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By Kimathi Kamau
ELDORET, Kenya, June 30 (Xinhua) -- One of the enduring distance races at last year' s IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China was the gripping contest between Britain' s superstar, Mo Farah and Kenyan challenger, Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku.
In the end, the Briton notched up the distance double over 5000m and 10000m for his fourth successive major championship, winning over the shorter in 13:50:58 but Ndiku who entered the final as the 2014 IAAF Diamond League winner stretched him to the limit.
The Kenyan earned a re-match against Farah who will be going in as the double Olympics champion from London 2012 after winning the men 5000m final at the brutal Trials for Rio 2016 in Eldoret.
The Commonwealth champion powered to victory in a titanic contest for the honours over the homestretch to stop the clock at an impressive 13:37.2, to edge out Moscow 2013 Worlds bronze medalist, Isaiah Kiplangat Koech by only four hundredth of a second.
"The race was not easy; it had a lot of challenges because of altitude. I was born in low altitude so I was experiencing a lot of challenge because of weather. I was out on injury for long but right now, I' m getting back and the pain has disappeared," he offered.
Mwangangi, who is nicknamed 'The Buffalo' who has been nursing knee injury that has limited his running in the last two seasons has Farah as well as Ethiopian trio of Mukhtar Idris, Yomif Kejelcha and Ibrahim Jeilan, the last man to beat the Briton at a major championship, in his crosshairs ahead of Rio.
"I' m getting strong so, I' m expecting to do better when I get to Rio. I need to do more of speed and power training to become stronger in the final kick because I know the Ethiopians are very hot right and Farah has been a big challenge to Kenyans," the 2014 World Indoor champion acknowledged. Enditem
