Ethiopian runners Yomif Kejelcha and Selemon Barega were jostling for the lead of a 5000m race at an IAAF Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday when Kejelcha attempted to pull down his compatriots’ shorts near the bend.
The pair had ran towards the final turn when Kejelcha inexplicably tried to pull Barega down after he had briefly overtaken him heading into the final bend.
Birhanu Balew was trailing behind in third place when the incident occurred and breezed past both runners to take the lead as he crossed the line with a time 13:01.09 to take the win and the Diamond League lead.
Barega finished in second place with a time of 13:02.67 while Kejelcha walked his way to the line after he had been disqualified for his attempt to bring Barega down.
Kejelcha and Bargea have a heated exchange after the 5k https://t.co/14HsD6P2oc pic.twitter.com/Ur8Z3jTxy3
— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) July 5, 2018
Barega then confronted Kejelcha after the race with both men having to be separated by their fellow competitors.
