Spanish hurdler Ortega gets bronze on appeal
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — There are now two bronze medalists in the men’s 110-metre hurdles.
The Cuba-born naturalised Spanish hurdler Orlando Ortega will be awarded an extra bronze medal after Jamaican Omar McLeod collided with him during the hurdles final Wednesday.
Ortega had been third when McLeod veered into his lane but finished fifth after the collision. The championships jury rejected Spain’s first appeal, saying the incident was “not unusual in hurdles events,” but reversed its decision Thursday evening.
The statement announcing the ruling didn’t say why the case was heard again or why the decision was changed. Original third-place finisher Pascal Martinot-Lagarde of France keeps his medal.
Grant Holloway won the gold for the United States and Russian neutral athlete Sergey Shubenkov took the silver.
The championships has already awarded a double bronze in men’s hammer when Wojciech Nowicki of Poland won an appeal over the validity of Hungarian Bence Halasz’s throw for third place.
Both were given the bronze at the ceremony Thursday after the jury declined to revoke Halasz’s medal.