Men’s 10,000m Olympic preview: Can Mo Ahmed bring home the hardware?

That feeling when you make the Olympics. @lucabruca and @moh_speed23 hug it out after the men’s 5000m. #canadianrunning #rio #roadtorio #actrials ?: @davehollandpics.

A photo posted by canadianrunning (@canadianrunning) on Jul 8, 2016 at 12:41pm PDT

When:

Saturday, Aug. 13 8:25 p.m. EDT – Final

Who are the favourite(s):

Mo Farah (Great Britain) and Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya).

RELATED: The Internet reacts to the 10,000m record that rocked the running world.

How to watch:

The men’s 10,000m is a straight final with the medals being decided on Saturday evening in what will be one of the highlights of day two. There are 34 runners in the field, large for a track event, including the defending Olympic champion Mo Farah and defending silver medallist Galen Rupp. Farah has been a dominant runner in the long-distance events in recent years and will look to repeat in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. He won both events on home soil in London at the 2012 Games.

The men’s 10,000m is 25 laps of the track. While the world record is 26:17, championship races are often slower because place matters more than time. As seen in yesterday’s women’s 10,000m, however, world records are still possible on occasion. Don’t expect a world record in the men’s race on Saturday evening in Rio. Rather a time between 27 and 28 minutes is more likely.

Depending on how the race plays out, it will either be a sit-and-kick race where athletes run conservative until the final 1K or a hot pace from the start. Either way, the tactics and mid-race moves make it a must-watch race on the track. For Canadians, the event will be streamed live on CBC Olympics. See more details on how to stream here.

What to watch for and how it will play out:

The key will be whether athletes work together against Farah if they have any chance at defeating him in the latter stages of the race. Farah is the British 1,500m record holder and has run 3:28 meaning his finishing kick over the final two laps gives him the edge over all of his competitors. As was the case in the women’s 10,000m, athletes will have to push the pace early to tire Farah out. The problem with pushing the pace for athletes is it threatens to sabotage their own race plan.

Farah has won every major outdoor championship he has has entered since September 2011 including the world championships and the Olympics. He dominates in the long-distance events like Usain Bolt dominates in the sprint events.

Chilling in Rio……!! My friends the time has come Rio 2016 Olympic…!! #rio2016 #moknows #onemomile #madmo @tombosworth ????????

A photo posted by Mo Farah?? (@gomofarah) on Aug 10, 2016 at 10:05am PDT

Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea has the fastest lifetime best in the 10,000m at 26:37. That’s approximately 2:39 per kilometre for 25 laps of the track. The best shot that the East Africans have against Farah is to work together, trade the lead throughout the race and set a fast pace early. Otherwise, Farah is likely to repeat as the Olympic champion.

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor is arguably the biggest threat to Farah’s bid for a repeat at the Olympics. He’s the world half-marathon champion and has run 26:52 for the 10,000m. His sub 59:15 half-marathon performance at worlds in Cardiff, Wales is one sign that he could defeat Farah in Rio. He handily defeated Farah at that race in the spring.

American Galen Rupp has a 26:46 lifetime best and won the silver medal at the Olympics. He could also be a factor but he’s also been training for the marathon so it’s unclear what his finishing speed is like. He will be doing the 10,000m/marathon double like Canadian Lanni Marchant.

Who will win: Mo Farah

Pre race warm up….!! Good To Go…!!! #rio #onemomile? #onemomile #madmo

A photo posted by Mo Farah?? (@gomofarah) on Aug 12, 2016 at 3:49pm PDT

The Canadian storyline:

Arguably one of the biggest darkhorses in the race is a different Mo, Canadian Mohammed Ahmed. The national record holder in the 5,000m has risen the ranks of Canadian running and emerged as a contender on the international scene. He’s the 2015 Pan Am Games champion, has a lifetime best in the event of 27:34 and has run 13:01.74 for 5,000m. He has not run a 10,000m yet this year.

His 5,000m run earlier this year at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore is his most impressive stat line on his resume. If he can translate that fitness to the 10,000m on Saturday, he will be a threat. He used to attend the University of Wisconsin and grew up in St. Catharines, Ont. The 25-year-old was born in Somalia as was Farah. He is the only Canadian running the men’s 10,000m.

What will Team Canada consider a success?

Though a medal may be out of the question for Ahmed in the 10,000m, a top-five finish would be a success for the young Canadian. But because it’s a straight final, Ahmed will be fresh and he has been running excellent as of late thanks to his training with the Bowerman Track Club out of Oregon.

Ahmed will want to place himself in the lead pack for much of the race and run on the inside of lane one to ensure he runs the shortest possible distance. Running on the outside of lane one means an athlete needs to cover more distance which can prove costly in the final stages of the race.

The best ever finish by a Canadian in the men’s 10,000m at the Olympics came in 1912 when Joseph Keeper finished fourth overall.

Start list

1	2677	Geoffrey Kipsang KAMWOROR	KEN		26:52.65
2	2649	Kota MURAYAMA	JPN	28:16.54	27:29.69
3	2465	Ross MILLINGTON	GBR	27:55.06	27:55.06
4	2341	Goitom KIFLE	ERI	27:37.65	27:32.00
5	2051	Ben ST LAWRENCE	AUS		27:24.95
6	2477	Andrew VERNON	GBR	28:48.75	27:42.62
7	3082	Leonard Essau KORIR	USA	27:58.65	27:29.40
8	2188	Mohammed AHMED	CAN		27:34.64
9	2691	Bedan Karoki MUCHIRI	KEN		26:52.36
10	2392	Yigrem DEMELASH	ETH	26:51.11	26:51.11
11	2083	Olivier IRABARUTA	BDI	27:55.92	27:55.92
12	2822	Luis OSTOS	PER	27:54.80	27:54.80
13	2344	Zersenay TADESE	ERI	27:00.66	26:37.25
14	2165	Hassan CHANI	BRN	27:56.48	27:56.48
15	2452	Mohamed FARAH	GBR	26:53.71	26:46.57
16	3004	Ali KAYA	TUR	28:21.42	27:24.09
17	3081	Shadrack KIPCHIRCHIR	USA	27:58.91	27:36.79
18	2654	Suguru OSAKO	JPN	27:50.27	27:38.31
19	2400	Tamirat TOLA	ETH	26:57.33	26:57.33
20	2045	David MCNEILL	AUS		27:45.01
21	3015	Joshua Kiprui CHEPTEGEI	UGA		27:27.57
22	2086	Bashir ABDI	BEL		27:36.40
23	2997	Polat Kemboi ARIKAN	TUR	27:59.59	27:38.81
24	2169	El Hassan ELABBASSI	BRN	27:47.29	27:25.02
25	3024	Timothy TOROITICH	UGA	28:17.2	27:31.07
26	2698	Paul Kipngetich TANUI	KEN	27:22.28	26:49.41
27	2812	Zane ROBERTSON	NZL		27:46.82
28	2397	Abadi HADIS	ETH	26:57.88	26:57.88
29	2166	Abraham Naibei CHEROBEN	BRN	27:34.99	27:34.99
30	3021	Moses Martin KURONG	UGA	27:27.43	27:27.43
31	2337	Nguse AMLOSOM	ERI	27:57.54	27:28.10
32	2659	Yuta SHITARA	JPN	27:48.35	27:42.71
33	2904	Stephen MOKOKA	RSA	27:48.84	27:40.73
34	3097	Galen RUPP	USA	27:55.04	26:44.36