# 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 10,000 metres

The Men's 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 17 August. A large field of 31 athletes from 15 countries was set to participate in the final, although Irishman Martin Fagan did not start the competition.
Kenenisa Bekele was the favourite before the race, having never lost a race over the distance and starting the race as the reigning Olympic and World champion, as well as the world record holder. Four-time major championship silver medallist Sileshi Sihine was another strong competitor, but he withdrew due to an injury and was replaced by Ethiopian team's reserve Imane Merga. Gebregziabher Gebremariam and Kenyans Moses Masai and Micah Kogo were other possible medallists, as well as the consistent Eritrean, Zersenay Tadese.
Tadese sprinted to lead the race at the start but he was soon overtaken by Nicholas Kemboi, who led until the 4000-metre mark. Tadese and Masai picked up the pace and the Eritrean fronted the fastest group of runners from 5000 metres onwards. After a kilometre further on, a group of four runners (Tadese, Masai, Bekele and Kogo) were clearly leading the race as the other competitors trailed off. Tadese continued to lead and picked up the pace once again, at which point Kogo dropped off, shortly followed by Masai. Bekele continued to follow Tadese waiting, and on the last lap the reigning champion finally took the lead, sprinting away to win the gold medal in a Championship record time of 26:46.31. Tadese took the silver, with a run of 26:50.12, and Masai maintained his third position for the bronze.
Ever the strongest performer, Bekele remained undefeated to win his fourth consecutive 10,000 m at the World Championships, but it was second-placed Tadese's first medal at the World Championships. Moses Masai's bronze was his family's second of the competition, as his sister Linet Masai had won the Women's 10,000 metres two days earlier.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Kenenisa Bekele Ethiopia (ETH) | Zersenay Tadese Eritrea (ERI) | Moses Ndiema Masai Kenya (KEN) |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the following world and championship records were as follows.
| World record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 26:17.53 | Brussels, Belgium | 26 August 2005 |
| Championship record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 26:49.57 | Paris, France | 24 August 2003 |
| World leading | Josephat Muchiri Ndambiri (KEN) | 26:57.36 | Fukuroi, Japan | 3 May 2009 |
| African record | Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) | 26:17.53 | Brussels, Belgium | 26 August 2005 |
| Asian record | Ahmad Hassan Abdullah (QAT) | 26:38.76 | Brussels, Belgium | 5 September 2003 |
| North American record | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 27:08.23 | Berlin, West Germany | 18 August 1989 |
| South American record | Marílson Gomes dos Santos (BRA) | 27:28.12 | Neerpelt, Belgium | 2 June 2007 |
| European record | Mohammed Mourhit (BEL) | 26:52.30 | Brussels, Belgium | 3 September 1999 |
| Oceanian record | Collis Birmingham (AUS) | 27:29.73 | Berkeley, United States | 24 April 2009 |
The following new Championship record was set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | CR | WR |
| 17 August | Final | Kenenisa Bekele | Ethiopia (ETH) | 26:46.31 | CR | |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 27:47.00 | 28:12.00 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 17 August 2009 | 20:50 | Final |

## Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Kenenisa Bekele | Ethiopia (ETH) | 26:46.31 | CR |
| | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea (ERI) | 26:50.12 | SB |
| | Moses Ndiema Masai | Kenya (KEN) | 26:57.39 | SB |
| 4 | Imane Merga | Ethiopia (ETH) | 27:15.94 | PB |
| 5 | Bernard Kipyego | Kenya (KEN) | 27:18.47 | SB |
| 6 | Dathan Ritzenhein | United States (USA) | 27:22.28 | PB |
| 7 | Micah Kogo | Kenya (KEN) | 27:26.33 | SB |
| 8 | Galen Rupp | United States (USA) | 27:37.99 | SB |
| 9 | Kidane Tadasse | Eritrea (ERI) | 27:41.50 | SB |
| 10 | Gebregziabher Gebremariam | Ethiopia (ETH) | 27:44.04 | SB |
| 11 | Ahmad Hassan Abdullah | Qatar (QAT) | 27:45.03 | SB |
| 12 | Teklemariam Medhin | Eritrea (ERI) | 27:58.89 | SB |
| 13 | Fabiano Joseph Naasi | Tanzania (TAN) | 28:04.32 | SB |
| 14 | Juan Carlos Romero | Mexico (MEX) | 28:09.78 | SB |
| 15 | Carles Castillejo | Spain (ESP) | 28:09.89 | |
| 16 | Dickson Marwa | Tanzania (TAN) | 28:18.00 | SB |
| 17 | Tim Nelson | United States (USA) | 28:18.04 | |
| 18 | Juan Luis Barrios | Mexico (MEX) | 28:31.40 | |
| 19 | Surendra Kumar Singh | India (IND) | 28:35.51 | SB |
| 20 | Anatoliy Rybakov | Russia (RUS) | 28:42.28 | |
| 21 | Ezekiel Jafari | Tanzania (TAN) | 28:45.34 | |
| 22 | Martin Toroitich | Uganda (UGA) | 28:49.49 | SB |
| 23 | Rui Pedro Silva | Portugal (POR) | 28:51.40 | |
| 24 | David McNeill | Australia (AUS) | 29:18.59 | SB |
| 25 | Yuki Iwai | Japan (JPN) | 29:24.12 | |
| | Collis Birmingham | Australia (AUS) | | DNF |
| | Ayad Lamdassem | Spain (ESP) | | DNF |
| | Manuel Ángel Penas | Spain (ESP) | | DNF |
| | Abebe Dinkesa | Ethiopia (ETH) | | DNF |
| | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar (QAT) | | DNF |
| | Martin Fagan | Ireland (IRL) | | DNS |
Key: CR = Championship record, DNF = Did not finish, DNS = Did not start, PB = Personal best, SB = Seasonal best

### Splits

| Intermediate | Athlete | Country | Mark |
| 1000m | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar | 2:46.24 |
| 2000m | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar | 5:34.24 |
| 3000m | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar | 8:19.55 |
| 4000m | Nicholas Kemboi | Qatar | 11:04.75 |
| 5000m | Moses Ndiema Masai | Kenya | 13:40.45 |
| 6000m | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea | 16:18.75 |
| 7000m | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea | 18:57.73 |
| 8000m | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea | 21:37.80 |
| 9000m | Zersenay Tadese | Eritrea | 24:13.73 |