Kenya's Chebet wins women's 5,000m gold; compatriot Kipyegon DQ'd, reinstated to earn silver
Reuters | Posted: August 5, 2024 7:50 PM | Last Updated: August 5
Kipyegon was initially ruled to have obstructed Ethiopia's Tsegay during race
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet won the gold medal in the women's Olympic 5,000-metres as she sprinted home to claim the title after a textbook performance on Monday.
Chebet won in a time of 14 minutes 28.56 seconds as compatriot Faith Kipyegon (14:29.60) claimed silver and Dutch runner Sifan Hassan took bronze (14:30.61).
Chebet produced a thrilling finish to win the first medal for her country at the Paris Olympics and smiled wide as she crossed the line after an exhausting performance.
Although Kipyegon crossed the line in second, she was later disqualified, before eventually being reinstated to the silver medal.
The runner-up at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and bronze medallist in Budapest last year, Chebet took the early lead and hung in with Kipyegon through much of the race.
She kept her cool as Kipyegon collided at the start of the penultimate lap with Ethiopian world record holder Gudaf Tsegay, who grimaced but continued, and accelerated from there.
Tokyo 2020 champion Hassan was in fifth place heading into the final 400m and dug deep to try to hang onto her Olympic crown but could not match the Kenyans' speed around the final turn.
Chebet hugged and cheered with Kipyegon as the pair donned Kenyan flags to wild cheers from the packed Stade de France.
Kipyegon's joy momentarily dissolved after her name disappeared from the results list, later marking her as disqualified, before further review put her back onto the podium.