(before she knew about the disqualification): I am very happy with the gold medal. With 200m to the finish line, I wanted to overtake Burka on the inside and another athlete wanted to overtake her on the outside. I stepped on the inside and Burka fell. There was a lot of tension and now nothing is clear.
[Maryam Yusuf Jamal gave these quotes before the race winner was disqualified, giving Jamal the gold medal.]
I'm happy to be second. The race was not a good race, because there were collisions and several people fell. When someone falls next to you, it throws you off and you become nervous. The girl who won passed Gelete on the inside. She should have passed on the other side.
My plan was to follow the leader and kick at the end, maybe with about 100m to go. I tried, but she passed me in the end. I'm disappointed I lost my gold medal, but I've still made it to the podium.
I ran the race so many times in my head, studying the different scenarii to be able to respond. Today was a true championships race. I just didn't have the last squeeze in the final meters. The fall changed the whole dynamics of the race. But I used what I have learned before, so I just used my experiences from the past to get through this. I know that crowd was not very satisfied with what happened. I think that the Spaniard came on inside while Jamal was on the outside and they had some contact. We will see what is going to happen. I did not focus on the time but I was looking on my position. I am so thankful and I am still confused that I managed it.
The whole championships have been quite physical. That's a good training for me. When something like this fall happens, the key is to react really quickly to get back into the race. I fell a little short in the end, but I am very happy. It is so unfortunate that that kind of things happen. Burka was obviously in great shape. Even if I get the bronze after that, that's not the way I wanted it to happen.
