00:00She was leading the pack, but as the Ethiopian runner overtook her, she desperately wrenched the runner's arm, seemingly ripping
00:06the Ethiopian away from potential victory.
00:09So, when the race ended with her winning the silver and her Kenyan compatriot winning the gold, the Ethiopian supporters
00:15were absolutely outraged.
00:18Before the runners clashed, there were only three laps left of the race.
00:21The three Kenyans had been leading the pack and had basically boxed in the other runners with Faith Kipyagon leading
00:27the way.
00:28Kipyagon had big expectations of her in this 5,000 metre race.
00:32She'd spent many years at the top of the podium in the 1,500 metres, smashing through world and Olympic
00:37records, and winning gold at the Rio Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics back to back in the same event.
00:43However, it was only recently that she started to also excel at the 5,000 metres, running a world record
00:49time and winning her first world championship gold medal at Budapest just one year earlier.
00:54But Kipyagon's world record didn't last long, as the Ethiopian Gudolf Sagay would go on to win her second ever
01:01gold medal in the event, breaking the world record again just a few months later.
01:05So, in 2024, when the women lined up on the opposite sides of the starting line for the 5,000
01:11metre finals, both runners had a lot to prove.
01:14At the start of the race, the Kenyans pulled to the front of the pack, setting the pace.
01:18That was until the race came down to its final laps.
01:21Sagay launched her attack, navigating around the outside of the pack and past the Kenyan's wall.
01:27However, Kipyagon was desperate to stay in the race.
01:30So, she grabbed Sagay's arm and she pulled it, seemingly trying to hold her back and maintain her own lead.
01:36But Sagay was hungry for her first Olympic gold, so she viciously fought back.
01:41Although, after being thrown off her tempo, she was clearly shaken and she found it hard to recover.
01:46The Ethiopian supporters were seething, and as the race played out, they became even more infuriated, as Kipyagon and her
01:52Kenyan teammate Beatrice Chebay surged ahead and won both the gold and the silver medals, with Sagay lagging well behind
02:00in ninth place.
02:01But, after the race, the track and video referees conferred amongst themselves and determined that Kipyagon had obstructed Sagay.
02:08They disqualified her, stripping her of her silver medal.
02:11It was devastating news for Kipyagon and their Kenyan supporters, particularly because the referees had got it wrong.
02:18See, the referees had overlooked the most important part of this entire clash, which is what happened before Kipyagon started
02:25pulling on Sagay.
02:26Because, when Sagay was overtaking, in an effort to lock in her position at the front, she'd aggressively cut across
02:32the pack, and as she battled for first place with Kipyagon, she pushed her arm out wide and had drifted
02:38towards her, forcing her up against and nearly off the edge of the track.
02:43As Kipyagon realized she was being forced off, she pulled Sagay's arm to get her attention, and to try to
02:48pull herself back onto the track.
02:50So, when the Kenyan Federation found out about the disqualification, they appealed the decision, and Kipyagon reclaimed her Olympic silver
02:58medal.
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