2019 World Athletics Championships – Men's 10,000 metres


The men's 10,000 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on 6 October 2019.

Summary

Seventeen of twenty one starters were born in East Africa, a familiar situation for long distance events. Here the Kenyan team of Rhonex Kipruto and Rodgers Kwemoi took to the front to keep the pace honest with returning silver medalist Joshua Cheptegei, the heir apparent after the track retirement of Mo Farah, ever present at the front. By the 5,000 metre mark at 13:33.20, only 10 had fallen off the back. Nine more laps, Cheptegei took over the point and only two more fell off the back, though Hagos Gebrhiwet, Yemaneberhan Crippa and Lopez Lomong were just hanging on and soon to go. Behind Cheptegei, the 19 year old Kipruto and the tall figure of the new indoor mile record holder Yomif Kejelcha looking like he was waiting to unleash that shorter distance speed. After Mohammed Ahmed fell off the back with 500 metres to go, the group was still five, single file, with Cheptegei driving the train. Running through traffic at the bell, Kwemoi and Andamlak Belihu couldn't keep up and it looked like the medalsts were decided. Down the final backstretch, Kejelcha moved tight onto Cheptegei's shoulder then into a slight lead. The gap left Kipruto running for bronze. As they entered the final turn Cheptegei kept Kejelcha on his outside, while he ran the shorter distance along the rail. Coming off the turn, Cheptegei had the speed, separating slightly but continually from Kejelcha, growing to a 5 metre lead by the finish.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
World record26:17.53Brussels, Belgium26 August 2005
Championship record26:46.31Berlin, Germany17 August 2009
World Leading26:48.95Hengelo, Netherlands17 July 2019
African Record26:17.53Brussels, Belgium26 August 2005
Asian Record26:38.76Brussels, Belgium5 September 2003
North, Central American and Caribbean record26:44.36Eugene, United States30 May 2014
South American Record27:28.12Neerpelt, Belgium2 June 2007
European Record26:46.57Eugene, United States3 June 2011
Oceanian record27:24.95Palo Alto, United States1 May 2011

The following records were set at the competition:
RecordAthleteDate
World leading26:48.36Joshua Cheptegei6 Oct 2019
Canadian26:59.35Mohammed Ahmed6 Oct 2019
Italian27:10.76Yemaneberhan Crippa6 Oct 2019

Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 27:40.00.
Only 18 qualifiers did it in the period: Onesphore Nzikwinkunda 28:11.90, Rodrigue Kwizéra, and Thierry Ndikumwenayo, were qualified during Cross Country Championships.
Soufiane Bouchikhi and Yeman Crippa were invited to complete the event for Ranking.

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time, was as follows:
DateTimeRound
6 October20:00Final

Results

The race started on 6 October at 20:04.