SAINT-DENIS, France, Aug 3, (AP): Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the lead with a little more than a lap left in a masterpiece of a 10,000-meter final to win in an Olympic-record 26 minutes, 43.14 seconds in front of a roaring crowd on an electric opening night for the track at the Stade de France.

The world record holder raced in the middle of a strung-out pack for most of the 25 laps on the calm, cool evening outside of Paris. Then he took off around the curve and held the lead over the final 500 meters against a crowd of Ethiopians who set a blistering pace all night.

Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi beat American Grant Fisher in a sprint to the line for silver. Fisher's bronze medal marked the first for the U.S. in the longest race on the Olympic track since Galen Rupp took silver in 2012.

This was Cheptegei's season opener on the track this season - his only race at this distance was a 26:53 run in a cross-country road race earlier this season.
He looked in peak form, turning a race controlled by Aregawi and his Ethiopian teammates, who strung out the pack early and took turns in the lead, into a celebration for Uganda, which captured its first gold in the 112-year history of this race at the Olympics.

The win earned Cheptegei $50,000 - a new prize for Olympic track this year - and a chance to ring the bell at the end of the stadium reserved only for newly crowned Olympic champions.
Cheptegei adds this to the silver medal he won in Tokyo and the world titles he took in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
"Now, my collection is complete,” he said. "I was the world champion. Now, I have won the Olympic title. I'm so excited.”