EUGENE — When USA’s Grant Fisher and Abdihamid Nur engaged in a dead sprint during the final 50 meters of the men’s 5,000-meter semifinal, it looked like they might be trying to go for a win.
As it turned out, Fisher and Nur were running for their final-berth lives Thursday night at Hayward Field.
Fisher took second and Nur fifth in the first World Athletics Championships 5,000 semifinal. It was just enough to make the field for Sunday’s final, as the second final was run at a hotter pace, resulting in much faster times.
The top nine from the second semifinal and six from the first heat advanced. Kenya’s Jacob Krop won the second race in 13 minutes, 13.30 seconds, almost 11 seconds faster than Oscar Chelimo’s winning effort in the first semifinal.
Thursday’s semifinals were a prelude to what is among the signature events of this world meet. This year’s 5,000 is loaded, as it includes three Olympic gold medalists from 2021, the top two from 2019 worlds and this year’s 10,000 champion. It will also include three Bowerman runners in Mohammed Ahmed, Marc Scott and Fisher.
Though slower, the most entertaining semifinal race was the opener. The dawdling pace led to a bang-bang finish, as the top seven runners were separated by a half-second at the finish.
Which was on Fisher’s mind as he and Nur tore through the final 50 meters running in Lane 1. The top five were guaranteed a berth in the final. After that, it’s based on time.
“You don’t really want to mess around with the (time qualifying) in the first heat,” Fisher said.
It’s an advantage to run in the second heat, because runners know how fast they must go to make the final. It played out that way, as the pace was much swifter, and because of that, not nearly as exciting near the finish. Though Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the second heat runner-up, tried to add some thrill as he wildly gestured to fans to make noise throughout the stretch.
“If he wants to do that, go ahead. It’s not my way of running,” said Scott of Great Britain, who finished eighth to advance.
Ingebrigtsen, Sunday’s 1,500 world championships runner-up, kept it up as he made his way to the media.
“The 5k is always tough. It is a long distance and high speed, but I do not see anyone beating me,” Ingebrigtsen said.
Ahmed often peeked at the scoreboard clock to make sure his heat was running faster than the first semifinal. It almost cost Ahmed once when he came up too quickly on a slower runner.
“I was kind of busy looking at the clock. I almost went down,” Ahmed said.
University of Portland graduate Woody Kincaid wasn’t so fortunate. Kincaid fell about 2,000 meters into the race. He recovered, but it wasn’t enough, finishing 11th, three places out of a final berth. Until the fall, Kincaid was among the top three in the race, leading for a lap.
Kincaid, who runs for Bowerman Track Club, said he wasn’t certain how he went down but added that he planned to protest.
“I think I have a good shot,” said Kincaid, whose shoulder was burned red from the fall.
As for Sunday’s final, the next 72 hours should be fascinating in terms of planning tactics. There’s speed, there are finishers, there’s class and no shortage of quality.
“It’ll be kind of quick,” Fisher said of the final. “Lot of guys with different skill sets. We’ve got the world record-holder in there. You’ve got to be ready for anything.”
— Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel
