Men 3000 metres final
The men’s 3000 metres final mirrored many a battle to be seen on the race circuits of the world with the traditional rivals Kenya and Ethiopia battling it out for gold.
Perpetuating the tradition in this instance were James Kwalia and David Kilel of Kenya and Marko Geneti of Ethiopia.
An evenly matched trio, Kwalia headed the leaders through 2000 metres in 5:24.00, tightly bunched with Kilel and Geneti and Yassine Mandour of Morocco who was tailing along for the ride.
Through 2400 in an unofficial 6:28.01 and going past the bell at 6:58.95, the east Africans kicked into high gear 300 metres from the finish. 200 metres out, it was Geneti and Kwalia who were running elbow to elbow into the final bend – but probably too much elbow to elbow, as Kwalia suddenly dropped off the pace and let Geneti pull powerfully into the lead. Into the final straight, it was Kwalia trailing Geneti up to 30 metres from home, when Kilel decided it was time to hit the gas and overtake his compatriot to take the silver. Geneti crossed the line in a new Championships record of 7:55.82.
