At the Olympic Games in Paris, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya was disqualified and then reinstated

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon rode a roller coaster of emotions at the Paris Olympic Games in a night of intense drama in the Stade de France. She first had to settle for silver in the 5,000 meters, had her medal revoked for “obstructing” Ethiopian rival Gudaf Tsegay in the charged final, and then eventually won the medal back after a furious Kenyan appeal.

With 50 meters remaining, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet—Kipyegon’s likely heir—stunned the accomplished athlete, outpacing the triple World and Olympic champion to win Kenya’s first gold medal at these Games in a time of 14 minutes, 28.56 seconds. Her performance had bettors laughing.

Nadia Battocletti of Italy placed fourth, while Dutchman Sifan Hassan, who competed in the 5,000, 10,000, and marathon events at these Games, finished third behind Kipyegon.

After that, the organizers declared that Kipyegon had been disqualified for “obstructing” Tsegay, and Sifan had been promoted to silver. This sparked a simultaneous protest by representatives of Athletics Kenya, including Milcah Chemos, a former steeplechase world champion, coach Bernard Ouma, and Team Manager Peter Angwenyi.

As soon as word leaked out of her disqualification, Kipyegon broke down and ended her talks with the media in the mixed zone.

After learning of Kipyegon’s demise, Kenyan Mary Moraa, who had placed third in the 800m final that came after the dramatic 5,000m, too broke down.

However, as soon as word spread that Kipyegon had been reinstated just before midnight local time, the tears of sadness changed to tears of delight.

Kipyegon is scheduled for Tuesday morning’s 1,500m qualifying round and is double in both the 5,000m and her 1,500m specialty.

Chebet, meanwhile, is still on track for a golden double since she has also entered the 10,000m, which has a Friday night final.

The 10,000-meter world record, held by Chebet of Londiani in Kericho County, was achieved in May of this year at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in the USA. Her time was 28 minutes, 54.14 seconds.

Sifan, however, stated that Kipyegon was deserving of the silver medal and expressed her satisfaction with settling for bronze in behind the Kenyans.

At a midnight press conference, she declared, “I am really happy that Faith gets her medal back. Faith deserves her silver medal.”

“I don’t think I truly deserved the silver, and I don’t want medals that I didn’t receive.

“I love my bronze medal; as long as there is fairness, it doesn’t matter to me what medal I get or where I finish.”