Cape Town - Caster Semenya was a tough act to follow, but while Elroy Gelant fought valiantly to the end, it was Britain’s Mo Farah who took the glory in the 5 000m to clinch an Olympic “double double” in Rio on Saturday night.
South African record-holder Gelant, who hails from Pacaltsdorp in the Southern Cape, maintained a steady pace throughout to stay with the lead group for most of the way.
With a personal best national mark of 13 minutes 04.88 seconds (13:04.88), Gelant had the speed and endurance to take on the likes of defending champion Farah, Ethiopian trio Dejen Gebremeskel, Haigos Gebrhiwet and Muktar Edris, as well as America’s former Kenyan pair of Paul Chelimo and Bernard Lagat.
The pace wasn’t daunting either, with a largely tactical race keeping up to 12 athletes in the lead bunch up until the last two laps.
Gelant had looked comfortable until then as Farah took turns to run in front with Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet, but with 800m to go, the leaders made their move. Farah tried to break away, but the Ethiopians and Americans, as well as Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed and Britain’s Andrew Butchart, charged forward as well.
That signalled the end of Gelant’s challenge as he didn’t have one last final kick to keep up with the leaders, and it came down to a flat-out sprint on the last lap.
Farah was the man with the advantage, but Lagat and Chelimo took the outside lines and made a dash for it in the last 100m. The British legend, though, had enough left in the tank to claim his fourth consecutive gold medal in the long-distance races in 13:03.30 after winning the 10 000m title in Rio and both races on home soil in London in 2012 too.
Chelimo initially placed second, but was later disqualified – along with Ahmed and Edris – for “not stepping inside the inside line of the track”, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) live website blog.
This moved Gebrhiwet up to second and a silver medal in 13:04.35, with a second American in 41-year-old Lagat benefiting to claim bronze in 13:06.78 at his fifth Olympics.
A personal best for Gelant would’ve earned him a bronze medal, but it was not to be for the 29-year-old, who is based in Potchefstroom these days, as he ended in 11th position in 13:17.47.
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