabbited pack for the whole race and was simply outsprinted over the finishing straight by Ethiopians Imane Merga and Tariku Bekele. Solinsky probably slightly exceeded expectations as he ran well the whole way and closed in about 57 seconds to finish 6th immediately behind Vincent Chepkok, who ran 12:51 in Doha earlier this season.
One year ago, a 12:56.66 from Solinsky might have shut the site down for several days, but after Dathan Ritzenhein's 12:56.28, Matt Tegenkamp's 12:58, Solinsky's own 26:59 and Lagat's 12:54, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion. American fans expect a lot from their stars, so to put their performance in perspective, Solinsky finished 6th in front of steeplechase world record holder Saif Saaeed Shaheen, Edwin Soi, Eliud Kipchoge (he, like Chepkok, ran 12:51 in Doha) and Yusuf Biwott who ran 7:31 for 3,000 this year.
The race was paced well and the weather was cool and a bit breezy. There was a huge pack of men together for most of the race. If anything, the race started a bit too fast, as the first kilometer was covered in 12:40 pace (2:32) and then they positive split for a while (2:35, 2:37, 2:38). The kicking really didn't get going until the final 300m. Lagat, as mentioned earlier, was near the front the whole way, while Solinsky was 3 people back from him in line. Solinsky was game to move up several times in the race and had a fairly strong kick, though clearly inferior to the top 4 runners.
All in all it was the deepest mens' 5,000m ever, as 10 men broke 13 minutes.
Oslo Bislett Games 5,000m Results
1 | ETH | 12:53.81 | PB | 5 | 1 |  | |
2 | ETH | 12:53.97 | 2 | 3 | |||
3 | USA | 12:54.12 | AR | 1 | 5 | ||
4 | KEN | 12:55.06 | PB | ||||
5 | KEN | 12:56.32 | 2 | 3 | |||
6 | USA | 12:56.66 | PB | ||||
7 | ESP | 12:57.25 | NR | ||||
8 | KEN | 12:57.83 | PB | ||||
9 | ETH | 12:58.51 | PB | ||||
10 | KEN | 12:59.15 | |||||
11 | QAT | 13:00.31 | |||||
12 | KEN | 13:07.70 | |||||
13 | KEN | 13:08.23 | PB | ||||
14 | KEN | 13:09.89 | 4 | 2 | |||
15 | ETH | 13:10.89 | PB | ||||
16 | KEN | 13:15.33 | |||||
17 | ETH | 13:18.38 | |||||
KEN | DNF | ||||||
QAT | DNF | ||||||
ETH | DNF | ||||||
KEN | DNF |
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