Wow: Is This Best Finish To A Distance Race Ever?
by LetsRun.com
July 15, 2016
If you thought the men’s 5,000 at the Olympic Trials was wild, you need to check out the men’s 5,000 at last week’s European Championships in Amsterdam. Just watch this final lap:
https://youtu.be/A-KvIvy0L1E?t=16m10s
Where to even begin? Henrik Ingebrigtsen’s race alone was enough to write a book about — he was in 10th with 500 to go, 8th at the bell and 6th entering the final turn, six meters off the lead pack. He was just .02 from winning gold yet wound up out of the medals entirely. And perhaps most amazingly, he ran an entire 5,000-meter race in a speedsuit.
Ilias Fifa was in fifth with 10 meters to go and wound up winning the race. How often does that happen in a 5k? The top five were separated by .09; the top four were separated by just .01; the top three recorded the exact same time. If a 60-meter race was that close, it would be notable. That a finish like this came in a 5,000 is almost inconceivable.
We feel bad for whoever was in charge of the official results. Good luck sorting this out:
Results
Pl. | Athlete / Team | Cnt. | Birth | Result | Score | |
1. | Ilias FIFA | ESP | 89 | 13:40.85 | 1064 | |
2. | Adel MECHAAL | ESP | 90 | 13:40.85 | 1064 | |
3. | Richard RINGER | GER | 89 | 13:40.85 | 1064 | SB |
4. | Henrik INGEBRIGTSEN | NOR | 91 | 13:40.86 | 1064 | SB |
5. | Morhad AMDOUNI | FRA | 88 | 13:40.94 | 1064 | |
6. | Hayle IBRAHIMOV | AZE | 90 | 13:42.20 | 1060 | |
7. | Florian ORTH | GER | 89 | 13:45.40 | 1049 | |
8. | Yemaneberhan CRIPPA | ITA | 96 | 13:46.30 | 1046 | |
9. | Aras KAYA | TUR | 94 | 13:47.42 | 1042 | SB |
10. | Martin SPERLICH | GER | 91 | 13:48.81 | 1037 | |
11. | Jamel CHATBI | ITA | 84 | 13:49.93 | 1033 | |
12. | Dennis LICHT | NED | 84 | 13:54.21 | 1019 | |
13. | Jonathan TAYLOR | GBR | 87 | 13:55.20 | 1016 | |
14. | Carlos MAYO | ESP | 95 | 13:58.22 | 1006 | |
15. | Brenton ROWE | AUT | 87 | 13:58.96 | 1003 | |
16. | Jonathan DAVIES | GBR | 94 | 14:04.13 | 986 | |
17. | Kevin BATT | IRL | 91 | 14:20.50 | 932 | |
18. | Sindre BURAAS | NOR | 89 | 14:26.05 | 915 | |
19. | Mykola NYZHNYK | UKR | 95 | 14:28.24 | 908 |