Sometimes you win the bronze… and lose the war. Long live King Kemboi

Tonight, I go to sleep quite sad. For as beautiful as the Olympics have been, today saw an unbelievably disgraceful act (in my opinion). Ezekiel Kemboi is a Kenyan Steeplechase runner - the most decorated in history - two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion. Now 34, he's been in the sport since 2001 - 15 years! And today, he took the bronze medal in what would prove to be his last run. After the race, he immediately retired. But two hours after the race, he was disqualified. If you happen to see it in the news, it’ll mention his disqualification casually, but there’s way more to it than that.

Those who watched the race would have seen something odd as the 4th place man crossed the finish line more than three seconds behind Kemboi. This man was holding up three fingers (thumb, first finger, and middle finger). In the moment, a viewer would think, “Maybe that hand gesture means something to him.” It turns out, it meant a whole lot more than anyone could know.

Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad is a French runner. After the race, this man filed a formal protest. He said that on Lap 4, Kemboi stepped outside the course in the water turn for two steps and should, thus, be disqualified, making him the bronze medalist (since he’d finished 4th). The judges could only look at the video and enforce the rules since this was a formal protest. Kemboi had indeed stepped out which is an automatic disqualification. The man who filed the appeal lost by more than THREE SECONDS to Kemboi, not three steps. He finished 20 METERS behind Kemboi - wasn't even in the screen when Kemboi finished!

The thing that will make you incredulous is that this man was once himself stripped of a medal for dubious reasons. Back in the 2014 European Championships, this man torched the field. He was so pumped that he took off his bib and waved it over his head in celebration as he came down the final 100 meters. A fellow competitor filed a protest after the race on a rule which states an athlete must display their number at all times. This man was disqualified and stripped of his gold. At the time, the president of his country's track federation called the filing of the protest “anti-fair play."

And now he has shamefully protested and had a medal stripped from a retiring track LEGEND. Normally, we say someone “wins” a bronze medal. Today, I feel like this man has stolen one. He's a man that has assaulted mascots (multiple times). He assaulted his own teammate after a race. He's notorious for all the wrong reasons. It seems his mistakes have never softened him.

Now, before we Americans go and get on our high horse, our country has a bad race on our hands, too. Not as egregious as this, but a bit sad (and really nuts!). Back at the 2008 Beijing Games, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands took silver in the 200m final behind Usain Bolt. American bronze medalist Wallace Spearmon was immediately disqualified by the judges for leaving his lane (which in a short race like the 200m can be significant). When our American officials looked at the video to confirm, they saw Martina had ALSO stepped over his lane line. So THEY filed a protest. Martina was disqualified and the original 4th place finisher, American Shawn Crawford, was given the silver and original FIFTH place finisher, American Walter Dix, was given the bronze.

What happened next, though, is beautiful. A week after the Olympics, there was a big track meet in Zurich. One morning, the Netherlands’ Martina was informed a delivery was waiting for him at his hotel's front desk. When he opened the package, he couldn’t believe it. Inside was a red box with a note that simply read:

“Churandy, I know this can’t replace the moment, but I want you to have this because I believe it’s rightfully yours. -Shawn Crawford"

Inside the red box was the medal! CRAWFORD GAVE THE SILVER  BACK!

Now, rules are rules, I get it. By the LETTER OF THE LAW, perhaps all these men - Kemboi, Spearmon, and Martina - should have been disqualified. But when we consider the SPIRIT OF THE GAME, everyone knows, in this case, Ezekiel Kemboi deserved bronze. He gained no material advantage by leaving the course. Inside, most of us are incensed by this story. “THIS IS WRONG!” we yell.

But I see a lesson here for myself. Some people will be better than me on any given day. I should never let the anger of defeat cause me to treat another person poorly. In our day-to-day life, each of us makes mistakes - we have poor form. Becoming aware of our bad moments, admitting them, and working to become better - much like athletes train - will make us stronger people with better hearts. Catching our small bad moments keeps us humble. We get into trouble when we become petty and file “protests,” yelling at others over immaterial things. In this way, life is like sports. How? This man will lose the respect of hundreds of thousands of people around the world (quite probably millions because Kenyans are furious). Many of his fellow athletes will find what he did distasteful if not disrespectful to a legend like Kemboi. Which serves as a reminder to us all - sometimes you win the bronze… and lose the war. Long live King Kemboi!