The men's 10,000 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 13 August at the Olympic Stadium. In a tactical yet comparatively quick race, Great Britain's Mo Farah defended his Olympic title in 27:05.17 minutes, becoming the sixth man to win the Olympic 10,000 metres title twice. Reaching their first Olympic podium, Kenya's Paul Tanui was the silver medallist and Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia took the bronze. Farah's winning margin was 0.47 seconds.

The medals were presented by Lydia Nsekera, IOC member, Burundi and Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, Vice President of the IAAF.

Summary Pre-Olympics Mo Farah had not been beaten in a major track championship since the 2011 World Championships (by Ibrahim Jeilan). The defending 2012 Olympic champion, Farah's time of 26:53.71 minutes was the second fastest that year. The year's rankings were topped by Yigrem Demelash of Ethiopia and the country's two other team members (Tamirat Tola and Abadi Hadis) placed in the world's top five, though none had senior international track experience. The Kenyan contingent presented the more experienced challengers to Farah. Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and Paul Tanui were medallists behind Farah at the 2015 World Championships. Kamworor and the third Kenyan Bedan Karoki Muchiri had beaten Farah at the 2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships five months earlier. American Galen Rupp – Farah's training partner and 2012 Olympic runner-up – was also a strong entrant.Morse, Parker (2016-08-09). Preview: men's 10,000m – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.senior outdoor 2016 10,000 Metres men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.

Final From the two alley waterfall start, Tanui went to the front of the pack, surrounded by his Kenyan teammates. Farah went to the back, jogging along behind the pack in dead last place and even waved to his family in the crowd.Bull, Andy (2016-08-14). He gets knocked down ... but Mo Farah gets back up again to win 10,000m gold . The Guardian. Retrieved on 2016-08-14. Peru's Luis Ostos got three laps in the spotlight before filtering back through the field.10,000 Metres men The XXXI Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14. For the first quarter of the race, Farah stayed in last, content to let the Kenyans and three Ethiopians exchange the lead, though he was tracked by Kenya's Muchiri. On the seventh lap, Farah moved up to mark the leaders and increase the pace, his training partner Galen Rupp moving in behind him. Suddenly Farah's back kick connected with Rupp's right knee and Farah fell to the ground among the pack of runners.Jorgic, Drazen (2016-08-13). Athletics: Farah roars to another 10,000m title. Reuters. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.

The pack behind him scattered and Farah popped up quickly, his shoulder showing the scrapes of his collision with the ground. After this point the increased pace fractured the pack Farah returned to his marking position, usually fourth place behind the Kenyans with occasional surges by Ethiopians Tamirat Tola and Yigrem Demelash. Around 7000 metres and eight laps remaining, Kipsang and Karoki took their last turns at the front, but began to fade off the pace while Tamirat Tola and Yigrem Demelash took the point as the pace quickened. Breaking away from the remaining pack, the two Ethiopians, Tanui, Farah, Rupp and Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei continued in close order. With four laps to go, Farah took the lead, but instead of trying to break away, he simply defended the point.Morse, Parker (2016-08-14). Report: men's 10,000m final – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.

With a lap to go, Farah had the lead, with Tanui aggressively trying to pass and the Ethiopians and Rupp still in pursuit. Coming up on a lapped runner, Tanui didn't concede space in order to pin Farah against the curb and into the back of the slower runner, the two exchanged elbows as Farah made his right of way. Tanui accelerated and took the lead before the back stretch. Farah followed Tanui as Rupp fell off the pace. Through the final turn, Tanui had the edge. Coming off the turn, Farah attacked with a gear Tanui's awkward running form could not match, building a half a second margin of victory down the final 100 metres and crossing the line with his Mobot celebration. The gap already established, Tamirat Tola passed Rupp and ran in to the bronze medal. Yigrem Demelash took fourth place after a late rush at his teammate, but missed catching him by one hundredth of a second.Men's 10,000 metres Final Results . Rio2016. Retrieved on 2016-08-14.

Farah's gold medal gave him the shared distinction of being the most successful Olympian in the event and fifth Olympian to defend their title in the 10,000 m consecutively or following a lapse, preceded by Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. Paavo Nurmi, Emil Zátopek and Lasse Viren each have won the Olympic 10,000 twice (Nurmi, non-consecutively).Arcoleo, Laura (2016-08-14). Ten things we learned on day two – Rio 2016 Olympic Games . IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-08-14. Zane Robertson set a New Zealand national record.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows:

Area Time (s) Athlete Nation Africa 26:17.53 Kenenisa Bekele Asia 26:38.76 Abdullah Ahmad Hassan North, Central America and Caribbean 26:44.36 Galen Rupp Europe 26:46.57 Mo Farah Oceania 27:23.80 Stewart McSweyn South America 27:28.12 Marilson dos Santos

The following national record was established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Time Notes New Zealand Final 27:33.67

Schedule All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3) Date Time RoundSaturday, 13 August 2016 21:27Finals

Results Final Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Mo Farah 27:05.17 Paul Tanui 27:05.64 Tamirat Tola 27:06.26 Yigrem Demelash 27:06.27 Galen Rupp 27:08.92 Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei 27:10.06 Bedan Karoki Muchiri 27:22.93 Zersenay Tadese 27:23.86 Nguse Tesfaldet 27:30.79 10 Abraham Cheroben 27:31.86 11 Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor 27:31.94 12 Zane Robertson 27:33.67 13 Polat Kemboi Arıkan 27:35.50 14 Leonard Korir 27:35.65 15 Abadi Hadis 27:36.34 16 David McNeill 27:51.71 17 Suguru Osako 27:51.94 18 Stephen Mokoka 27:54.57 19 Shadrack Kipchirchir 27:58.32 20 Bashir Abdi 28:01.49 21 Luis Ostos 28:02.03 22 Moses Kurong 28:03.38 23 Timothy Toroitich 28:04.84 24 Goitom Kifle 28:15.99 25 Andy Vernon 28:19.36 26 El Hassan El-Abbassi 28:20.17 27 Olivier Irabaruta 28:32.75 28 Ben St Lawrence 28:46.32 29 Yuta Shitara 28:55.23 30 Kota Murayama 29:02.51 31 Ross Millington 29:14.95 32 Mohammed Ahmed 29:32.84 Hassan Chani Ali Kaya

References