Kenya had won this event at every Olympic Games in which it participated from 1968 onward, securing a total of 11 titles, including nine consecutive victories following its absence from the 1976 and 1980 Games due to boycotts. Ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021),
Ethiopia, a regional rival in distance running, was considered a leading contender.
Lamecha Girma entered the competition with multiple top-ranked times globally, including two of the five fastest performances recorded at the time. 15 men qualified through a tough round of heats. On home soil,
Ryuji Miura set the Japanese National Record. A slow third heat left, among others, one Kenyan and one Ethiopian runner to watch the final from the stands. True to form in most championships, the final started slowly with Ethiopians Girma and
Getnet Wale controlling the pace from the front. About 1K in, Miura injected a little more speed, but the Ethiopians went back to the point, marked by the Kenyan duo of
Abraham Kibiwott and
Benjamin Kigen along with Kenyan born American
Benard Keter. As they approached 3 laps to go, Girma made an effort to speed up the race, the field stringing out behind them, with only the two Ethiopians, the two Kenyans breaking away with
Soufiane El Bakkali going on the back of the leaders for the ride. Through the penultimate lap, both Kenyans showed signs of weakness, losing contact on the remaining three at the bell. Duplicating the strategy of
Ezekiel Kemboi, El Bakkali accelerated over the first barrier of the backstretch. Wale struggled to keep up and Kigen sprinting to regain contact as his country's last hope. Entering the final turn, El Bakkali caught Girma. With both athletes taking the water jump cleanly, behind them as Kigen was catching Wale, his lead foot caught Wale's back kick and Wale was down. Kigen quickly regained his balance while Wale lost all momentum and his chance at a medal. After gaining the advantage, El Bakkali sprinted away from Girma to take the gold with Kigen getting the bronze. El Bakkali’s gold medal was the first Olympic or Worlds gold in 34 years—going back to the
1987 World Championships in Athletics—to be won by a non-Kenyan-born athlete. ==Background==