Why men’s 5,000m crown continues to elude Kenyans

(From L) Ethiopia's Telahun Haile Bekele, Ethiopia's Selemon Barega, USA's Paul Chelimo and Ethiopia's Muktar Edris compete in the Men's 5000m final at the 2019 IAAF Athletics World Championships at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on September 30, 2019. (Photo by MUSTAFA ABUMUNES / AFP)

Kenya’s bid to reclaim men’s 5,000m crown at the 17th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, crash-landed on Monday night.

Ethiopians Muktar Edris and Selemon Barega blew away the star-studded line-up inside Khalifa International Stadium in what stretched Kenyan men’s 5,000m gold drought to 14 years –Benjamin Limo was the last Kenyan to win the race at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005.

Edris employed an electric pace to outsprint Barega in the final 40m stretch, winning in 12:58.9.

It was just the third time in World Championships history that the 5000m title was won with a sub-13-minute time. Edris also joins Farah and Kenya’s Ismael Kirui as a multiple winner of the world 5,000m title.

Kenya’s Jacob Krop was sixth after clocking 13:03.08 while Nicholas Kimeli eighth in 13:06.27.

Krop said: “I messed up in the race for I timed poorly. It was my first time competing with the likes of Barega and Muktar.”

However former champion Limo said poor race tactics were to blame for the dismal show over the distance by Kenyans.

“Athletics Kenya does not have a clear policy on athletes transiting to road races. It hurts our bid to reclaim the 5,000m and even 10,000m titles. Most talented athletes prefer to graduate to road races at an early age as there are big prize money in road running. With this, it leaves very few athletes in the two races,” said Limo who struck Kenya’s lone gold at the 2005 World Championships.

“AK must cut down on the number of agents and managers handling Kenyan athletes. They should also come up with a strategy to monitor performances of promising young talents in good time.

“They should have a systematic program for Kenyan athletes before they transit to road races. There are too many agents and managers handling Kenyan athletes. They introduce athletes as young as 20 years old to road races and end up killing their careers,” said Limo.