Live from Cologne - Belgium wins first track and field gold, in men's 5000 metre

Between softball games I stopped over at the track and field stadium to check out some of the races. When I arrived, they had just started what turned out to be a very exciting 5000 metre race.

In the end, a Belgian runner took gold, that country's first track & field gold medal at the Gay Games here in Cologne. An Australian took silver and a Dutchman took bronze. I grabbed a photo of the winner and the three on the podium - I'll edit this post later once I find out the names.

The next medal ceremony was for a race I'd missed but apparently was even closer. Won by a man from New Zealand, the silver went to an Australian runner and the bronze to a man from Switzerland.

After the medal ceremony the on-track announcer had the Kiwi and Aussie talk a bit about their rivalry. They both met for the first time at the Sydney 2002 Gay Games, competing against each other in 3 or 4 races there and also in Chicago 2006. This was the 3rd race between the two men at these Gay Games and they still have the 3000 metre run to go. They've had a great rivalry with the New Zealand man winning more races in Sydney, the Australian winning more races in Chicago, and so far they've gone gold/silver in each of their first 3 races (Kiwi winning 2 gold and a silver and the Australian winning 1 gold and 2 silver). What a great story.