Botswana’s hopes of gold revived as Amos is reinstated
Botswana’s Nijel Amos will run in the Olympic 800m final after all.
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Despite a dramatic fall in Sunday’s semifinal, which saw the 27-year-old tumbling to the track and limping home in last place in 2:38.49, Amos has been reinstated in the race and handed a place in Wednesday’s final, which will now feature nine athletes instead of eight.
The Botswana star, who boasts the fastest time this year over two laps of 1:42.91, and American Isaiah Jewitt got tangled up mid-race but provided one of the indelible images of the Games when they helped each other up from the track and crossed the finish line together.
It was heartbreak for Botswana's Nijel Amos and American Isaiah Jewett who went down in their 800m semifinal. But, the spirit of the #Olympics was on show as both athletes embraced before crossing the line.
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 1, 2021
Watch the latest #Tokyo2020 highlights: https://t.co/ieekng0owf pic.twitter.com/4XoD4CwoA6
Speaking directly after the fall, and thinking he was out of contention, Amos had said: “I still can’t put my head around it. I am crazy about it, but that is 800m. These things happen.”
As for crossing the line with Jewett, he added: “At the end of the day it is all about 'united by emotion', as people say.”
Jewitt added: “I don't want any bad blood because that's what heroes do, they show their humanity through who they are and show that they're good people."
Officials later ruled that Amos had been impeded by Jewett, meaning he’ll be able to contest for a second Olympic medal after the silver he claimed as an 18-year-old at London 2012.
After being reinstated, Amos posted his response on Twitter, saying: “I wrote this message on the wall at the dressings room after thinking my time here at the Olympics was over. God had other plans and he indeed prepared a seat for me at the final dinner.”
I wrote this message on the wall at the dressings room after thinking my time here at the Olympics was over. God had other plans and he indeed prepared a seat for me at the final dinner .#lead by faith #tatamilawoloto pic.twitter.com/MoM0u4jgf6
— Nijel Amos ???? (@NijelAmos) August 1, 2021
That “final dinner” will also include the likes of world championship bronze medallist Ferguson Rotich, Emmanuel Korir, who has the second best time in the world this year – both from Kenya – and the third-ranked Clayton Murphy of the USA.
The 800m has been dominated by world record-holder David Rudisha at the two previous Olympics, but the Kenyan was not able to make it to Tokyo because of persistent injury.
Amos’s silver in London, in that famous race in which Rudisha shattered the world record, remains Botswana’s solitary Olympic medal in 10 previous editions of the Games.
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