Men’s 5000m final
Laura Arcoleo
21 October 2000 - Gordon Mugi won the 5000m world junior title in 13:44.93 and became the fourth Kenyan to win a gold medal here in Santiago.
After an early lead by Zimbabwe’s Cuthbert Nyasango who would eventually finish 7th in a personal best time of 14:02.02, a group of 10 athletes led by Kenyans Gordon Mugi and Cyrus Kataron passed the 2-kilometre mark in 5:38.28.
The two Kenyans accelerated the pace with four laps to go and only Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and Beruk Debrework and Obed Mutanya of Zambia were able to follow.
The group of five quickly took a 30-metre lead over the pursuers and passed the 4 kilometre mark in 11:10.59. The kilometre was covered in an excellent 2:43.49.
The group of five was still together at the clock when a terrible sprint was launched by Mugi and Bekele.
The first to loose ground, with 250m metres to go, was Ethiopia’s Beruk Debrework.
While Mugi and Bekele were fighting for gold, Kataron and Mutanya were battling hard for the remaining medal.
Mugi covered the last 200m in 26 seconds and outsprinted Bekele who had to settle for silver with a finish time of 13:45.43.
Mugi covered the last kilometre in 2:34 and last lap in 55.42.
Kataron stopped the clock at 13:46.12 to win the bronze medal ahead of Mutanya who set a Zambian junior record of 13:46.33. Mutanya bettered his personal best by almost 30 seconds.
