The Men's 10,000 metres competition at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

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. The event was held at the

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on 4 August. The race was won by 0.48 seconds by

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

, the reigning 5000 metres World Champion, in a time of 27:30.42.

Summary

From the beginning Farah stayed close to the race leaders, who on the first lap were the defending champion

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

and his brother Tariku. After six laps, the half marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese and his Eritrean teammates began to push the pace. At the same time, Moses Kipsiro went down, causing the field to scatter and Farah to fall back in the field with his American training partner Galen Rupp. When Tariku Bekele came up behind Tadese, his attempt to force the pace slowed. The 5000 metre mark was reached in 14:05.79, with Tadese in front, though Bedan Karoki Muchiri took the lead soon after. Thirteen runners remained in the lead pack including three Ethiopians, three Eritreans, two Kenyans, Kipsiro, Kenyan born Polat Kemboi Arikan running for Turkey, Canadian Cameron Levins, Farah and Rupp. Strategic play continued as Tariku elbowed Farah, causing him to step to the outside ready to cover a move. Then the third Ethiopian

Gebregziabher Gebremariam Gebregziabher Gebremariam (Amharic: ገብረግዚኣብሄር ገብረማርያም; born September 10, 1984, in Tigray) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance runner. He established himself at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, winning ...

, ran to the front, but rather than forcing the pace, he seemed to slow it down. With two laps to go, Tariku Bekele regained the lead, with Farah on his shoulder and Moses Ndiema Masai, Rupp and Michuri following in close formation. At the start of the final lap, Farah made his move into the lead. For most of the last lap, Tariku Bekele, Muchuri, Rupp, and Kenenisa Bekele respectively remained in tow until the final turn at which point Farah pulled away for the win with a final lap of 53.48 seconds. With 60m left, Rupp went outside and outsprinted Tariku Bekele to take the silver medal. Tariku Bekele held on for third place just ahead of his older brother and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.

'Super Saturday'

Farah's gold medal was the final of three gold medals in one evening for the host country, their most successful day in Olympic history.World Sports News: Today at the Olympics – Day 9
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Competition format

Only a final, without preliminary heats, was held.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's 10, 000 metres Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics 10,000 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics