Orlando Ortega from Spain was in third place on the men's 110 meter hurdles when reigning world champion Omar McLeod stumbled across a hedge and disturbed Ortega on the track next door. Ortega fell to fifth place and chose to appeal to the International Athletics Association, IAAF. The IAAF chose to reject the protest, but Ortega chose to appeal again. The IAAF then chose to back and award the Ortega bronze which he shares with Pascal Martino Lagarde from France.
Bergqvist criticalSVT's expert Kajsa Bergqvist is critical of the decision.
- You can't go on like this and hand out medals. Unfortunately, sports are sometimes unfair and such things happen. If everyone who feels supported should submit protests and should get medals afterwards, I also think it will be very skewed.
- You do not know what happened to Ortega unless he was disturbed. He might have fallen on the last hedge himself. Either you have to run the entire race or you have to relate to the results that get, even if it feels incredibly acidic.