Exhausted guide ruins record bid

Louise Sauvage won the 800m

A blind Kenyan runner was denied a certain world record in the men's T11 5000m when his guide became exhausted during the race.

Henry Wanyoike had British runner Bob Matthews' target well within his reach when helper John Kyalu, weakened by illness, began to tire due to his condition.

Kyalu began to drift into the right-hand lane, forcing the 26-year-old athlete to literally drag him over the line.

Wanyoike eventually came home in 15 minutes, 46.29 seconds, just outside Matthews' mark of 15:43.34.

Pain

He did not seem to care that he had missed the record, leaping around in celebration, while poor Kyalu collapsed on the track in obvious pain.

Matthews took the silver medal, but the British team believed it should have been gold, claiming Wanyoike should not have been in the section for the highest degree of blindness.

They launched an appeal after the race, but it was dismissed nine hours later.

Wanyoike's coach Barak Biemo said: "The British protested because they wanted to spoil our party."

Australia's top wheelchair athlete Louise Sauvage took gold in the 1500m, three days after controversially losing out to arch rival Chantal Petitclerc in the T54 800m.

This time the tables were turned as Sauvage pushed the perfect tactical race, leaving the Canadian a distant fifth.

Sauvage, the reigning World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, claimed seven gold medals at the Barcelona and Atlanta Paralympics and the Sydneysider admitted feeling under pressure in front of her home crowd.

"The pressure has been lifted to a certain extent in the last couple of days, so it's been great," she said.

Interference

After Sunday's 800m final, the referee called for the race to be re-run because of interference at the back of the pack.

But the Canadians successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday, ensuring that Petitclerc's gold medal stood and a re-run was not required.

Sauvage said: "I came through first, that's the main thing. I didn't find out (about the CAS hearing) until this morning but I'm totally focused on my 1500 and it worked out fine."

"The court decision is fine. I had nothing to do with it. We didn't disagree with anything that happened. That's the way it goes."

Petitclerc, who was clearly unhappy after the race, said she had shaken hands with Sauvage to congratulate her.

"We are both competitive. We respect each other. We are not close friends," Petitclerc said.

"She had a smart race. She deserved it, like I did in the 800."