Dj Vnyash
Triple Olympic women’s 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon has shared that Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay apologized to her following the drama during the 5,000m event at the Olympics.
During the finals, Kipyegon was reportedly pushed by Tsegay, leading to the initial disqualification of her medal, which was later reinstated.
In an interview with Jeff Koinange, Kipyegon recounted how Tsegay came to her the day after the 1,500m heats, knelt before her, and expressed her remorse. Kipyegon stated, “She was very sorry and asked for forgiveness. I just forgave her because this is sports, and we are likely to meet again. We need each other, as I cannot compete alone. We later became friends in the spirit of competition.”
Despite the incident, Kipyegon managed to secure a silver medal in the race.
She mentioned that she wasn’t upset about winning silver in the Olympics 5,000m race, but she felt disappointed when she was initially disqualified, as she was unclear about what she had done wrong, and her mind was overwhelmed at the time.
“I didn’t think I’d be disqualified. I wasn’t disappointed about getting the silver medal. I was disappointed about being disqualified without knowing what I did wrong. That 5,000m race had a lot going on in my mind,” she explained.
The Olympic record holder expressed gratitude for the team that successfully appealed her disqualification, noting that it revitalized her and motivated her to aim for gold in the 1,500m race.
“I thank the team and am very grateful to those who appealed successfully. It really re-energized my strength to know that with the silver, we now have to go for gold.” During the games, Kipyegon narrowly missed out on a gold medal, finishing second in the 5,000m race, which was won by fellow Kenyan Beatrice Chebet.
