Japan’s Hiroto Inoue was yesterday accused of pushing Bahrain’s Elhassan Elabbassi and denying him gold as controversy overshadowed the end of the Asian Games marathon.
Both athletes had complaints rejected by race officials after they made contact during a thrilling sprint finish, which Inoue won by a fraction of a second.
At the end of the 42km race through Jakarta’s streets, the two runners entered the stadium in Jakarta neck and neck before Inoue opened up a small lead.
In the final 100m, Elabbassi attempted to overtake on the inside, but fell back after apparent contact.
“The number one [leader] pushed me,” Elabbassi said. “I would have won.”
Speaking to reporters after the race, Inoue said he did not know what had happened, but had been “surprised” by the contact.
Japan’s team later reported Elabbassi for attempting to overtake on the inside when there was no gap.
Referee Vadim Nigmatov rejected both teams’ complaints to leave Inoue with the gold medal.
Each side has the right to appeal.
Elabbassi’s coach, Gregory Kilonzo, said his athlete had been deliberately pushed by Inoue and “almost went down.”
“The Japan guy, when he saw he was almost overtaken, he decided to push,” Kilonzo said.
Both athletes were credited with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds, with pre-race favorite Inoue crossing the line marginally ahead.
Duo Bujie, a Chinese athlete from Tibet who took to marathon running after a childhood spent herding yaks, finished 26 seconds further back to take bronze.
The winning time was the slowest at an Asian Games since 1982 in New Delhi, as the runners struggled with Jakarta’s baking heat and stifling humidity, despite a 6am start time.
Thailand’s Tony Payne, who placed eighth, said there was some confusion before the start of the race, as the first athletics event of the Asian Games experienced some teething problems.
“They made us run for the start line, because we were running a little bit late,” New Zealand-born Payne said. “We were all walking down and they were like: ‘Run! Run for the start.’”
“It was pretty hectic. They made us run an extra warm-up,” he added.
The silver won by Morocco-born Elabbassi was Bahrain’s first medal in Indonesia.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
RSS