In hindsight, this race was the confluence of many of the greats. Kenenisa Bekele was already the world record holder, the Woolworth double (5 and 10) Olympic champion and the champion at 10,000 here. At 27, this would be his last successful major championship race. At 35, Bernard Lagat (a Kenyan transplant to USA) would continue to medal internationally for another 5 years. Lagat was the defending champion and was the second fastest 1500 runner of all time. Eliud Kipchoge had the championship record from 2003 and would go on to greater fame in marathon running, winning the Olympic gold medal in 2016 and setting the assisted world record in 2017, then the official record in 2018. A lesser known British runner named Mo Farah was making his first World Championship final after disappointment in the 2008 Olympics. Two years later, he would go on to start a 6 year long major championship winning streak that would encompass two Olympics and four World Championships in both the 5 and 10.