Cam Levins sets PB, advances to 5000m final

The legend of Cam Levins continues to grow.

Just four days after finishing 11th in the Olympic 10,000m final, the 23-year-old Levins of Black Creek, B.C., ran a personal best of 13:18.29 to finish eighth in his 5000m heat, Wednesday morning in London. Although he was outside of the top 5, Levins’s time was fast enough to qualify for Saturday’s final.

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The pace in Levins’s heat fluctuated between 64- and 68-second laps in the first 4K. The leaders went sub 2:30 for the last kilometre.

“I knew it was fast,” Levins said, “especially the way the first heat went. But all the heats are tough. No matter what these guys are all fast.”

All the contenders in the two heats, including three Ethiopians, two Kenyans, Great Britain’s Mo Farah and Americans Galen Rupp and Bernard Lagat moved on easily.

The 5000m/10,000m double is rare in Canadian distance running history. But so is a talent like Levins. He trained for this Olympic  double and the long season, which included two NCAA titles, with marathon-type mileage of 240K per week.

Levins believes the 5000m is his better event, but he gained confidence from his strong run in Saturday’s 10,000m final. “I just wanted to put myself close to the front,” he told CTV. “I have pretty good finishing speed, but so do a lot of these runners of this pace.”

Levins says his high mileage weeks and back-to-back workouts has helped him prepare for running three races in the span of a week.

Jessica Smith qualifies for 800m semifinal

North Vancouver’s Jessica Smith got the luck of the draw in her first round of the 800m, as three of the eight runners withdrew from her heat. She easily finished second in her slow, tactical heat in 2:07.75, advancing to Thursday’s semifinal.

“I really wanted to just go,” Smith told CTV, but she knew it was important to stay patient. “In these kinds of races, you want to get through with as little effort as possible.”

Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., also faced a tactical heat, but she fell behind on the homestretch, finishing sixth in 2:09.33. Afterwards, Bishop said she went too early with 300m to go, and could have been more patient.

Later Wednesday, Hilary Stellingwerff and Nicole Sifuentes compete in the semifinals of the women’s 1500m.