Minnetonka native Joe Klecker finishes 16th in Olympic 10,000 meters

TOKYO — Joe Klecker did his best to prepare for what he would face. Tokyo is known for its sticky, steamy summers, so Klecker did his final workouts during the hottest part of the day to get his body ready for the men's 10,000 meters at the Olympic Games.

That strategy was no match for what Klecker's teammate Woody Kincaid called "next-level heat.'' Klecker, a Minnetonka native and Hopkins High School graduate, finished 16^th in grueling conditions Friday. Kincaid finished one spot higher, and the third U.S. runner, Grant Fisher, was fifth.

African runners swept the top four spots at Olympic Stadium. Selemon Barega of Ethiopia won in 27 minutes, 43.22 seconds, with Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo second and third. On the final lap, Barega sprinted away from Cheptegei, the world champion and world-record holder in the 10,000.

The race was the first medal event of the Tokyo Games track and field competition.

The weather throughout the Olympics has lived up to Tokyo's reputation for unrelenting heat and humidity. When the race started at 8:30 p.m. Japan time, it was still 77 degrees with 93% humidity, and afternoon rainstorms gave the air a tropical feel.

Klecker hung in the middle of the 27-runner pack early, but as the field strung out, he dropped back. He finished in a time of 28:14.18.

"Physiologically, there are just some things you can't overcome in terms of humidity,'' Klecker said. "I felt pretty well prepared for the humidity. That was just a really hard race.

"I felt like I never gave up the whole time. There was never a point in the race where I just threw in the towel. I felt a lot of motivation to keep pushing just to represent my country.''

Klecker arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, giving him about five days to acclimate to the weather. He tried to think about what his fitness level would be under ideal conditions, then calculate how the heat would affect his time.

He wanted to finish 14^th or better. Klecker said he tried to "put my nose in it early,'' to stay in contention and avoid separation from the top runners. He thought afterward the pace might have been too fast.

"I was happy with how I pushed all the way to the finish," Klecker said. "But the lowest place I would have been happy with was 14^th, and I was 16^th. So definitely, I'm a little disappointed. I really thought I could compete up higher with how my training's been going.''

Fisher noted that none of the three Americans had competed at this level before, or even run in a stadium of that size. Klecker and Fisher are 24, and Kincaid is 28.

The 10,000 favors runners who are older, Klecker said, and he believes the three first-time Olympians have the potential to bring the U.S. some medals. That gave them some comfort on an extremely uncomfortable night.

"I'll bet even the guys who (finished) one, two, three didn't feel good in that race,'' Fisher said. "I know I didn't.''