Pace too hot for Buscomb

Camille Buscomb found the leading 5000m runners too hot to handle today.

The New Zealander was in the leading group until about the halfway point, but until then the pace had been run at a dawdle.

Once the top runners stepped up the pace, Buscomb struggled to maintain contact and drifted back through the field to eventually finish 12^th in 15min 55.45s.

“It was a very soft start,” she said later. “After that it was never going to be a quick time but they certainly finished fast.

“Looking back, I should have had a go earlier, rather than sit back and wait for them to increase the pace.”

The New Zealander, who finished 14^th in the 10,000m earlier in the Games, said had learnt a lot from her Games experience and now needed to go away and do more training and racing. The 5000m today was won by Kenyan Hellen Obiri in 15min 13.11s.

The other New Zealand athlete in action today, Ben Langton Burnell, had a disappointing time of it in the javelin. After qualifying yesterday with a distance of 75.29m, Langton Burnell could manage just 73.77m today, for 10^th place.

Considering he has thrown over 80 metres, his distances today were well below his expectations. If he had thrown well, a top five beckoned. His three throws today were 73.77sm, 72.47m and 73.06m.

The javelin gold went to Indian Neeraj Chopra with 86.47m.