5000m race at the Rio Olympics: Gebremeskel to run for the gold

Will we witness a surprise for Mo Farah on the 5000m race at the Rio Olympics by the Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel?

As the Olympic Games in Rio are slowly approaching their end, the Olympic athletic competition is also preparing for its traditional final disciplines. The last two days of the competition are usually reserved for the marathon and the relay races as well as for the exiting 5000m race in men category. The past years revealed the domination of only one athlete in this category: Mo Farah. The question we are now all asking in Rio is whether he can repeat the success from London four years ago or whether the three Ethiopians behind him will work together on the race and bring the 5000m gold in their country again.

• Mo Farah: absolute favorite for the 5000m Olympic race

• Will the Ethiopians have a strategic race?

• Gebrhivet or Gebremeskel: the only dilemma is for the bronze

So far only once in the Olympic history of the 5000m race the gold has been defended. It was at the Olympic Games in Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 when the Finnish runner Lasse Viren succeded to defend his title. Will Mo Farah be the second one is something that athletics fans and all of you interested to bet on sports in Brazil are eager to find out.

Mo Farah’s domination

Before the appearance of Mo Farah on the athletic scene the British have never won an Olympic medal in the 5000m race. The ones that were closest to such a success ware Gordon Pirie and Derek Ibbotson who won the silver and the bronze medals in Melbourne in 1956 respectively. Beside these two runners the British have two more bronze medals in this race. One from the Olympiad in Stockholm in 1912 by George Hutson and the other form the more recent past in 1972. A peculiar thing for the British 5000m runners is that between 1972 and 2012 they didn’t won any Olympic medal in this category.

The appearance of Mo Farah changed everything in this respect. The successes behind the British superstar are incredible. He came on the Rio Olympics as defending champion in the 5000m and 10000m race from London. He defended the gold already on the longer race. And moreover he is coming as a three-times defending world champion in the 5000m category. It seems that the favorite role that internet betting sites in UK ascribe to him for defending both titles in Rio is completely justified.

The Ethiopian runners

Yet, if surprises are possible somewhere then it is in sports, especially in athletics where small things might decide the winner. The final in 5000m will have three brilliant Ethiopian runners Muktar Edris, Hagos Gebrhivet and Dejen Gebremeskel. All of them eager to write their names proudly to those of their celebrated compatriot champions in this category such as Kenenisa Bekele, Million Wolde, Miruts Yifter. Unlike the British, in the past 40 years they won 3 Olympic golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze in this category which makes them the most successful nation in the 5000m race according to the golds won. Experts predict a strategic race by the Ethiopians in which Gebremeskel is the most probable candidate for a speed finish against Farah.

The betting odds of the favorites in the 5000m race at the Rio Olympics

According to NetBet, the winner of the race is just a matter of formality. Mo Farah is the absolute favorite in the 5000m race with betting odds of 1.18 while Muktar Edris and Hagos Gebrhivet are way behind him with odds of 9.50 and 12.00 respectively.

Online sportsbooks in Australia such as Sportsbet, offer betting on the winners of medals in this category where the odds among the favorites are: 1.03 for Mo Farah, 1.36 for Muktar Edris, Hagos Gebrhivet has 1.72 and Dejen Gebremeskel 2.20. The rest of the competitors according to Sportsbet go below 5.00.

The bookmakers at Bet365 enter a slight difference in these evaluations. According to them there is also no question about the greatest favorite in the race nor about the second place. Yet, the chances between the third favorite Hagos Gebrhivet and Dejen Gebremeskel are practically the same, both being evaluated at 11.00