Kiwi 5000m Duo Miss Out On Men’s 5000m Final Spot

Geordie Beamish and Hamish Carson, the final two New Zealand competitors at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, both produced gusty efforts in boiling temperatures of 28C at Hayward Field but missed out on advancing to the final of the men’s 5000m.

Competing in a first heat containing 21 athletes, including the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champions Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, was always going to be a tough assignment for Geordie, who was raised in Hawke’s Bay before later studying at Whanganui Collegiate.

In a slow run first half of the race, Geordie, who posted a national indoor 5000m record to move second on the all-time New Zealand rankings (indoor and outdoor) last December with a blistering 13:12.53, was happy to sit five from the back for much of the first half of the race before taking closer order through the middle phase of the race.

However, as the large lead group started to splinter in the final mile, Geordie, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, lost contact and his chances of advancing to Monday’s final started to slip. He hit the bell in 15th before producing a sub-60-second final lap to move up to 12th, posting a time of 13:36.86.

The heat victory was snared by Oscar Chelimo of Uganda in a time of 13:24.24.

Hamish always faced a formidable challenge in a stacked heat two, which included stellar talent as Norway’s Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and double World Indoor 3000m champion Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia.

Hamish made a move from midfield up into the top six just before 2km to give himself every chance of qualifying for one of the five automatic spots. However, following a pace injection from first Luis Grijalva of Guatemala and later Kenyan Daniel Ebenyo the field quickly split, and Hamish lost contact with the lead group.

In boiling hot conditions, Hamish, who hails from the Kapiti Coast, plugged on gamely to the challenge to cross the line 12th in 13:37.62.

For Hamish, who was making his World Championships debut at the 33, it was a minor miracle he made the team for Eugene. Stranded in Europe because of Covid for the past 15 months and struggling financially, the 2016 Rio Olympic 1500m representative has devoted his energies to training and after setting a 35-second 5000m PB in Huelva, Spain in May and backing this up by placing ninth in the Paris Diamond League he qualified for the team.

“I did what I could do today,” said Hamish. “I felt like I was in a good position at 2km but unfortunately when the pace picked up, I couldn’t quite keep on that lead group. After that lull had a pretty decent finish but I couldn’t quite get in the top ten which I needed to have a chance of getting one of the fastest five qualification positions on time.

“I was really proud to have come in as the 39th ranked athlete in the field and finished 25th overall. Obviously, I would have loved to have made the final but I’m happy to be here after a really tough journey qualifying. It is always a pleasure to wear the Black Singlet and I hope I can do it again.”

Geordie finished 23rd overall out of the 41 starters and Hamish was 25th.

Results here

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