Athlete disqualified for 'childish' finish line celebration after record-breaking race

Botswana middle-distance runner Tshepiso Masalela was disqualified for 'unsportsmanlike behaviour', just moments after breaking a national record at the Orlen Copernicus Cup.

On Sunday, the final meeting of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series took place in Torun, Poland.

A number of national records were broken on the day, with European indoor champion Zaynab Dosso smashing her own Italian record in the 60m by 0.02 seconds to clock 6.99 - a meeting record and joint world lead.

Devynne Charlton and Eliott Crestan also ended their campaigns on a high but it was an evening to forget for Tshepiso Masalela, who was later disqualified from the 1500m event.

Masalela initially crossed the line in a race-winning time of 3:32.56, which was a Botswana national record. In fact, the 26-year-old climbed up to 14th on the all-time indoor list, according to Track & Field Gazette.

But moments before crossing the line, Masalela made what was deemed to be an inappropriate gesture towards France's Azeddine Habz as he ran down the homestretch.

Óscar Fdez posted footage of the incident alongside the caption: "Masalela reaches the finish line first in Torun (3.32.55) but is disqualified. What was a spectacular season opener turns into a glaring failure due to a childish gesture."

Masalela llega primero a meta en Torun (3.32.55) pero es descalificado. Lo que era un inicio de temporada espectacular se convierte en un fallo clamoroso por un gesto infantil. pic.twitter.com/L1AFT6L2OO

— Óscar Fdez. (@gabyandersengz) February 22, 2026

Masalela, who has represented Botswana at the Olympics and the World Championships, was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour, with officials citing a violation of World Athletics Rule TR 7.1, as per RunBlogRun.

He is said to have appealed the decision, according to ISPORT, but it was rejected.

World Athletics initially congratulated the Botswanan on its website and shared footage of the run but soon, the video was taken down following backlash on social media.

Azeddine Habz, who was one hundredth of a second behind Masalela as he crossed the line, proceeded to win the race with an impressive time of 3:32.56 - the third-fastest time in the world this year.

He was confirmed as the winner ahead of Samuel Chapple (3:32.68) and Samuel Pihlström (3:33.47), who both set national short track records.

It remains unclear why Masalela made the gesture towards Habz.