World 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo was headed for victory but was overtook by Sawe meters to the finish line as Bernard Kibet completed the podium
Sawe was in hot pursuit of his teammate as they rounded the final turn into the home straight, and it was a few hundred metres from the finish when he drew alongside him. As he did, Ebenyo smiled and then motioned at his teammate in what looked like a request for him to ease down, perhaps so the Kenyan trio could cross the line together, though Sawe had eyes only for gold, offering his teammate a quick salute before kicking clear.
What had Ebenyo actually said to his teammate while being passed? “I told him, ‘don’t worry, go!’”
Sawe felt that despite the deficit he had to overcome, gold was always within reach. “I always have confidence in the last kilometre,” he said. “After approaching him, I saw he wasn’t pushing much and I had enough strength and after that, I never stopped.”
Ebenyo was content with his silver, saying: “We pushed each other to a good result.”
He had worried, when the wheels started to fall off in the closing kilometres, if he’d win a medal of any colour. “At around 18km I just said, ‘let me get to the finish,’” he explained. “I’m happy with the silver. My career is coming along slowly.”
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