By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 3, 2007

OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 2 -- The furious race for the top three spots in the homestretch of the 5,000 meters on the final day of the 11th IAAF world track and field championships Sunday featured this astonishing surprise: the active involvement of two American men.

One made history.

The other helped bring further credibility to U.S. distance running, which soared in status during these nine-day championships.

Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat, who won his U.S. citizenship three years ago, waggled two index fingers at television cameras after overcoming fatigue and 2003 world champion Eliud Kipchoge with a late sprint to become the first man to win gold medals in the 1,500 and 5,000 in the same world championships.

Little-known U.S. teammate Matt Tegenkamp, meantime, passed two men in the last 100 meters and came within .03 second of claiming what would have been -- before these championships -- an unfathomable bronze medal. He couldn't quite catch Uganda's Moses Ndiema Kipsiro, who edged him by inches.

"Hopefully this is a good tipping point for American distance running," said James Li, Lagat's coach. "Great things happened here."

Sunday's highlights followed American Kara Goucher's unexpected bronze in the 10,000 last week and Lagat's first gold in a 1,500 final that included Alan Webb, who had been favored to win a medal but faded to eighth. The United States also placed three men in the final of the 5,000 -- another first.

For a nation that showcased a pair of triple gold medal winners (sprinters Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix) and dominated the medal table by matching its 1991 world championship record with 26 total medals and 15 gold, the achievements in the distance events might seem small. Their significance, however, can hardly be overstated.

These championships represented the best middle-distance and distance performance for the United States in Olympic and world championship history, with only a three-medal performance (a silver in the 10,000 and bronzes in the 1,500 and marathon) at the 1912 Olympics coming close.

Lagat, who has lived in the United States since receiving a running scholarship to Washington State in 1996, immediately made the U.S. squad a distance threat after waiting the required three-year period to begin competing for his adopted nation. While running for Kenya, he had won Olympic and world championship medals, but never a gold in a major global championship.

"It is a dream come true," he said. "I would not even imagined when I landed at the [Osaka] airport that I would ever win two events at these championships. To do it at the world championships, following in the footsteps of Hicham El Guerrouj, is fantastic to me."

The legendary El Guerrouj achieved the same double at the 2004 Olympics. Distance great Paavo Nurmi also achieved it at the 1924 Games.

Officials and athletes said Lagat's presence in a U.S. uniform has forced other athletes to raise their expectations and performances. They also cite the host of professional running groups that have sprouted throughout the nation over the last decade, saying such groups allow talented distance runners to extend their careers.

"In the United States, there are so many pessimists, people who want to put up barriers and say that we can't compete with the African countries," Tegenkamp said. "I think that's just setting yourself up for failure. We've been thinking of medals since Day 1 of the season."

The race's plodding pace seemed to cater to Lagat's sprinting strength. With no one willing to lake the lead and push the tempo, the runners stayed bunched in a large pack, circling the track like a bunch of high schoolers. They passed the first 1,600 meters in 4 minutes 44.61 seconds.

Tegenkamp, a 2005 graduate of the University of Wisconsin who trains with a running group in Madison, clearly had his eye on a medal as he chased Lagat on the final lap and came off the final curve in sixth place. He then motored improbably past Tariku Bekele -- the little brother of the legendary Kenenisa Bekele -- and Great Britain's Mohammed Farah. Kipsiro, who had a sizeable lead, barely held him off.

"There was nothing else I could do," Tegenkamp said. "Maybe I should have dove across the line."

Lagat, who ran down the homestretch peering up at his own image on the Jumbotron screen, finished in 13:45.87. Kipchoge came in 13:46.00 and Uganda's Moses Ndiema Kipsiro claimed third in 13:46.75. Tegenkamp finished in 13:46.78 and fellow American Adam Goucher, the husband of Kara, finished 11th (13:57.17).

Lagat said he has been troubled for more than a year by stomach problems that have baffled his doctors and forced him to take medication that has sapped his strength, but the race pace gave him a shot of adrenalin. He said he felt confident he could out-think and then out-kick his rivals in the slow, technical affair.

"It means a lot to me," Lagat said. "I'll be setting an example for the younger ones in America. . . . There will be other kids born and raised in America that will do what I do."