From 1996-2016, Olympics games have always treated the winners with back-to-back victories in the 10000m.
Haile Gebrselassie dominated Atlanta in 1996 and the millennium in Sydney, then came Kenenisa Bekele, Athens 2004, and Beijing in 2008. London 2012 and 2016 Rio de Janeiro belong to Mo Farah.
It was the end of an epoch for Farah for failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and that means he has automatically passed the bottom to the next prodigy of athletes.
Then beg the question, who is next?
After winning the 2019 Aarhansus world cross country and 2019 Doha world championship in 10,000m pandits tipped Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda to take over the mantle in a twenty-five laps event.
The Ugandan superstar cemented the fact by shattering 5000m and 10,000m world records last year, but somewhere along the way Cheptegei ferocity relatively dropped.
In May this year in the Ostrova Golden spike, Cheptegei failed to smash Daniel Komen's world record of 7:20.67 in the 3000m flat. The 24-year -old, nonetheless, won in 7:33.24. In a dazzling race that followed in the Florence diamond league, Cheptegei finished sixth in 5000m posting 12:54.69. The defeat can be a blessing in disguise in the Tokyo Olympics, as the saying goes once bitten, twice shy.
Cheptegei's compatriot Jacob Kiplimo seems to have augmented his chances to take over from Farah. Kiplimo flummoxed many in last year's Golden spike in Ostrova when he subdued Norwegian star Jacob Ingebrigtsen in the 3000m flat to run a scintillating lifetime best of 7:24.28.
He went ahead in the same year to win the world half marathon championship in Gdynia, Poland before summing up the year with a personal best of 57:37 in half marathon, which ranked him the second-fastest of all time.
The 20-year-old Kiplimo has not been defeated this year. In March he opened the year with a win at Campaccio cross country championships in Italy. Ostrova Golden spike on May 19, saw him run a word lead of 26:33 in 10,000m. The long-distance sensation booked his ticket in 5000m posting 12:55.60 at the spitzen Leichtathletik meeting in Luzern.
Geoffry Kamworor is another formidable contender. The three-time world half marathon champion has not competed in any track event this year outside Kenya. The 28 -year-old posted 27:01.06 in 10000m during the Kenya nationals trials, the fastest time ever run in a high altitude.
It's worth noting that Kamworor has played the cards under his chest, and he might unleash the unthinkable in the Tokyo Olympics. Running in front of his coach Patrick Sang and his great mentor Eliud Kipchoge will further embolden him. Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Kipkurui will join him to chase the long-awaited victory, last won by Naftali Temu in 1968 at the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Fresh from running his personal best in the 3000m flat (7:26.25) in the Oslo diamond league Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia can also pull a surprise. The 2019 world championship silver medallists will team up with his compatriot Selemon Berega to bring home the lost glory.
