Mo Katir searched for the gold. He kept the pulse to the end. He tried it and stood up to the impressive Jakob Ingebrigtsen until the last straight. The Spaniard came from winning the bronze in the 1,500 World Cup but in Munich it was about 5,000. Less explosiveness but more resistance. Less speed but more strategy. Katir ran with supine intelligence, always well placed, without haste, without haste until he caught a remarkable silver with a time of 13m22s98, his best mark of the season in the distance. Ahead only the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen (13m21s13), unapproachable in the last meters, when he starred in the final change.
For a moment, at the turn of the 200, it was sensed that Katir could pass him. They stood side by side, shoe to shoe, stride to stride. Could Katir cough at Ingebrigtsen, one of the great figures of universal athletics? For a few seconds it was like that, the other competitors already behind. But the Norwegian, yes a boastful point in his statements always, did not want to be surprised. He was already beaten at Eugene in the 1,500 and didn't want any more unexpected news. Like someone who doesn't want the thing, he sped up, he lengthened his stride and left inevitably. With the ease of the chosen. He already has his first gold in the European here, on Thursday he will go for the second, in the 1,500, to try to repeat the double that he already achieved in the 2018 European Championships in Berlin. Katir, who even seemed a disappointed point at the finish for not being able to tighten more, he has nothing to reproach himself for. His summer has been sensational. He only won the best, while the bronze went to the Italian Crippa (13m24s83).
The race was neither too fast nor too slow, which could benefit Katir, who was more inclined this season for the 1,500. But the final became dangerous because it was very crowded, with 25 participants, with a lot of traffic, with friction and with a fall in the middle of the group, that of Frenchman Hugo Hay, who caused fear in the others, in case there were more setbacks. The Frenchman accused Katir at the end of having caused his fall.
Katir followed suit, like Adel Mechaal, who gave in when hostilities broke out and disconnected (he finished on the 14th). Mechaal has not been able to recover well from the coronavirus that he suffered before the World Cup and short-circuited his preparation. Meanwhile, Ingebrigtsen preferred this time to control operations from the front. Nothing to leave behind, like other times. He didn't notice any wear and tear from competing on Monday in the 1,500 heats. At 21 years old, he continues to make history in capital letters.
If in 2021 Katir broke through with stratospheric marks, with his Spanish records of 5,000 and 1,500, where he erased Fermín Cacho from the books, in 2022 it was the medalist Katir, the competitor. Not so dedicated to the big rallies of the Diamond League and yes to the championships. He hung a valuable silver, the fifth medal of Spain in Munich.
