41-year-old Bernard Lagat avoids falling, advances in 5,000
RIO DE JANEIRO — Bernard Lagat advanced through the first round of the men’s 5,000 meters and into the final, once again running nearly neck and neck with runners half his age.
Lagat, 41, finished with a time of 13:26.02, only 17th overall but good enough to advance. Kenyan by birth, Lagat became a naturalized citizen of the USA in 2004 and first represented the country on the Olympic stage at the 2008 Beijing Games.
The USA’s Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo (13:19.54) posted the best time among all runners. Among others who advanced to the final were Great Britain’s Mo Farah (13:25.25), who won gold here in the 10,000 and who is the reigning champ in this event, as did Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet (13:24.65), a strong medal contender.
In a surprise, however, Caleb Ndiku of Kenya failed to make it out of his heat. Ndiku won silver in the discipline at last year’s World Championships and gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and African Championships.
The race also featured a bitter disappointment: Running third in his heat during the final lap, the USA’s Hassan Mead collided with Farah and fell, dropping him out of contention for a spot in the finals.
Lagat, showing he still can react quickly, stepped over his fallen teammate and kept going.
“I think I started moving at the same time (Farah) moved so I didn't have the full stride and I ran into him,” Mead said. “That's what happened, and I was on the ground and trying to get up as quick as possible to finish the race.”
A simple glance at the event’s start list speaks to the impressive nature of Lagat’s presence here, let alone his ability to make another Olympic final.
There was one other runner over 40, Mukhlid Alotaibi of Saudi Arabia, but Alotaibi finished well off the pace and did not advance. Lagat’s heat featured a dozen runners age 23 or younger; he finished with a faster time than all but two.
"When they showed the one-mile mark I thought, ‘Oh, that's good, the heat is not killing me today,’ ” Lagat said. “That last mile I was counting the numbers making sure I finished fifth or sixth, like my coach told me.”
Lagat is a two-time medalist split across five Summer Games: In the 1,500 meters, he won bronze at the 2000 Sydney Games and silver four years later in Athens, both times competing for Kenya.
This is his third Olympic appearance as a member of the USA. Lagat finished fourth in the 5,000 at the 2012 London Games, missing out on a third medal by roughly six-tenths of a second.
“I always thought that 2012 would be my last one but here I am and I'm enjoying doing it right now,” he said.
TRACK AND FIELD AT THE RIO OLYMPICS