Men's Steeplechase Final

Ezekiel Kemboi

"First of all, I had a very good race. Berlin has to be a special place, because I won silver in Paris, silver in Helsinki, silver in Osaka, and this year gold. I was tired of silver!"

[The hair style?]

"A friend of mine asked what I want to prepare for today, if I should paint my nails. But then we cut the hair and on the back side we shaved out the sign of Nike - my sponsor. Tomorrow I go back to Kenya to prepare for Zurich and there I'll shave my head again."

There is no American in steeple, there are sprinters in Jamaica. In Kenya you cannot do long jump, but if a Jamaican comes to steeple he would be number 1000 in the world and we were number 1000 in sprints.

It's what makes this stadium unique and so different to the others that makes it special. The history, but also the aesthetics make it an inspiring place to be, as an athlete or as a spectator.

Richard Mateelong

It was very fast, very tough. I won bronze before and now I did a step ahead to silver. I'm very happy - silver and personal best. My friend has to be ready to defend!

[Why the steeple?]

It is famous in Kenya and I saw this interesting race and I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Bouabdellah Tahri

I was close to silver. My focus was to finish in the top three. I wanted to run the first laps relaxed. The last round was very hard. I finished with a European record. It is a great day for me.

I worked a lot, advanced my technique at the obstacle [Tahri jumps higher over the steeples than others]. But overall I'm really happy. The last hurdle was very difficult and I was tired.



 

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'Hills are speedword in disguise '
Frank Shorter