[4][5] As both the reigning champion and the 2009 silver medallist Mo Farah were absent, the men's race was seen as a relatively open competition, with Ukrainian Serhiy Lebid, Spanish runners Ayad Lamdassem and Jesús España being the foremost protagonists.

[7] Forming a strong team, three other Portuguese runners (Ana Dulce Félix, Marisa Barros and Sara Moreira) were expected to challenge for medals, as were Yelling and Adriënne Herzog (also directly implicated in Operación Galgo), who was third the previous year.

Six men were on equal footing at the bell: Lebid, Lamdassem, French duo Morhad Amdouni and Abdellatif Meftah, and Rui Pedro Silva and Yousef El Kalai, both representing the hosts.

The Ukrainian overhauled Lamdassem in the final stages and maintained a clear lead to win his ninth title – a record for the competition.

With Augusto clear in front, Binnaz Uslu, Ana Dulce Félix, Fionnuala Britton and Tetyana Holovchenko battled for the minor medals in the second half of the race.