Ethiopia has retaken the Olympic gold medal in the men's 10,000 meters.
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Very Olympic Today. You'll catch up on the top stories, smaller events, things you may have missed while you were sleeping and links to the best writing from SI’s reporters on the ground in Tokyo.Twenty-one-year-old Selemon Barega put the men's 10,000-meter Olympic gold medal back in the hands of an Ethiopian man for the first time since the 2008 Olympics. With a 53.92-second last lap, Barega held off world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda for the 27:43.22 victory.
Cheptegei settled for silver in 27:43.63 with his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo just a quarter of a second behind him for the bronze. It marked Uganda's first Olympic medals on the track since 1996.
Uganda employed team tactics by deploying Stephen Kissa to pace the first few kilometers. At one point, he led the race by almost 50 meters but neither Cheptegei nor Kiplimo went with the defacto pacesetter in Tokyo's hot and humid conditions.
"We were planning for the gold but unfortunately we have a silver and bronze," Kissa said after the race. "But I'm happy. We have two medals."
Barega attempted to close the gap early in the race but settled back in with the chase pack before finally breaking away in the final kilometer. He closed the race in two minutes and 25 seconds for the fastest final 1,000 meters of an Olympic 10,000-meter final.
The last two Olympic gold medals in this event were won by Great Britain's Mo Farah. At 38 years old, he attempted to qualify for this event but failed to hit the time standard to secure his place and missed the Games.
Grant Fisher, a former NCAA champion out of Stanford competing in his first Olympics, was the top American in fifth place, in 27:46.39. Fellow Americans Woody Kincaid and Joe Klecker finished 15th and 16th, in 28:11.01 and 28:14.18, respectively. Fisher and Kincaid will also compete in the first round of the men's 5,000 meters on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
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