Team Kenya get down to 5,000m medal hunt: Ndiku, Kiplagat and Yosei carry the country's mantle in middle distance race

Mo Farah of Britain (R) and Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku of Kenya celebrate finishing first and second respectively in the men's 5,000 metres final during the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing

When the men’s 5,000m heats are held today, the talk will mainly be about who will stop the UK’s Olympics champion Mo Farah from winning another double.

The Briton showed he was in good form when he won the 10,000m gold last Saturday and once again, Kenyans have the mission of trying to stop him.

World silver medallist Caleb Ndiku tried to beat Farah at his own game at the World Championships in Beijing last year but could only manage second place.

But even before they can think about Operation Stop Farah, Kenyans will have to show they are ready for it with a good show in the heats scheduled for 10:05am (5:05pm Kenyan time) today.

Apart from Ndiku, Isaiah Kiplangat and Charles Yosei Muneria are the other Kenyans in the 5,000m line-up.

The Kenyans go into this race having not had the best of seasons - Kiplangat lost to Farah in his last stop, the London Diamond League meeting, while Ndiku has not run much and only finished 10th in Eugene.

Muneria on the other hand is still a greenhorn on the track and will be making his Olympics debut hoping to make a lasting impression.

Muneria actually finished second to Paul Tanui in the 10,000m during the Olympics trials, but Kenyan coaches pushed him to the shorter distance to accommodate both Geoffrey Kamworor and Bedan Karoki in the longer race

 

WILD CARDS

The duo had failed to finish the 10,000m race and got wild cards.

Even at this early stage, the Kenyans will have to be at the top of their game as their usual rivals, the Ethiopians, will be ready to lay down a marker while they (Kenyans) are thinking about taming Farah.

However, Ndiku says they are not thinking about Farah at the moment as their main aim is to book slots in the final.

Then they can consider which rivals are likely to present them with a problem.