Butchart’s in the final with Farah
MO FARAH will no doubt take most of the attention come the final of the 5,000metres but Scotland’s Andy Butchart ensured he would be right alongside him come Saturday night.
Indeed, running in the quicker of the two semi-finals, the Scot bettered Farah’s time by a good six seconds but there is, of course, much more to come from the world’s most dominant distance runner.
Butchart did experience some of the bumping and barging that Farah had to contend with on the way to his gold medal in the 10,000m and even found himself hurdling a fellow competitor at one stage.
However, he kept his composure to secure his passage into the final with seventh place in a measured run of 13:24.78.
‘We could see what the result was from the previous heat and so I was able to jog in the last 200,’ said Butchart.
‘It was a bit of a choppy race. It was a bit weird. It wasn’t a slow race but it shows guys are fit and healthy, which is good. All these guys are top athletes, so to get into the final was amazing.’
Farah finished second in his heat in 13:30.18, behind Yomif Kejelcha yet comfortably inside the top five without busting a gut.
There had been questions over the condition of his left knee after the attrition of his gold-medal run on Saturday, but there seemed to be no after-effects in his pursuit of a seventh world title, his fourth at this distance.
The 34-year-old said: ‘It was cold and miserable out there. But it’s job done.
‘It’s been five days of just chilling out and trying to recover. The 10k did take it out of me. I was a little bit beaten up. I’m OK now and glad I’ve come through. Now to get ready for the final on Saturday.
‘The knee is alright. The body is a bit tired but anything is possible. I have to recover, get in the zone, switch the lights off. The doctors and the team have been great for me, helping me out.
‘A double isn’t easy. We’ve seen it with usain Bolt (who lost in the 100m final). No one’s going to give it to you, no matter who you are, even usain Bolt.’
Earlier, Shara Proctor’s poor season continued with elimination from the qualifying round of the long jump.
The silver medallist from the 2015 World Championships leapt 6.45m and missed out by 1cm. Lorraine ugen, who took bronze in the World Indoors last year, made the final with 6.63m.
In the 3,000m steeplechase, rosie Clarke fell in the water on her way to finishing ninth, meaning she failed to qualify for the final.
Scottish runner Lennie Waite was also eliminated, while Nick Miller qualified for the hammer final with his first throw.