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Ezekiel Kemboi Swears To Defend The Medal He Was Stripped Of In Rio

Ezekiel Kemboi Swears To Defend The Medal He Was Stripped Of In Rio

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Dakia-udaku01 October 2020 - 15:36
Ezekiel Kemboi
Four-time World 3,000 metres Steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi has pulled an about-turn from his retirement plans. The Kenyan star athlete had announced that he would retire after the ongoing Olympics games in Rio, Brazil.

On Wednesday, Kemboi was stripped of his Bronze medal by an IAAF appeal jury for stepping off the track. The  medal was subsequently handed to Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi who was promoted from position four. The two-time Olympic champion had finished third in Wednesday's race won by his compatriot Conseslus Kipruto.

However, in a dramatic change of heart, Kemboi has said that he will defend the medal at the IAAF World Championships which will be held in London next year.

"I had opted to retire right after the Olympics only if I had come home with this medal... Now I feel that I have to bring back this medal not by protesting again but right on track. Kemboi is not retired I will be coming to London 2017 to re-claim my medal from France. No limits," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Kemboi arrived in Rio as the overwhelming favourite but left empty handed. Mekhissi finished fourth but appealed against Kemboi's action, resulting in the disqualification and his own promotion.

"A protest was presented by the French team after the 3000m steeplechase men final against Kenyan athlete Ezekiel Kemboi ... claiming he had stepped off the track. An appeal jury met and examined the video of the race, confirming that Kemboi, after clearing a water jump, had stepped outside the track on the curved part before the home straight," said an IAAF statement.

Under race rules, runners cannot step off the inside edge of the track when running around bends.

Maarufu Zaidi

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