Kenyans hold 10,000m Olympic trails at Prefontaine Classic
Tonight's special 10,000m race at the Prefontaine Classic will decide which three Kenyans will vie for gold in London.
In dramatic fashion, Friday night’s special 10,000m race at the Prefontaine Classic will decide which three Kenyans will vie for gold in London.
The Diamond League event in Eugene, Oregon was specially selected for this unusual one-off trial because of the similar temperature and altitude to London.
The race is comprised of the top 15 Kenyan 10,000m runners, and will take place Friday night at 6 p.m. Pacific. The field includes Beijing bronze medalist Micah Kogo, 5000m two-time Olympic medalist Eliud Kipchoge, world cross country championships silver medalist Paul Tanui and world junior champion Dennis Masai. The line-up will no doubt compare in terms of competitiveness with the final at this year’s games, with 10 runners sporting sub-27-minute PBs.
Even though Kenya has seemingly dominated every facet of long distance running for the past 20 years, no Kenyan has won Olympic gold in the 10,000m since Naftali Temu did so in Mexico in 1968. The Kenyan men were also shut out of medalling at last year’s world championships in Daegu.
Current 10,000m world record holder Keneisa Bekele of Ethiopia will also be in Eugene, but he will be racing in the 5,000m event. Bekele will go head-to-head with American Galen Rupp and British stand-out Mo Farah. Bekele also holds the indoor 5000m world record (12:37.35). No Canadians have entered the event, as the Canadian track and field trials will take place June 27-30 in Calgary.
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