World Athletics Championships: Kenyan pays high price

Rebecca Morris
Monday 30 August 1999 18:02 EDT
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BERNARD BARMASAI has been disqualified from a share of the $1m (pounds 600,000) jackpot in the Golden League series after admitting he asked his Kenyan compatriot Christopher Koskei to let him win the steeplechase in Zurich earlier this month.

An International Amateur Athletic Federation spokesman, Giorgio Reineri, said yesterday: "The decision was taken on the code of conduct. The rule states that an athlete who puts athletics into disrepute can be sanctioned." He added: "He gave the idea that some races can be fixed."

Although ineligible for a share of the money - which athletes who remain unbeaten in their event share - the Kenyan world record holder can still compete in the meetings in Brussels and Berlin.

The American sprinter Marion Jones, 800m record-holder Wilson Kipketer of Denmark and Romanian distance runner Gabriela Szabo are the three athletes still in contention for the jackpot. Jones, however, injured her back during the World Championships in Seville and is unlikely to compete in Brussels.

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