Daniel Mateiko floors bigwigs to win men's 10,000m at Prefontaine Classic & qualify for Olympics

Belfast Telegraph

Daniel Mateiko floors bigwigs to win men's 10,000m at Prefontaine Classic & qualify for Olympics

Abigael Wafula 22:40 - 25.05.2024

Little-known Daniel Mateiko will be the talk of the town following his tactical run to win the men's 10,000m at the Prefontaine Classic and automatically qualify for a maiden appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Daniel Mateiko has secured a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games following his striking run that saw him win the men's 10,000m race at the Prefontaine Classic, the Diamond League Meeting in Eugene.

The race started with Simiu in the lead, looking very poised and ready for anything with Samwel Masai and Stanley Waithaka running behind him.

Passing the 1600m mark, Simiu was still in the lead, with Waithaka now running in second-place and Bernard Kibet had now risen to third place. Nicholas Kimeli was also running from the front.

Former world half marathon record holder Kibiwott Kandie was also in the filed and as the athletes passed the 2000m mark, he was running in the middle of the pack alongside Edwin Kurgat and Daniel Mateiko.

As the deep field of athletes passed the 5000m mark, Kimeli had taken charge with Simiu running closely behind him. Benson Kiplagat was now running in third place with Mateiko and Kibet running closely in the lead too.

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As the athletes passed the 6000m mark, Weldon Langat had taken charge with Valencia Half Marathon champion Kandie also running in the lead alongside Kimeli and Ronald Kwemoi.

Simiu reclaimed the lead after passing the 7600m mark and was now looking charged up and poised, leading the whole pack of athletes. Gideon Rono was running in second with Kimeli and Mateiko following closely.

However, his reign was short-lived as Kandie took charge one more time, passing the 8400m mark with Mateiko now running in second. With the finish line in sight, the race became a battle of titans with everyone wanting to cross the finish line among the top three.

Mateiko had better legs and took the top prize, clocking a world lead and personal best time of 26:50.81 to cross the finish line ahead of Kimeli who clocked a personal best time of 26:50.94 for a second-place finish. Bernard Kibet rounded up the podium, stopping the clock at a lifetime best of 26:51.09.

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