Canada's Ben Flanagan shines in indoor 5,000m, qualifies for Paris Olympics

Ben Flanagan had planned to spend a portion of this year attempting the Olympic qualifying standard in the men's 5,000 metres.

But the Canadian runner only needed one indoor race and less than a month to accomplish his goal.

Flanagan, 29, set a personal best of 13 minutes 4.62 seconds indoors on Friday at Boston University, placing fifth at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. The automatic entry standard is 13:05.00 for the Paris Games this summer.

His previous best in the event was nearly seven seconds slower in 13:11.12 at the same competition a year ago.

Nearly three years ago, Flanagan inched closer to the 13:13.50 standard for the Tokyo Olympics that summer by running 13:20.67 in Boston but fell short of first Olympic berth in a final attempt less than a month later with a 13:33.90 effort in Oregon.

The native of Kitchener, Ont., clocked 13:13.97 to open the 2023 outdoor campaign but never got close to that time as the season progressed. In August, Flanagan went 13:38.69 at the World Athletics Championships but didn't advance from the heats in Budapest, Hungary. 

"You never want to not make a final. I came away feeling close to being at a level I think I'm capable of being at," Flanagan, who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., told CBC Sports last September before placing 12th of 41 finishers in the men's 5K race at the first World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia.

"I think there's a little bit more in there and I think I could have [finished] the season being faster than a 13:13 guy, but those opportunities will come."

Kieran Lumb, who was fifth in the elite men's mile in Riga, was the other Canadian in the race aiming for the Olympic standard on Friday in Boston and crossed the line in 13:16.59, an indoor