By Paul Hof-Mahoney
August 5, 2024
This women’s 5000m final had everything. Five of the nine fastest women in history, including the three fastest. It was fast, it was physical, it had a national record, it had a disqualification, it had a rescindment of said disqualification. When everything was settled, it was a Kenyan 1-2 from 10,000m world record holder Beatrice Chebet and 1500m world record holder Faith Kipyegon. Bronze went to Sifan Hassan on the first leg of her 5000m-10,000m-marathon triple, backing up her Olympic title in the event from Tokyo.
Here’s what you need to know:
- The early stages of this race played out similarly to global championship races we’ve seen in the past. There were team tactics from the Kenyans (Chebet, Kipyegon, and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi) and the Ethiopians (Gudaf Tsegay, Ejgayehu Taye, and Medina Eisa) at the front of the pack while Hassan sat towards the back of the field, only moving up when absolutely necessary.
- The controversy in this race came with a little over 800m left. As the lead pack (which then sat at nine women) came down the homestretch, Kipyegon led her Kenyan teammates in the first three positions. Tsegay, the world record holder in the event, tried to make a move to take the lead from Kipyegon. As she attempted to gain position at the front of the pack, she seemed to lock arms with Kipyegon for a moment, and there was some additional shoving that almost forced Kipyegon to step into the infield. When the two women separated, Tsegay’s move had worked and she was in the pole position with two laps to go.
- As the pack neared the bell, Tsegay started to fade as all the Kenyans overtook her again, with Kipyegon heading the pack. It quickly turned into a clear battle between Kipyegon and Chebet for gold over the final 300m, which you would think would favor the fastest woman ever over the mile and the 1500m. As it turns out, the advantage went to the 10K strength from Chebet, who sat on Kipyegon’s shoulder around the bend and beat out the 2023 World champ on the straight. Her winning time of 14:28.56 is the second-fastest in Olympic history.
- Behind Chebet, Kipyegon held on to cross the line in second in 14:29.60, followed by Hassan in 14:30.61. After the three medalists celebrated on track, it was announced that Kipyegon was disqualified for her incident with Tsegay according to World Athletics code TR17.1.2, which disqualifies athletes for “obstruction.” With this ruling, Hassan's finish was improved to silver and bronze went to Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, who ran an Italian record of 14:31.64 and moved from seventh to fourth across the final lap.
- The disqualification held up for a little under two hours, when a Kenyan appeal was accepted and Kipyegon was reinstated. This returned the medals to the original finishing order: Chebet the gold, Kipyegon the silver, and Hassan the bronze.
Full results:
1. Beatrice Chebet - 14:28.56
2. Faith Kipyegon - 14:29.60
3. Sifan Hassan - 14:30.61
4. Nadia Battocletti - 14:31.64 NR
5. Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi - 14:32.23
6. Ejgayehu Taye - 14:32.98
7. Medina Eisa - 14:35.43
8. Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal - 14:43.21
9. Gudaf Tsegay - 14:45.21
10. Karissa Schweizer - 14:45.57
11. Elise Cranny - 14:48.06
12. Rose Davies - 14:49.67
13. Nathalie Blomqvist - 14:53.10
14. Whittni Morgan - 14:53.57
15. Joselyn Daniely Brea - 15:17.04
16. Francine Niyomukunzi - 15:22.40
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Paul Hof-Mahoney
Paul is currently a student at the University of Florida (Go Gators) and is incredibly excited to be making his way into the track and field scene. He loves getting the opportunity to showcase the fascinating storylines that build up year-over-year across all events (but especially the throws).
