Deportes en el recuerdo. 5.000m sub 13 para dos

London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace (2004)

Craig Mottram became the first Australian distance runner to break 13 minutes for 5000m. Not only that, but he posed an enormous threat to Ethiopian distance legend Halie Gebrselassie, who eventually won in a sprint finish, charging to a UK allcomers’ record of 12:55.51 as he prepares to bid to become the first man ever to win three Olympic 10,000m titles. The last lap had been covered in 55.67 seconds. For Mottram in second place, there was the considerable consolation of clocking 12:55.76 at the end of a summer in which he has obviously trained well in the suburbs of London.

Haile Gebrselassie: "Wow, that was really, really hard, but I ran really well. I am so happy today. The crowd, as always, were fantastic, I am really pleased I won for them. I was really surprised when Craig came past me. He was like a whippet. He really pushed me along and helped us run a very fast time."

Craig Mottram of his Australian record 12:55.76: "That's brilliant! I came here to run 13 minutes; I have gone better. I am now four weeks away from the Olympics. I am ready to go and I can get a medal. I have a 1500m in Zurich next week to sharpen up and rectify my personal best over the shorter distance and then in the last 200m I will be able to hold them off. With 500m to go tonight, I thought I could win the race, so I took off and even Haile struggled to get past me."