© Copyright - 2012 - Athletics Illustrated
Southern Utah University's Cameron Levins of Black Creek, British Columbia (on Vancouver Island) will be racing in two Olympic distance events at the 2012 London Olympic Games. The first event is the 10000m race Saturday, August 4th. Levins currently owns the second-fastest time in Canadian history with his 27:27.56, which he achieved at the Payton Jordan Invitational meet at Stanford University. The Canadian A standard for the 10000m distance is 27:45. The world record is 26:17.53 and the Olympic record is 27:01.17. Simon Bairu of Regina, Saskatchewan owns the current Canadian record of 27:23.63. Levins and Mo Ahmed both surpassed the standard and look forward to representing Canada. “I am not going in with expectations, I just want to make sure I stay both focused and relaxed throughout the race; do my best to keep with the front pack” said Levins.
Levins will also be racing the 5000m distance, which includes a semi-final race and a final. Although his personal bests for both the 10000m and 5000m are roughly equivalent, Levins feels the 5000m is more his focus. In an earlier interview with Athletics Illustrated, he made it clear that the 5000m event will indeed be the focus. His personal best is 13:18.47, which marginally betters the Canada standard of 13:19.62. The world record is 12:37.35 and the Olympic record is 12:57.82. Levins told Athletics Illustrated, “Training is going great at the moment so hopefully it translates over to a good race. I am totally healthy and just making final preparations now”.
The top-5 10000m competitors, according to Vegas odds makers will finish in this order:
Mo Farah PB: 26:46.57
Kenenisa Bekele PB: 26:17.53
Tariku Bekele PB: 27:03.24
Wilson Kiprop PB: 27:01.98
Bedan Karoki PB: 27:05.50
5000m
Mo Farah PB: 12:53.11
Dejen Gebremeskel PB: 13:11.78
Hagos Gebrhiwet PB: 12:47.53
Isiah Koech PB: 12:48.64
Bernard Lagat PB: 12:53.60
