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| Selemon Barega of Team Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line. (Photo by=Getty Images) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Ethiopia's Selemon Barega upset world champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei to claim 10,000m gold in Tokyo's first athletics final. BBC Sports reported that world 5,000m silver medallist Barega surged clear on the final lap's back straight and refused to be reeled in, winning in 27 minutes 43.22 seconds.
Cheptegei responded sluggishly to Barega's initial break, but finished second, 0.41 seconds back. Britain's Marc Scott was 14th, while compatriot Sam Atkin dropped out. Scott and Atkin were competing in the place of Rio 2016 champion Mo Farah, who failed to qualify for the British team after making a return to the track following a three-year absence concentrating on marathon. Uganda's Cheptegei set world records in three different events across track and road in 2020, polishing his reputation after a commanding 10,000m success at Doha 2019. However the 24-year-old has rarely raced in 2021, with patchy results.
Barega, whose promise has been clear since the 21-year-old won a world Under-20 5,000m title aged just 16, brings the title back to Ethiopia for the first time since Farah's triumph at London 2012. Compatriots Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele won back-to-back title at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 respectively. Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo took the bronze.
