Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet from Ethiopia won the eagerly awaited head-to-head against younger compatriot Selemon Barega by four seconds in the men’s 10km race at the Campaccio IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting race in San Giorgio suLegnano.
Selemon’s shoelace came undone at the start of the race, costing him about 40 meters on his main opponents. The pace was slow on the first lap and Barega managed to catch up with a big group formed by Hagos Gebrhiwet, Uganda’s Albert Chemutai, Britain’s Ross Millington and Italy’s Yohanes Chiappinelli, Yemaneberhan Crippa, Daniele Meucci and Pietro Riva.
Hagos Gebrhiwet broke away from Barega and Chemutai on the final lap with one kilometer to go. By the time Hagos reached the finish line, which he crossed in 29:18, his lead had grown to four seconds.
Barega, who became the fourth fastest 5000m runner in history when he clocked 12:43.02 in Brussels last year, finished second in 29:22 edging Chemutai by one second. Crippa finished fourth in 29:56, the best result of his career in San Giorgio suLegnano. Meucci completed the top five in 30:11.
After earning world 5000m bronze in 2013, world silver in 2015 and Olympic bronze in 2016, Hagos is bidding to win his fourth global medal at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. “I was aware that Selemon Barega had a problem at the start,” said Hagos Gebrhiwet.
“The problem with my shoes was my mistake. It had never happened in my career,” said Barega. “Luckily I managed to close the gap. It was a good race. I will now run in Elgoibar before a period of training in Ethiopia to prepare for the Ethiopian Cross Country Trials for the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus.”