RIO DE JANEIRO — Hours after he claimed bronze in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Kenya’s Ezekiel Kemboi was disqualified after Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France filed a formal complaint.
Kemboi’s disqualification moves Mekhissi-Benabbad from fourth to bronze.
Mekhissi-Benabbad’s filed a post-race appeal claiming that Kemboi committed a lane violation. It was upheld by the International Association of Athletics Federation, the sport’s governing body, which cited Kemboi for an “infringement of the inside border.”
After the race, a disappointed Mekhissi-Benabbad said that Kemboi cut a turn short.
“When one makes the road less, this is not the (3,000-meter steeplechase),” he said.