Soldier Gets His Silver Medal, A Second Time

Spc. Paul Chelimo finishes the 5,000 meter final in third place July 9 during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo Credit: Tim Hipps)

Army Spc. Paul Chelimo competed in the 5,000-meter race in the Rio Olympics on Saturday, crossing the finish line in second place. But officials told him during a post-race interview that he had been disqualified and lost his medal.

Then, he got it back.

On Saturday, he ran in the Olympic men’s 5,000-meter race and posted a strong second-place finish, giving America its first medal in that event since Bob Schul took gold and Bill Dellinger took bronze in the 1964 games in Tokyo.

But, an official review of the race showed that Chelimo had stepped just out of bounds at one point while he attempted to avoid a tight group of athletes who were pushing each other. When his misstep was discovered, Chelimo was disqualified and stripped of his finish.

“I want to appeal that my intention was not to impede anyone,” Chelimo told NBC when he learned of the disqualification from an interviewer.

Army Spc. Paul Chelimo hears during an interview that he was disqualified for stepping over a boundary line. His medal was later re-instated. (Photo: YouTube/NBC Sports)

The U.S. track officials protested the decision. The judges are allowed to use their discretion on whether an athlete stepping out of bounds was on purpose or not and whether it provided a competitive advantage.

In Chelimo’s case, the judges found during the review that the soldier had likely stepped out of bounds on accident and that he would have placed second either way. Chelimo had beaten the bronze medalist by nearly a half-second, 13:03.90 against Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia’s 13:04.35. That is much more than any advantage he might have gained.

It also represents Chelimo’s personal record in the 5,000-meter event.

So, Chelimo was given his 2nd place finish back and allowed to keep his silver medal. He joins Army 2nd Lt. Sam Kendricks as an Army medalist in Rio. Kendricks won the bronze in the men’s pole vault.

This article originally appeared at We Are the Mighty.