Faith Kipyegon was shortly disqualified from the women's 5000m and her silver scrapped off being reinstated, an experience she says she is still healing from.
Faith Kipyegon is still healing from the trauma that came after her disqualification in the women’s 5000m after winning silver at the Paris Olympics.
After landing in the country after her Olympic Games heroics, the three-time Olympic 1500m champion explained that she is still emotional following what happened in the women’s 5000m.
Shortly after winning her silver medal, Kipyegon was disqualified for obstructing Gudaf Tsegay and her silver medal was scrapped. However, an appeal was filed to the Olympic organisers by the Athletics Kenya and NOC-K officials in Paris and her medal was reinstated.
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She was handed a yellow card and any mistake she could have made in the 1500m would have led to a disqualification. Following the turn of events, Kipyegon has termed the experience as traumatizing and is yet to recover from the setback.
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“My main goal was to defend my title and make history and I really thank God that I could come out after frustrations and disappointment over the 5000m. I can’t say it was a disappointment, but it was a little bit traumatic, you know,” Kipyegon said.
“So, I’ve won silver, I’ve been given a dq (disqualification) without my knowledge and I was like, ‘What did I do?’. It took a lot of energy on me…I don’t know, I still don’t know how to say it, it’s still emotional because it was really emotional to me.”
The three-time world 1500m champion added that she managed to bounce back and make an impact in the women's 1500m, something that surprised her. She extended a hand of gratitude to her family, fans and the larger support system for encouraging her after the 5000m misstep and helping her to bounce back stronger.
Kipyegon hopes that her win will inspire more people, especially young girls, to know that anything is possible if they put their minds to it.
“I don’t know how I came out and performed the way I did in the 1500m to make history and I really thank all the people who supported me. My fans, my management, my coach, my training partners and team here, Beatrice Chebet and the rest of the people who talked to me,” she said.
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“It was motivational to have stood on that podium, being the greatest 1500m runner of all time and knowing that I have inspired many young girls in the next generation. It was a big achievement for me and I think I’ve been an inspiration to many young girls.”