Sixth gold for Allyson Felix; Matthew Centrowitz wins the 1500m title
Mo Farah was pushed hard, but had the reserves of energy to add the 5000 metres gold to the 10,000 metres he had won earlier, at the Olympic Stadium here on Saturday; a repeat of his double gold medal winning performance from London.
Mo Farah was surprised at the speed with which the race started. Happy to be the last in the bunch initially, he made his move ahead steadily. At the end of an intense race, Mo Farah had to constantly look to his sides and check whether anyone would really overtake him.
Mo Farah won with a time of 13 minutes 3.30 seconds, beating Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo of the US (13:03.90) by about half a second. Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia took the bronze at 13:04.35.
“The guys were out there to get me. I just had to be alert,” said Mo Farah after the triumph.
“I dreamt to become an Olympic champion as a youngster. I did it in London and that was incredible. Now four years later, to do it again, there are no words.“Mentally, I had to be on top of my game,” said Farah.
Allyson Felix of the US won her sixth Olympic gold, the maximum by a woman athlete. She anchored the women’s 4x400m team to the gold after she had helped the 4x100m relay team to the gold on the second leg, earlier.
Allyson Felix helped the US team finish ahead of Jamaica (3:20.34) with a season best run of 3:19.06. Britain was a distant third at 3:25.88. It was a record sixth gold medal for Allyson, and nine in all, matching the tally of Merlene Ottey of Jamaica.
The US won the men’s relay as well, with a time of 2:57.30, ahead of Jamaica (2:58.16) and Bahamas (2:58.49).
In the women’s 800 metres, the 25-year-old Caster Semenya of South Africa proved too strong, as she clocked a national record 1:55.28 to beat Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi (1:56.49) and Margaret Nyairera Wambui of Kenya (1:56.89).
Matthew Centrowitz of the US won the men’s 1500 metres gold with a time of 3:50.00, ahead of Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria (3:50.11) and Nicholas Willis of New Zealand (3:50.24).
“I had about five different strategies planned out in my head on how the race could unfold. So, I was prepared for any type of race. At the end of the day, it was all about putting myself in a good position,” said Centrowitz.
Thomas Rohler of Germany won the hammer gold with a throw of 90.30m on his fifth attempt, 27 centimetres short of the Olympic record. He beat Julius Yego of Kenya, whose only valid throw was to a season best 88.24. Defending champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago won the bronze at 85.38.
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