#rio wrap: kenyan legend disqualified as caster progresses

19 August 2016

On Wednesday afternoon (South African time,) Caster Semenya made her debut at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and what a debut it was. The whole country tuned in to support our gal and the MTV ZA offices were no exception:

#CasterSemenya | Well done Caster. SA is behind you 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/XwaUjta9dN
— #MTVDJBattle (@MTVBaseSouth) August 17, 2016

In the end, Caster comfortably won her heat, progressing to the semi-finals that will be taking place on Friday morning ahead of the finals on Sunday morning.

Thank you South Africa... I feel proud to be a South African ..Thanks for the Love and Support.. 💞 I'll make you proud. 🏃🏃🏃
— Caster Semenya (@caster800m) August 17, 2016

Wednesday and Thursday’s round of event was bittersweet for our African comrades in Kenya, however, after one of their runners managed to win another Gold for their team, while another was disqualified.

Conseslus Kipruto won gold in the men’s 3000 m steeplechase event, winning Kenya’s 3rd gold of the games. Ezekiel Kemboi, who has won the event twice in his career and is a legend in Kenyan running circles finished the race third and then announced his retirement from professional running.

Before we could even congratulate him on an illustrious career, he was disqualified after an appeal committee found that he had stepped outside of the racing lines.