Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi finally grabbed that elusive Gold on Day 4 in the Berlin World Championships on Tuesday.
His winning time was a new Championship Record of 8:00.43
and the racing over the last few laps was ferocious to say the least. The East Africans were attempting to take chunks out of each other in their pursuit of Gold which has been the domain of Kenyan born athletes for some time now.
France's Bouabdellah Tahri was trying to get a look in on this Kenyan party and hung with the big boys and was able to wrestle a medal away from them by taking Bronze with a final surge over the last 30m to split the intended Kenyan 1-2-3.
In doing so he established a new European Record with his time of 8:01.18
As was expected South Africa's Ruben Ramolefi took out the pace for the 1st kilometer which they blitzed through in 2:41.90, however instead of the tempo dropping the Kenyans simply upped it further with Paul Kipsiele Koech leading through 2km in 5:22.79 and then they lifted the pace even further for the last blitz towards the line.
The facial expressions were etched in painful and somewhat excruciating agony over the last lap with Tahri seemingly looking the most relaxed, however at this event it is expected that the Kenyans die for their country to take Gold and they were rewarded with the top 2 placings.
This was a race where the Pride of Africa was on display and Tahir was able to edge in for a gallant place on the podium.
Other events on the evening and my Fantasy scoring
In the morning session, my Fantasy Team runner, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, came through the heats relatively unscathed and looks to be on for a podium finish in the final and of course a maximum 100 points, that is once she has dealt with the semis which is only on Friday. In her race the USA's Shannon Rowbury came tumbling down but was given a reprieve and she will line up in the semis for another bite at the cherry.
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In 2005, Ramzi improved to such a great extent that the whispers and murmers used to follow his every performance, the telltale signs of infrequent racing and then sublime performances at the Helsinki World Championships; where he achieved the 800 and 1500m Double and then Gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, had the tongues wagging.
After the Russian's performance on Friday; where she ran a solo 9:15.17, the fastest time of the year at the time, we would not have been surprised if the final was a tactical affair and that Gold was around the neck of another recipient other than Galkina. However an opening kilometer of 2:58.63, her stall was set and with her next kilometer a shade over 3 minutes for 6:01.20 the rest of the field were left for dead when she again upped her tempo recording her closing kilometer in 2:57.61 for a sub 9 min performance.