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The world-record holder raced in the middle of a strung-out pack for most of the 25 laps on the calm, cool evening outside of Paris. Then he took off around the curve and held the lead over the final 500 meters against a crowd of Ethiopians who set a blistering pace all night.
Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi beat American Grant Fisher in a sprint to the line for silver. Fisher’s bronze medal marked the first for the U.S. in the longest race on the Olympic track since Galen Rupp took silver in 2012.
This was Cheptegei’s season opener on the track this season — his only race at this distance was a 26:53 run in a cross-country road race earlier this season.
He looked in peak form, turning a race being controlled by Aregawi and his Ethiopian teammates, who strung out the pack early and took turns in the lead, into a celebration for Uganda, which captured its first gold in the 112-year history of this race at the Olympics.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7IifTXa88
