Four days after Mo Farah’s victory in the 10,000m he was back on the track to begin the second half of business at these Olympics. Farah is trying to become the second man in history to do the long-distance double at consecutive Games, after Lasse Viren in 1972 and ’76. He finished third in his heat, behind Hagos Gebrhiwet, and qualified for the final.
It was a slow race, which suited him fine. The only hiccup was that he almost tripped coming round the final bend, as he was accelerating into his kick. A similar thing happened early on in the 10,000m final, only this time Farah managed to stay on his feet. It was, he said, “quite nerve-racking again”. He explained: “I’ve got such a long stride that I always manage to get tangled up with someone.”
Farah did the 5,000m/10,000m double at the past two World Championships as well as the London Olympics, so one might think he would be getting used to it by now. But he said the heat had been a “wake-up job”, that he had been “a little bit distracted” and needed “to get back in the zone and focus”.
He was still feeling the 10,000m, in his legs and his shoulder, which he injured when he tumbled on the track. Farah wasa little disconcerted to be competing in such a large field. The 51 entrants were split into only two heats. “I was quite surprised,” he said, pointing out that at the World Championships in Beijing there were three heats, “which is the safer option”.
Farah is favourite to win the 5,000m, but said, “You look at the other guys and they’re ready for me, I just have to get myself back in that frame of mind and get ready, but I’m still hungry and I still want it.” Two of his main rivals, Gebrhiwet’s Ethiopian team-mates Muktar Edris and Dejen Gebremeskel, were in the second heat, which was a whole lot faster than the first thanks in large part to the front-running of Farah’s team-mate Andy Butchart. He was leading at the start of the final lap and finished fifth, so will join Farah in the final. Butchart, 24 and from Dunblane, turned professional only in January but won the 5,000m at the British championships in June.
Far faster than either of the 5,000m heats, the 3,000m steeplechase final was won by Kenya’s Conselsus Kipruto in an Olympic record of 8min 3.28sec. His team‑mate Ezekiel Kemboi was third and the USA’s Evan Jager split the two.
It was an entertaining race, the only trouble being that there were so few people there to see it. The crowds have been so small this week that the atmosphere has felt a little like what one might find at a regional championships. Aside from the steeplechase, the loudest cheer of the morning came when technicians finally found a way to cut off the ear-piercing whistle that had been coming through on the public address system.
The organisers say they have sold 87% of the tickets, but that the people who bought them have not bothered to turn up because they have been discouraged by the long queues and crowded transportation. This would mean that no one is coming because too many people are coming – a piece of twisted thinking that Joseph Heller might have taken pride in contriving for Catch 22. More likely they are lying or have done their sums wrong.
Combine that with the fact that the competition is being staged in a decrepit stadium, where the lifts do not work but the stairs are barred, and two out of every three toilets are permanently shut, and it adds up to an underwhelming event in spite of the athletes’ best efforts.
