Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo yesterday won the Men’s 5000m race in an enthralling thriller in Ostrava, Chech-republic, that saw him beat his Ethiopian rival Selemon Barega in a photo finish.
Kiplimo pulled off an exciting victory over Barega by recording a personal best time of 12:48.81.
Selemon Barega of Ethiopia had threatened to break Joshua Cheptegei’s time of 12:35 and started very aggressively. But as the race wore on, it became clear the record wasn’t going to fall. Little did he know that another Ugandan was planning to outshine him.
The Ethiopian had opened with a 4 seconds lead only for the 19-year old Ugandan to cut it to 3 then to zero.
Kiplimo kept the pressure on and with two laps remaining he went to the lead.
Barega responded and stayed right behind him until the finishing stretch. Coming off the final turn, Barega tried to pass Kiplimo but was beaten to the prize by a tireless Kiplimo
