Kenyan athlete won gold because his opponent fell before the finish line
"World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023 will be remembered forever, not for Chebet's surprise victory in the women's 10,000 meters or Kenya's dominance of the men's Jacob Kiplimo, but for its uncanny demise. of Gidey about 30 meters before the finish line," commented Canadian Running Magazine.
While crossing the finish line in Bathurst, Australia on February 18, Gidey suddenly collapsed when he turned left to see Chebet sprinting to the side to cross. Members of the Ethiopian team entered the field to help Gidey to his feet. After that, the 24-year-old Ethiopian runner continued to compete and finished fourth. However, she was disqualified (DQ) because she received outside help.
Gidey's disqualification also caused the Ethiopian women's team to lose a team gold medal, ranking second after Kenya (16 points), with 25 points. Team Uganda won bronze in the team category with 41 points, ahead of host Australia in fourth place.
According to Canadian Running Magazine, the audience who witnessed the live was surprised by the developments at the end of the race. Gidey was far ahead of his opponents in the last two rounds, but let Chebet - the 5,000m champion of the Diamond League 2022 - pass right in front of the finish line.
Canadian Running Magazine considers this to be a sad moment in Gidey's career, although the cause of her collapse has yet to be determined.
Gidey is considered the number one candidate at the tournament when he currently holds the world record in the 5,000, 10,000 meters, half marathon content. She is the second person to jointly hold the record in these events, after Ingrid Kristiansen from 1989-1991. The Ethiopian star also holds the world's best record in the 15 km long-distance event, breaking the old record by more than a minute.
At the age of 17, Gidey won the junior gold medal at the World Cross Country Championships 2025. She defended the title in 2017 and won bronze in the pro in 2019.
Chebet finished first with a time of 33 minutes 48 seconds, beating Tsigie Gebreselama with 33 minutes 56 seconds and Jebet Ngetich with 34 minutes. Chebet, who won the silver 5,000 meter world medal, won his second consecutive individual gold medal at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, after winning the Under-20 event in Denmark four years ago. The 22-year-old runner also extended Kenya's record individual victories in the women's pro to eight.
The World Athletics Cross Country Championship, also known as the world cross country championship, was born in 1973 and was an annual tournament until 2011, before the World Athletics decided to organize two events. once a year. The 2023 tournament is the 44th tournament in history, taking place in Bathurst, Australia on February 18. This is the second time the tournament has been held in Oceania, after Auckland in 1988.
Kenya won the whole team with six gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals. Following is Ethiopia with two gold medals, seven silver medals, one bronze medal, Uganda with one gold medal, three bronze medals. The US team won two bronze medals while the host Australia got only one bronze.
