# Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres

The Men's 10,000 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4 August. The race was won by 0.48 seconds by Mo Farah, the reigning 5000 metres World Champion, in a time of 27:30.42.

## Summary

From the beginning Farah stayed close to the race leaders, who on the first lap were the defending champion Kenenisa Bekele and his brother Tariku. After six laps, the half marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese and his Eritrean teammates began to push the pace. At the same time, Moses Kipsiro went down, causing the field to scatter and Farah to fall back in the field with his American training partner Galen Rupp. When Tariku Bekele came up behind Tadese, his attempt to force the pace slowed. The 5000 metre mark was reached in 14:05.79, with Tadese in front, though Bedan Karoki Muchiri took the lead soon after. Thirteen runners remained in the lead pack including three Ethiopians, three Eritreans, two Kenyans, Kipsiro, Kenyan born Polat Kemboi Arikan running for Turkey, Canadian Cameron Levins, Farah and Rupp. Strategic play continued as Tariku elbowed Farah, causing him to step to the outside ready to cover a move. Then the third Ethiopian Gebregziabher Gebremariam, ran to the front, but rather than forcing the pace, he seemed to slow it down. With two laps to go, Tariku Bekele regained the lead, with Farah on his shoulder and Moses Ndiema Masai, Rupp and Michuri following in close formation. At the start of the final lap, Farah made his move into the lead. For most of the last lap, Tariku Bekele, Muchuri, Rupp, and Kenenisa Bekele respectively remained in tow until the final turn at which point Farah pulled away for the win with a final lap of 53.48 seconds. With 60m left, Rupp went outside and outsprinted Tariku Bekele to take the silver medal. Tariku Bekele held on for third place just ahead of his older brother and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.

## 'Super Saturday'

Farah's gold medal was the final of three gold medals in one evening for the host country, their most successful day in Olympic history.

## Competition format

Only a final, without preliminary heats, was held.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 26:17.53 | Brussels, Belgium | 26 August 2005 |
| Olympic record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 27:01.17 | Beijing, China | 17 August 2008 |
| 2012 World leading | Wilson Kiprop (KEN) | 27:01.98 | Eugene, OR, United States | 1 June 2012 |

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 4 August 2012 | 21:15 | Finals |

## Results

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Result | Notes |
| | Mo Farah | Great Britain | 27:30.42 | |
| | Galen Rupp | United States | 27:30.90 | |
| | Tariku Bekele | Ethiopia | 27:31.43 | |
| 4 | Kenenisa Bekele | Ethiopia | 27:32.44 | |
| 5 | Bedan Karoki Muchiri | Kenya | 27:32.94 | |
| 6 | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea | 27:33.51 | |
| 7 | Teklemariam Medhin | Eritrea | 27:34.76 | |
| 8 | Gebregziabher Gebremariam | Ethiopia | 27:36.34 | |
| 9 | Polat Kemboi Arikan | Turkey | 27:38.81 | PB |
| 10 | Moses Ndiema Kipsiro | Uganda | 27:39.22 | |
| 11 | Cameron Levins | Canada | 27:40.68 | |
| 12 | Moses Ndiema Masai | Kenya | 27:41.34 | |
| 13 | Dathan Ritzenhein | United States | 27:45.89 | |
| 14 | Robert Kajuga | Rwanda | 27:56.67 | PB |
| 15 | Nguse Tesfaldet | Eritrea | 27:56.78 | |
| 16 | Thomas Ayeko | Uganda | 27:58.96 | |
| 17 | Moukheld Al-Outaibi | Saudi Arabia | 28:07.25 | |
| 18 | Mohammed Ahmed | Canada | 28:13.91 | |
| 19 | Matthew Tegenkamp | United States | 28:18.26 | |
| 20 | Ben St.Lawrence | Australia | 28:32.67 | |
| 21 | Diego Estrada | Mexico | 28:36.19 | |
| 22 | Yuki Sato | Japan | 28:44.06 | |
| 23 | Ayad Lamdassem | Spain | 28:49.85 | |
| 24 | Daniele Meucci | Italy | 28:57.46 | |
| 25 | Christopher Thompson | Great Britain | 29:06.14 | |
| 26 | Mykola Labovskyy | Ukraine | 29:32.12 | |
| – | Ali Hasan Mahboob | Bahrain | DNF | |
| – | Bayron Piedra | Ecuador | DNF | |
| – | Wilson Kiprop | Kenya | DNF | |