By Omulo Okoth, (The Standard) —

Another titanic battle is on the cards Saturday

Edwin Soi, Kenya’s only hope to stop
Kenenisa Bekele [photo: NBC]

BEIJING — National champion Edwin Soi is the man billed to stop Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele from a double act.

When the 5,000m final starts at 8pm tonight (3:10pm Kenyan time), focus will be on the 26-year-old, who retained his Olympics 10,000m diadem last Saturday, and the Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat, who won both 1,500m and 5,000m at last year’s World Championships in Osaka.

“We have a good plan for this race. Thomas Longosiwa will be the sacrificial lamb, while Eliud and Soi will wait to attack at the right time,” coach Julius Kirwa said.

“We know the more dangerous man in this race is Lagat, not Bekele. He is the man we want to burn out and we shall reign,” Kirwa said.

Kirwa’s plan is to take the first half in 62:60 per lap to burn out both Lagat and Bekele.

However, depending on the speed of the race, Soi and Kipchoge will have an advantage of different types.

Kipchoge will be fine with a fast race, which Kirwa is planning. But when the race is slow, it may favour Soi’s last minute burst of speed, that saw him win at the national trials last month.

Longosiwa’s speed will come in handy as he will be expected to destroy the field.

A similar plot is taking place in the Ethiopian camp, where Abreham Cherkos or Tariku Bekele will be deployed to open up the field for Bekele, but observers think the multiple world champion is tired after winning the 10,000m last weekend and may not have the strength to win a double.

Kipchoge won a world title in 2003 World Championships final in Paris, with Bekele second and Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj third.

In Athens Olympics the following year, El Guerrouj won with Bekele second again and Kipchoge third.

But Lagat, who became the first man to win both 1,500m and 5,000m at last year’s World Championships in Osaka, is fresh after bowing out in the shorter 1,500m early this week.

Another surprise, pundits say, may come from American Matthew Tegenkamp, who missed bronze narrowly last year in Osaka.