5,000 Meters Results

Butler alum Simon Bedard claimed the gold medal in the 5,000 meters Sunday at the World University Games.
 
Representing his home country of France, Bedard edged Japan's Taiyo Yasuhara at the line. Bedard's time of 14:14.10 was five hundredths of a second in front of Yasuhara.
 
Butler's Matthew Forrester, running for South Africa, finished 12^th in 14:26.30.
 
Butler is the only American university to have multiple entries in the men's 5,000 meters at this year's World University Games, which are being held in Chengdu, China.
 
Forrester completed an impressive championships after finishing tenth earlier in the week in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The South African crossed the line in a time of 9:03.85. Germany's Jens Christian Mergenthaler took gold in a time of 8:38.42. Forrester had four races during his week in Chengdu. 
 
Forrester and Bedard follow in the footsteps of former Butler All-American Kris Gauson, who finished eighth at the 2011 Championships held in Shenzhen, China.
 
Formerly known as the Universiade, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Games includes a total of 269 medal events across 18 sports.
 
Approximately 9,500 athletes and officials from around 100 countries are expected to compete in Chengdu. The city was originally scheduled to host the event in 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the postponement, FISU has increased the age limit for athletes from 25 to 27 for the 2023 event.