By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2023 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
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EUGENE (09-Jul) — In the men’s 5000m on day four at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships, the early slow pace seemed to be playing perfectly into the hands of Thursday night’s 10,000m champion Woody Kincaid (Nike) who has the fastest kick in the field. But when the pace finally heated up with three laps to go Kincaid couldn’t go with the break which was led by his training partner, Abdihamid Nur (Nike).
Nur injected more pace into the race to run 57.8 seconds for the penultimate lap, and then blazed the final circuit in 53.7 seconds. It was a solid run by the former Northern Arizona University NCAA Indoor champion.
Veteran Paul Chelimo (American Distance Project), a two-time Olympic medalist, was the only man who could get close to catching Nur in the homestretch, but Nur won by half a second, 13:24.37 to 13:24.90. Third place went to Sean McGorty (Nike/Bowerman Track Club), the same position he achieved in Thursday’s 10,000m.
Read More: Elise Cranny super run dominates 5000m at USATF Outdoor Championships
Nur trains under Northern Arizona University coach Mike Smith in Flagstaff, Ariz. Smith also coaches Kincaid and Nikki Hiltz (who won the 1500m in the women’s division).
“I just went for it and believed in myself,” Nur told reporters. “It shows the strength of our squad. We have the best coach in the world, we train in the best place in the world. It feels good for all of us to come out with the win.”
Paul Chelimo and Abdihamid Nur Already Have The Qualifying Standard
Chelimo, like Nur, has the World Athletics Championships qualifying standard of 13:07.00 so both men locked in their team places.
Read This: Abdihamid Nur recovers from fall, sets 5000m PB at USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix
“The big goal is to get a medal,” said Chelimo, 32. He continued: “My goal was just to make the team. There are a lot of young bucks coming up.”
McGorty will likely need to run the 13:07.00 standard by the July 30 deadline if he wants to claim his team spot in this discipline. He does not have a World Athletics ranking in the 5000m.
However, his ranking in the 10,000m is likely good enough for him to claim his team berth in that discipline.
Kincaid finished ninth in 13:30.84. He said that he felt the effort he had made in the 10,000m in his legs tonight.
“It just wasn’t in the legs,” Kincaid told Race Results Weekly. “What are you going to say? I’m still going to Budapest and I think now it’s like OK, I’m focused on the 10-K. Like now, I have to forget about it.”
Who is the world leader in the men’s 5000m in 2023?
The world leader in the men’s 5000m in 2023 is Ethiopian Olympian Berihu Aregawi, who has a time of 12:40.45. The top American on the top list in the men’s 5000m rankings this year is Kincaid at 12:54.40, while Nur, the world championships finalist, is ranked 30th with a time of 13:05.17.
Check out the top list and world rankings for the women’s 5000m.
