EUGENE, Ore. (July 24, 2022) – Just shy of a year to the day of his historic performance at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, former Northern Arizona star
Luis Grijalva put together an incredible performance in the 5,000-meter finals on Sunday at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. With a season-best 13:10.44, Grijalva nearly medaled and came away with a fourth-place finish in his first world championship appearance.
Grijalva's final time was just .35 seconds off of his personal best and Guatemalan 5K national record of 13:10.09 set in Tokyo last August. Meanwhile,
Abdihamid Nur's own historic season came to a close with an 11th-place finish at 13:18.05.
Entering Sunday's 5,000-meter final at Hayward Field with the 14th fastest season-best time (13:14.04) in the 15-runner field, Grijalva started fast and sitting in second behind Tokyo Gold Medalist Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda through the first 1,000 meters.
Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir – the fourth-place finisher in Tokyo last year – took the lead at the 2,000-meter split and continued to lead the pack through 3,000 meters with Grijalva right on his heels just .09 seconds off the lead at 8:04.59. Grijalva would slip to seventh with 1,000 meters to go before making his move on the final lap.
Displaying his signature kick in the final 400 meters, Grijalva crossed the line with a new season-best and was a mere .24 seconds behind Uganda's Oscar Chelimo and a bronze medal. Immediately behind Grijalva was Canada's Mohammed Ahmed – Toyko's silver medalist – and USA's Grant Fisher.
For Nur, his 11th-place finish at his first world championship capped a season that included four All-American honors and two individual national championships. After placing seventh last fall and helping NAU capture its fifth Men's Cross Country National Championship, Nur swept the 3K and 5K national titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was third in the 10K at the Outdoor Championships.
Grijalva and Nur's efforts punctuated an outstanding World Athletics Championships for the Northern Arizona track & field program following Brooke Andersen's world championship in the women's hammer throw last week.
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