World record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda avoided another nasty surprise when he ran to Olympic 5,000 metre gold from the front in the deciding stages.
A week after having to settle for 10,000m silver, Cheptegei started a long sprint in the penultimate lap and with no one managing to pass him and crossed the line in 12 minutes 58.15 seconds.
Mohammed Ahmed got a first ever medal for Canada in the event, a silver in 12:58.61, and bronze went to 2016 silver medallist Paul Chelimo of the US in 12:59.05, who could yet be sanctioned for briefly stepping off track.
Cheptegei succeeds Briton Mo Farah who after 2012 and 2016 distance doubles was not competing in Tokyo after failing to qualify for the 10,000m. Season leader Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway was concentrating on the 1,500m.
