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Steeplechase gold for Li after Bahrain’s Jebet stripped of win
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TEENAGED Bahrain steeplechaser Ruth Jebet was dramatically stripped of gold just before she mounted the podium yesterday as the Asian Games athletics started in a storm of controversy.
The Kenya-born runner comfortably won but as she stood behind the podium, with China’s Li Zhenzhu and India’s Lalita Babar already wearing their medals, her disqualification was announced to the stunned stadium.
The 17-year-old was led away in tears and Li celebrated her sudden promotion to gold, giving the double thumbs-up and posing with her national flag.
Jebet annihilated the field at Incheon’s Asiad Main Stadium, crossing the line in 9 minutes, 31.36 seconds, more than 24 seconds inside the Games record.
Jebet, who switched nationality to Bahrain last year, was about to step up to collect her medal when the stadium announcer declared that the result had been cancelled.
Officials spotted that during her second-last lap, with her rivals well behind her and under no pressure at all, Jebet had stumbled and stepped inside the track. Half a dozen Bahraini officials marched to the referees’ office to lodge a complaint. But the team later conceded that Jebet made the fault.
Before her disqualification Jebet had been the third African-born runner of the night to claim gold in the colors of a wealthy Gulf state. United Arab Emirates’ Ethiopian import Alia Saeed Mohammed won the 10,000 meters and Qatar’s Mohamad al-Garni, originally from Morocco, took the men’s 5,000.
Li became China’s second female gold medalist of the night, joining shot putter Gong Lijiao, who ousted Iran’s Leyla Rajabi — the Islamic republic’s first woman to win an athletics medal at the Games.
Li’s time of 9:35.23 is itself a new Games record, shaving 20 seconds off the old mark. Jebet’s misfortune means India’s Babar moved up to silver place and 2010 champion Sudha Singh got the bronze.
Tajikistan’s Dilshod Nazarov added a third Asian Games hammer gold to add to the ones he won in 2006 and 2010.
Earlier, swimmer Naoya Tomita brought shame to Japan’s Games delegation after he was caught stealing a camera from a local photojournalist.
Tomita, who won gold in the 200 breaststroke four years ago in Guangzhou but finished out of the medals in Incheon, had admitted stealing an 8 million won (US$7,600) camera.
“He has been expelled from the team effective immediately,” said the head of the Japanese delegation, Tsuyoshi Aoki.
“He will have to find his own way back to Japan. Further consequences of the act will be decided upon in Japan.”
“He admitted it right away,” South Korean police said. “The case will be dealt with by the prosecutor’s office next week.”
Japan, however, is determined to displace South Korea as runner-up to China in the medals table for the first time since 1994, and trails the hosts by three gold medals after eight days of competition.
With China top with 96 golds, South Korea is second with 35 and Japan on 32 in third place.
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