When is men’s 10,000m final at Tokyo Olympics and can Team GB win a medal?

The athletics are here at Tokyo 2020 after a thrilling first week of action at the Olympics.

And the first final will be the men’s 10,000m with a fascinating final in store.

A new champion will be crowned, with Mo Farah unable to qualify after taking gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The race at the Japan National Stadium will begin at 12:30pm BST (20:30 local time) on Friday, 30 July.

World record holder Joshua Cheptegei (26:11.00) is among the favourites, but the race is wide open.

Jacob Kiplimo will fancy gold, too, having registered the fastest time in the world this year at 26.33.93. He also got the better over Cheptegei, 24, in the half marathon, while also having enough pop to outkick Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 3,000m last year, with the Norwegian the second-favourite in the men’s 1,500m in Tokyo.

Ethiopian trio Selemon Barega, Yomif Kejelcha and Berihu Aregawi are have the next fastest times this year.

Kejelcha, the 2019 World Championships silver medallist, is among the most experienced of the favourites at 23 years of age, with compatriots Barega (21) and Aregawi (20), with Kiplimo (20) also destined to compete at the top for many years to come.

Cheptegei, who took gold in 2019 once Farah had upgraded to the marathon, should be the favourite, but Kiplimo might just have his number (winning their only head-to-head at the World Half, a race he won) with his incredible range across 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m (7:26, 12:48, and 57:37).

The world record holder got his tactics wrong in the 5,000m at the Diamond League in Florence on 10 June, with the field able to match his blistering pace from the outset, leaving him to fade and finish in sixth in 12:54.

But with both Kejelcha and Barega able to close in 52 seconds at the Ethiopian Trials, there could be fireworks in the final 1,600m or so.

There is not much expectation for those outside of east Africa to challenge for a medal, with Canada’s Moh Ahmed (a 12:47 5,000m runner) among the best candidates alongside the USA’s Woody Kincaid, who has one of the most dangerous kicks if the race becomes tactical.

Team GB will be represented by British champion Marc Scott and Sam Atkin. Both men have run well over the last year, with Scott picking up a personal best of 27:10.41 back in February, while Atkin also hit a personal best back in December of last year at 27:26.58.

But the competition is fierce here and both men will need a career-best performance to take a medal, given the last three World Championships and Rio 2016 Olympics were won in the following times: 27:01, 27:05, 26:49, and 26:48. And the slowest time across those four major finals to win a bronze medal was 27:06 by Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola at Rio 2016.

Full start list for men’s 10,000m final

• Tatsuhiko Ito, Japan

• Aron Kifle, Eritrea

• Joe Klecker, USA

• Isaac Kimeli, Belgium

• Grant Fisher, USA

• Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda

• Mohammed Ahmed, Canada

• Kieran Tuntivate, Thailand

• Berihu Aregawi, Ethiopia

• Stephen Kissa, Uganda

• Sam Atkin, Great Britain

• Rodgers Kwemoi, Kenya

• Carlos Mayo, Spain

• Weldon Langat, Kenya

• Yomif Kejelcha, Ethiopia

• Morhad Amdouni, France

• Yemaneberhan Crippa, Italy

• Akira Aizawa, Japan

• Selemon Barega, Ethiopia

• William Kincaid, USA

• Marc Scott, Great Britain

• Jacob Kiplimo, Uganda

• Julien Wanders, Switzerland

• Patrick Tienan, Australia

• Rhonex Kipruto, Kenya

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