Mekhissi-Benabbad on Getting Ezekiel Kemboi DQ in Olympic Steeple: “Maradona hit a goal with his hand and he is an idol in Argentina. He cheated. I did not cheat.”
By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
August 26, 2016
(c) 2016 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
PARIS (26-Aug) — Ezekiel Kemboi finished third in the Olympic Games final of the steeplechase, but was disqualified after a protest by the French federation on behalf of fourth-place finisher, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad. Kemboi stepped on the white line between cones as he emerged from the water jump. Although a clear rules violation, it was unlikely that it had any impact on the order of finish (Kemboi finished well ahead of the Frenchman, 8:08.47 to 8:11.52), so that led some fans to feel that the French protest was unsportsmanlike.
Race Results Weekly asked Mekhissi-Benabbad about the incident today at the pre-race press conference for tomorrow’s Meeting de Paris, part of the IAAF Diamond League.
Mekhissi-Benabbad before Paris Meet
“What I do regret is the judges did not make their work,” Mekhissi-Benabbad said through a translator. “There are rules, we have to follow the rules. I’ve been disqualified in Zurich because of the rules. Here, the judges did not make their work. I am upset for Ezekiel, that is true. But he made a mistake, mistakes. That’s the only thing I can say.”
At the 2014 European Championships Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad was disqualified for removing his shirt while celebrating in the final 100 meters of the steeplechase. He subsequently won the 1500m title.
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“First of all, again, there are rules,” he continued. “If it would have been on the other side, I know that Kenya would have made a call against me and disqualify me. It’s an honest way for the meet. I just want to take an example: if someone is simulating a football player, simulating on a football surface and he gets a penalty against the other team, this guy sometimes people say he made a good thing. This is what is bizarre with the rules in sport. There are rules, we have to follow the rules and not cheat.
“I’ll just add that Maradona hit a goal with his hand and he is an idol in Argentina. He cheated. I did not cheat. This is what I have to say about this.”
Do you think this is worthy of a DQ? We don’t