Mohamed Katir, Spanish record holder of 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters, confirmed his expectations of winning an Olympic medal in 5,000 meters with a comfortable victory in the second series of the Tokyo Games and a mark of 13: 30.10 that was almost a walk for an athlete who this year has run in 12: 50.79.
The 23-year-old from Murcia has become the new sensation of the world long midfield, with three national records, each more impressive, in his glorious month of June: 3: 28.76 in 1,500 (eliminating Fermín Cacho from the lists) , 7: 27.64 in 3,000 (to Isaac Viciosa) and 12: 50.79 in 5,000 (to Alemayehu Bezabeh).
Gabi Lorente’s disciple has shown his competence in clean races, thrown by hares, of the Diamond League. However, the unknown remained as to whether he would know how to manage in a tactical race like the one in the Spanish championship, where Carlos Mayo beat him in the sprint.
To be in the final you had to finish in the top five, or do a time that deserved one of the five play-offs. Because he came out in the second heat, he was able to calculate exactly the record he needed to qualify: 13.41 64, finishing in the top six or 13; 39.61 in the top ten.
The race started at the same pace as the first (2:50 the first thousand) but accelerated in the second km, six seconds faster than the first series. Katir was calm in the center. South African Leshiba Mashele was doing the job, and American Paul Chelimo from mid-career.
By the third thousand (8: 21.06) no one had picked up the hook yet. Only when Cheptegei began to pull, four laps, did the package begin to unravel. The Spaniard stuck to the wake of the favorite, the good wheel. At the bell there were still nine left, but the Murcian allowed himself the luxury of joking with Paul Chelimo on the straight.
The Spanish won with 13: 10.10, followed by Chelimo 13: 30.15, the Canadian Justyn Kight (13: 30.22) and the Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who entered ahead of his compatriot Cheptegei, all qualified for the final on Friday.
Under the direction of Gabi Lorente, Katir has exploded in 2021. It appears in its first Games with the third best world record of the year, surpassed by established figures such as the Ethiopian Selemon Barega or the Ugandans Joshua Cheptegei and Jakob Kiplimo, who formed the podium 10,000 here, last Friday.
Above Katir, by marks of those registered, there are only the Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet (12: 49.02), bronze in Rio 2016, and the Canadian Mohamed Ahmed (12: 50.02), third in the Doha World Cup, because the world leader, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen (12: 48.45), has leaned here for 1,500.
ASIER MARTÍNEZ EMULATES THE INJURED ORLANDO ORTEGA
Asier Martínez, the other Spaniard who competed on Tuesday afternoon at the Olympic Stadium, starred in another great Olympic debut at age 21 by winning the second series of 110 with a mark of 13.32, the second best of his life, which gets him into the semifinals.
The Navarrese exercised, in his Olympic debut, the only Spanish representation in 110 meters hurdles after the loss due to injury of Orlando Ortega, current Olympic runner-up, who damaged a hamstring during training, already in Tokyo.
Asier was very close, just one hundredth, from Orlando in the final of the Spanish championships in Getafe and his mark of 13.31 placed him in theoretical conditions to fight for a place in the semifinals
In his series, the second, he started with the fourth mark and classified the first four, with four more in the repechage.
The Navarrese was the fourth to abandon the studs (146 thousandths), but he progressed until, at the height of 80 meters, he was already in the lead. He beat the American Daniel Roberts by 9 cents and the Jamaican Damion Thomas, third, by 22.
In the same race, the Cypriot Milan Trajkovic participated, orlando Ortega’s training partner in Antonis Giannoulakis’s group, who obtained the fourth and last automatic qualifying place in the first series with 13.59.
The semifinals will be played this Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. Spanish time).