Edwin Soi comes through at the end to win the men's 5000m (© Getty Images)
Edwin Soi returned to Stuttgart intent on defending his double distance victory of one year ago. Although he came up just short in the 3000m on Saturday, finishing second, the Olympic bronze medallist did come through in the 5000 today.
Kicking away from Ugandan Moses Kipsiro over the final 50 metres, the 22-year-old became only the second man to win back-to-back 5000m titles with his 13:22.81 run.
“I love this track here in Stuttgart, and enjoy to run here,” said Soi, whose $50,000 take this weekend ups his overall earnings here to $110,000 over the past years.
“It was not an easy race for me here because on the one hand, I was a little scared of the other good runners, and on the other hand there is so much pressure on me from my family, my federation and the whole country.”
His compatriot Moses Masai, who was fourth in the Olympic 10,000m along with his sister Linet, controlled the modest tempo for the first three kilometres (8:16.40, 3000m), with much of the pack settled comfortably behind.
Through the final kilometre, a half dozen men were still in contention, including Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge, the Olympic silver medallist, Micah Kogo and Mark Kiptoo, and World indoor 3000m champion Tariku Bekele.
But off the final turn, it was Soi who took control to nail the victory, with Kipsiro (13:23.02), Kogo (13:23.37) and Mark Kiptoo (13:24.13) following.
“I felt physically strong, especially in the last 300 metres and knew I was going to beat them,” Soi said.
Kipchoge and Bekele faded slightly over the final 20 metres to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
