Paul Tergat to run his last 10,0000m at IAAF Golden League meeting in Brussels
24 August 2000 - Monaco – Paul Tergat (KEN) left the altitude training centre of Saint Moritz (SUI) last Monday, and headed to Brussels where tomorrow evening he will run the 10,000m at the sixth stage of the IAAF Golden League.
A former world record holder for the distance with 26:27.85, a time he set in Brussels three years ago, Tergat returns to this same track for what could be his last 10,000m. At the Kenyan Olympic Trials, Tergat only qualified for the 5000m (together with Julius Githai and Richard Limo) but skipped the 10,000m, and an automatic qualifying place. The current Kenyan Olympic team for the 10,000m is David Chelule, John Korir and Patrick Ivuti.
Tergat still holds the slight hope that he can convince Kenyan officials to enter him for the Olympic 10,000m instead of the 5000m. But this depends a lot on tomorrow’s performance. If he manages to break the world record – 26:22.75 held by his friend and eternal rival Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) – officials may be convinced and another enthralling Tergat-Gebrselassie duel in Sydney could become a reality.
Is a world record realistic though? Tergat proved he was in great shape in Zurich when he was narrowly beaten by Gebrselassie in the final sprint - 12:57.95 to 12:58.21.
But running a sub-26:22 10,000m would nevertheless be an extraordinary performance. It would demand many favourable circumstances and the assistance of pace makers able to take Tergat through 5000m in 13:10.0.
The 50,000 spectators of the King Baudouin stadium will have the chance to watch a technically and emotionally outstanding race thanks to one of the greatest long distance runners in the history of the 10,000m race.
31 year-old Tergat has decided to concentrate on road races and, in particular, the marathon once the Olympic Games are over. His debut over the 42 km distance should come in the spring of 2001. Also in the spring of 2001, in Dublin, Ireland, Tergat will make another attempt to win a record sixth individual cross country world title, an accomplishment which he just missed this year in Vilamoura when he was defeated by Mohammed Mourhit (BEL) and Assefa Mezegebu (ETH).
