Mondo raises the bar once more

Beamish uses head to win steeplechase

The most heartbreaking scene on Monday was steeplechaser Soufiane El Bakkali kneeling with his head on the track and his teammate trying to console him.

The two-time world and Olympic champion was outraced to the line by New Zealand's Geordie Beamish and finished second by 0.07 seconds.

"Congratulations for a good race today, but, for me, I'm coming here for a different reason," El Bakkali said.

Despite his heartbreak, El Bakkali took a traditional steeplechase dip in the water pit with Beamish.

Beamish celebrated a gold medal some 48 hours after another memorable scene. He tripped during qualifying and an oncoming runner stepped on his face. But Beamish got up and made the final.

"It might have been a blessing in disguise," Beamish said. "That gave me a lot of confidence, just being able to get back up off the ground and still qualify pretty easily. It gave me confidence that my shape was better than I thought."

Agencies Via Xinhua