Beat very short finalist in Omnium (5)
I believe the answer is:
minim
'beat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'very short finalist in omnium' is the wordplay.
'very short' becomes 'mini' (similar in meaning. I am not sure about the 'very' bit.).
'finalist in' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'omnium' is 'm'.
'mini'+'m'='MINIM'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for minim that I've seen before include "Note of two crotchets" , "Note equal to two crochets" , "Double crotchet" , "note or > dose" , "Half-note" .)