Less than a year ago he was one of the new boys in the elite field racing for medals in the 5000 metres in Rio, but Andy Butchart looked very much in his element last night and not just because the conditions were so close to those he so often trains in at home.
Finding himself in the second heat of the 5000 metres was extremely favourable because it meant he knew exactly what he had to do in order to get through to Saturday’s final and he took full advantage of it, so comfortable on the home straight of the final lap that he looked to be chatting cheerily with Paul Chelimo.
It turned out that he was merely offering a bit of encouragement to a rival he has become close to, the American also having emerged from relative obscurity in the last couple of seasons and, in the Olympic final in which Butchart finished sixth, making an even bigger impact by winning the silver medal behind Mo Farah.
“I could see that he was grinding and I was just ‘chill Paul, chill’. He was in the zone. We were just chilling out down the home straight, we knew we were through and I just wanted him to chill out too,” Butchart explained.
“Me and Paul got along well last year. He got a silver medal in Rio. We’ve been close friends for a while now.”
Chelimo’s determined mindset was wholly understandable because he had been tripped and consequently suffered a bad fall at around the halfway stage of the race, bringing Josphat Kiprono Menjoi down with him.
Butchart briefly had to turn steeple-chaser to avoid joining them on the track, having to step on the hapless Kenyan as he did so and he was happy to have negotiated such a potential tricky situation as well as he did.
“I can’t really think what happened. I just remember Chelimo falling down. Luckily my hamstrings are quite springy and I managed to stay off the ground,” he said grinning broadly.
Butchart had been fairly demonstrative with his hand gestures prior to that, such was the physicality of the race, which is often an indicator of a slower pace, but that was deceptive in this case because with all concerned knowing what was required they made sure that it stayed quick enough to ensure that all five spots available for those who did not qualify automatically by finishing in the first five of each race, would come from that second semi-final.
Even so it was still pretty feisty in the closing stages as Kenya’s Cyrus Rutto, who finished third and Canada’s Muhammed Ahmed (sixth) engaged in what was little short of hand to hand combat.
Just as in the first heat, it was won by an Ethiopian, Selemon Bareem as he edged out Bahrain’s Birhani with a winning time of 13.21.5, while Australia’s Patrick Tiernan and Ryan Hill of the USA claimed the other automatic qualifying spots.
However, that full awareness of the situation explained why Butchart was able to look as sure of things as he did while, after a couple of looks at the big screen, then over his shoulder, chatting to Chelimo.
“It was fine,” he said. “We could see from the result of the previous heat, so we could just jog in. It was a bit of a choppy race.
“It was weird because it wasn’t a slow race, we were all going quite fast. It just shows that a lot of guys are fit and healthy, so it was good that I got through and into the finals again.”
Butchart’s demeanour also reflected the way his self-confidence has grown in the past year and while he has missed no opportunity to pay full tribute to Farah as the British and world No.1, he looks to be readying himself to try to play a full part in ensuring that British men’s middle distance running remains in good hands after his team-mate races for the final time on the track at the weekend.
He was consequently much more keyed up last night than he had been when he set out in Rio last year knowing that anything he did was going to be a bonus.
“I was definitely nervous for this race,” said Butchart. “I wasn’t so nervous for the Rio heats because I knew if I came last I’d still have had an amazing good season. This time I was thinking we’ve got to make the final. So I was a bit nervous but as soon as I got out in the crowd all the nerves were gone.
“The pressure is all from me now. Last year was a great year but consistency is key. Now we are hitting the finals regularly the pressure will get worse but who knows what’s going to happen.” The final takes place on Saturday evening.
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