Incheon: Bahraini runner Ruth Jebet at first lost her gold medal when disqualified after winning the women’s 3,000-metre steeplechase at the weekend, before winning it back on appeal.
Jebet was on the way to a record-breaking effort of 9min 31.36sec when she lost her balance and stepped out on to the infield on Saturday.
The medals ceremony was midway through, with the third and second place finishers accepting their medals, when it was announced that Jebet had been disqualified.
Bahraini members were camped outside the Jury Panel room inside the stadium as officials debated on the protest to disqualify the medal winner. The jury confirmed that, after review, “there was no violation of the rules” by the 17-year-old.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) games director Haider Farman was quoted that the reinstatement was confirmed after a proper review of the video.
But a source here says that the Kenyan-born Jebet was only given her gold medal after officials from the Gulf nation threatened to pull out their entire squad from the Asian Games “with immediate effect”.
It may be recalled that India’s Shiny Wilson was disqualified after comfortably winning the women’s 800 metres at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games after officials decreed that she had cut into the inner lane even while there was no competitor chasing her on the final stretch.
Perhaps rules are meant to be bent and broken as per convenience.
Meanwhile, a North Korean women’s weightlifter has credited kimchi as being the secret of her success at the ongoing Asian Games in Incheon.
The 24-year-old Kim Un-ju not only won gold medal, but also went on to break the world record with a 164kg clean and jerk lift in the 75kg category last week. And at the post-medal conference she said this special dish was behind her success.
Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables and is often spicy and sour at the same time.
Reclusive North Korea has been doing well at these Games and their weightlifters have been very impressive in winning four gold medals.
