WRITTEN FOR THE IAAF WEBSITE
A trio of Ethiopians and a Kenyan duo were unexpectedly amongst the top qualifiers going through to Sunday afternoon’s final.
Defending champion, Yomif Kejelcha qualified fastest courtesy of his swift 7:42.83 heat one victory, whilst his Ethiopian teammate, Hagos Gebrhiwet followed him home closely with 7:43.55.
The pair ran conservatively at the rear of the field until the midway point, following a relaxed pace which saw the field pass 800m in 2:09.38, 1200m in 3:12.67 and the mile mark in 4:15.40, before Kejelcha – the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour winner – took over at the front to pick up the pace.
The 20-year-old then shared the head position with Olympic 5,000m bronze medalist and 2012 world outdoor 5,000m silver medalist, Gebrhiwet and Spain’s European indoor 3,000m champion, Adel Mechaal who has improved his personal best by over six seconds this winter.
With the three taking turns at the front, Kelejcha – the world outdoor 5,000m fourth-placer – decided to surge with 550m remaining, hitting the bell in 7:15.40 as his compatriot and Mehaal closely followed.
With Kejelcha comfortably taking the win, the Spaniard eased down near the line which allowed Gebrhiwet to claim the runner-up spot.
The fourth to sixth spots were additionally amongst the fastest overall, with Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew clocking a 7:44.03 lifetime best as Kenya’s Bethwell Birgen and Youness Essalhi of Morocco registered 7:45.06 and 7:45.07, respectively.
The second heat was led home by a third Ethiopian, Selemon Barega who has ran the quickest time this season with 7:36.64.
The 18-year-old world youth champion showed impressive finishing speed to clock 7:48.14 for the win, as the African nation looks set to be a strong bet for an Ethiopian one-two-three later this weekend.
Behind, the 2015 world youth silver medalist, Davis Kiplangat ensured Kenya have a firm presence in the final, thanks to a 7:48.26 showing.
The 19-year-old joined Barega to the fore around the halfway stage, reached in 4:13.84 and took the lead with 300m remaining before relinquishing that position to his compatriot in the final meters.
Shortly behind was Germany’s Clemens Bleistein, who recorded a two-second personal best with 7:49.01.
Another to run their quickest ever was Yassin Bouih of Italy, who clocked 7:50.65 whilst New Zealand’s Julian Oakley and Shadrack Kipchirchir – a world 10,000m finalist – will complete the 12-man final field following their 7:55.92 and 7:57.98 times, respectively.
Four athletes were disqualified for lane infringements, including Olympic 5,000m silver medalist, Paul Chelimo of the USA.
