IN A RACE that produced an unexpected amount of drama and excitement, Morocco’s 28-year-old Soufiane El Bakkali successfully defended his title.
The final began with India’s Avinash Sable going for the early lead, followed by the three Ethiopians: Getnet Wale, Samuel Firewu and Lamecha Girma, the silver medalist at Tokyo and the last three Worlds. Wale, the 4th-placer at the last Olympics and at two World Championships, soon passed the Indian, but had to do it all over again when Sable shot back into the lead at 600. Finally, Firewu took over and brought the pack through 1K in 2:39.5, with El Bakkali moving up to join the Ethiopians. Meanwhile, Kenneth Rooks, the only American to make the final, ran near the back.
Near 1400m, Firewu slowed the pace, causing the field to bunch. The Kenyans moved up, with both Leonard Chemutai and Simon Kiprop joining the leaders. Rooks, who had been last, started gradually moving past people.
Koech led past 2K in 5:29.8 before Morocco’s Mohamed Tindouft took a spin at the front. Rooks kept moving up, and finally joined the lead group. With 400 to go, Firewu led, but in the tight pack there were 9 other contenders within a second of him, with El Bakkali 7th at that point.
Then Rooks shocked everybody by bursting out of the pack and gaining a quick 3-meter lead. He sprinted madly down the backstretch, looking over his shoulder. Could he possibly get away with such an audacious move? Behind him, panic ensued as the veterans sprinted after him.
WR holder Girma, moving fastest, got up to 2nd before the last barrier on the backstretch but caught his trail leg and slammed to the track hard, hitting his head.
El Bakkali and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, the Worlds bronze medalist, caught Rooks at the final waterjump. The 24-year-old American continued to fight, and as El Bakkali strode ahead to win in 8:06.04, he battled to the line against Kibiwot and eked out an 0.06 margin to capture the silver, 8:06.41–8:06.47.
Rooks’ performance makes him the No. 2 American of all-time, and his silver matches Evan Jager’s ’16 performance as the second-best U.S. showing in the event.
The celebration was muted as eyes turned to the far side of the track, where medics attended to Girma, who appeared to be seriously injured in his horrific fall. He convulsed and then lay motionless; frightening. Eventually, they put on a neck brace, and took him off on a stretcher, while the stadium DJ unwittingly played a tune that resembled a funeral dirge. The next morning, his agent released a statement saying that he had not sustained a major head injury and that he was still hospitalized for scans on his leg.
Said the winner, “The competition was noble, there was respect among all athletes and I do believe everything went well, and in the end I was able to win. I hope the Ethiopian athlete will recover very fast.”
He added, “I really congratulate [Rooks] for his courage in racing this way in the last turn. It was amazing to see him run like this. My colleague here [Kibiwot] and the Ethiopians are used to one another so today it was a very nice surprise from our fellow athlete Kenneth, and we look forward to more races together.”
Said Rooks, “I was nervous, especially with where I positioned myself. But we all were really in it as the race got later. Just moved up and into position to make that move at the end. That was kind of the idea: to save as much energy as possible but also be in striking distance to close well at the end of the race.”
“My focus was on El Bakkali and Girma,” admitted Kibiwot. “I really didn’t think about Kenneth much. That was a surprise.”
MEN’S STEEPLE RESULTS
FINAL (August 07; interior waterjump)
(temperature 72F/22C; humidity 48%)
1. Soufiane El Bakkali (Mor) 8:06.05
(62.3, 66.1 [2:08.4], 65.3 [3:13.7], 68.8 [4:22.5], 68.0 [5:30.5], 67.0 [6:37.5], 59.6 [7:37.1], 28.9)
(14.3, 28.9, 42.3, 57.4, 2:35.5);
2. Kenneth Rooks (US) 8:06.41 PR (AL) (2, 8 A)
(63.5, 66.2 [2:09.7], 65.6 [3:15.3], 68.5 [4:23.8], 66.8 [5:30.6], 66.6 [6:37.2], 59.5 [7:36.7], 29.7)
(14.7, 29.7, 43.6, 58.0, 2:35.8);
3. Abraham Kibiwot (Ken) 8:06.47
(14.5, 29.3, 43.0, 57.8, 2:36.3);
4. Mohamed Amine Jihnaoui (Tun) 8:07.73 NR
(14.0, 28.6, 43.6, 58.7, 2:37.0);
5. Ahmed Jaziri (Tun) 8:08.02 PR
(14.8, 30.0, 44.5, 59.5, 2:37.5);
6. Samuel Firewu (Eth) 8:08.87
(15.2, 30.8, 45.7, 60.6, 2:38.7);
7. Simon Koech (Ken) 8:09.26;
8. Ryuji Miura (Jpn) 8:11.72;
9. Getnet Wale (Eth) 8:12.33; 10. Daniel Arce (Spa) 8:13.80; 11. Avinash Sable (Ind) 8:14.18; 12. Mohammed Tindoufti (Mor) 8:14.82; 13. Jean-Simon Desgagnés (Can) 8:19.31; 14. Amos Serem (Ken) 8:19.74; 15. Leonard Chemutai (Uga) 8:20.03;… dnf[fell]—Lamecha Girma (Eth).
(kilo leaders: Firewu 2:40.53, Koech 5:30.27)
HEATS (August 05)
I–1. El Bakkali 8:17.90; 2. Chemutai 8:18.19; 3. Wale 8:18.25; 4. Arce 8:18.31; 5. Jaziri 8:18.33; 6. Serem 8:18.41(advanced on appeal); 7. Karl Bebendorf (Ger) 8:20.46; 8. Nicolas Daru (Fra) 8:20.52; 9. Ruben Querinjean (Lux) 8:27.97; 10. James Corrigan (US) 8:36.67; 11. Yassin Bouih (Ita) 8:40.34; 12. Bilal Tabti (Alg) 9:04.81.
II–1. Tindoufti 8:10.62 PR; 2. Firewu 8:11.61; 3. Kibiwot 8:12.02; 4. Miura 8:12.41; 5. Sable 8:15.43; 6. Matthew Wilkinson (US) 8:16.82 (fastest ever non-qualifier); 7. Nahuel Carabaña (And) 8:19.44; 8. Osama Zoghlami (Ita) 8:20.52; 9. Alexis Miellet (Fra) 8:22.08; 10. Velten Schneider (Ger) 8:25.75; 11. Matthew Clarke (Aus) 8:49.85;… dnf—Tomáš Habarta (CzR).
III–1. Girma 8:23.89; 2. Rooks 8:24.95; 3. Koech 8:24.95; 4. Jihnaoui 8:25.24; 5. Desgagnés 8:25.28; 6. Frederik Ruppert (Ger) 8:25.31; 7. Geordie Beamish (NZ) 8:25.86; 8. Ryuma Aoki (Jpn) 8:29.03; 9. Louis Gilavert (Fra) 8:29.16; 10. Ben Buckingham (Aus) 8:32.12; 11. Topi Raitanen (Fin) 8:33.12; 12. Mostafa El Faid (Mor) 8:39.48.
