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2023 World Athletics Championships Budapest Getnet Wale ETH, Benard Keter USA, Jean-Simon Desgagnes CAN, Vidar Johansson SWE, Matthew Clarke AUS, Daniel Arce ESP, Ryoma Aoki JPN, Avinash Mukund Sable IND, 3000m Steeplechase Men, Round 1, Heat 1, during the 2023 World Athletics Championships at National Athletics Centre, Budapest, Hungary on 19 August 2023. Budapest National Athletics Centre Hungary Editorial use only , Copyright: xIanxStephenx PSI-17887-0024
Imago
2023 World Athletics Championships Budapest Getnet Wale ETH, Benard Keter USA, Jean-Simon Desgagnes CAN, Vidar Johansson SWE, Matthew Clarke AUS, Daniel Arce ESP, Ryoma Aoki JPN, Avinash Mukund Sable IND, 3000m Steeplechase Men, Round 1, Heat 1, during the 2023 World Athletics Championships at National Athletics Centre, Budapest, Hungary on 19 August 2023. Budapest National Athletics Centre Hungary Editorial use only , Copyright: xIanxStephenx PSI-17887-0024
The World Athletics Championships in Tokyo had no shortage of talking points, and Jean‑Simon Desgagnés found himself at the centre of one. The Canadian steeplechaser finished 10th in his heat in 8:36.58 and appeared to be out of the final, but race officials ruled that another runner impeded him and reinstated his place. A year later, after he ran 8:39.96 to finish 13th in the final, Desgagnés has finally spoken about the incident that reshaped his championship.
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The 27-year-old was speaking to Olympics.com about his dual life as an Olympic distance runner and a medical student at the same time when he touched upon the incident.
“The good thing is that my spike actually went to the right of his face and never touched him, so he didn’t have anything on his face,” Desgagnés told Olympics.com. “I don’t know how, but unconsciously, my spike managed to not hit his face. Nobody was injured. It was [just] a funny part of the sport.”
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For the unversed, Desgagnés was participating in the second heat of the 2025 World Athletics Championships when he collided with a runner, who had already taken a tumble over a barrier.
The Canadian steeplechaser went down with the other runner, later revealed to be Geordie Beamish, but it didn’t seem to matter to either one. Instead, both runners got up, dusted themselves off, and continued with the race.
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However, replays and photos after the heat showed that Desgagnes didn’t just collide with Geordie Beamish, but he stepped on his face with his spiked running shoes during the World Athletics Championships.
Track and field has seen several incidents where athletes were impeded during races, leading to referee reviews, disqualifications, or advancements similar to Jean-Simon Desgagnés’ case in the 2025 steeplechase.
Back in the 1904 Olympics, men’s 400m, American John Carpenter won but was disqualified for blocking Britain’s Wyndham Halswelle. Officials ordered a re-run, which Halswelle won unopposed after the other finalists protested.
At the 2024 US Olympic Trials women’s 800m, champion Athing Mu fell after tangling with another runner. Officials rejected her appeal, finding no clear foul, and she finished last. Previously, in the 2016 Olympics men’s 3000m steeplechase, Ezekiel Kemboi dropped from third after a post-race disqualification for stepping inside the track, upheld on review.
Just like that, Jean’s incident was purely an accident. Sure, the incident shocked those watching, but many grew impressed by the New Zealand athlete. That was because the incident didn’t seem to affect the tenacious Geordie Beamish, who suffered only minor injuries.
Geordie Beamish opens up on getting a spike to the face from Desgagnés
Despite the incident, Beamish went on to produce a sensational comeback in the second heat to cross the finish line in second, earning a place in the final of the World Athletics Championships. Desgagnés did not make it into the final through the regular finishes but was awarded a place in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final by race officials after the fact.
As mentioned, the Canadian runner finished 13th in the final, and it was Beamish who stole the show. The New Zealander entered the 2025 World Championships as a bona fide underdog but proved his mettle as he delivered arguably the biggest shock of the event by winning his country’s first-ever track medal at a World Athletics Championships.
“Yeah, not a whole lot, honestly,” Beamish told Flo Track about the incident. “Yeah, I was trying to just try to just get back on my feet and get back to it. I think the..I think the photo may look a lot worse than it was. In my mind, I didn’t even know that I had a spike in my face. But yeah, it could have been a lot worse, I mean maybe I got a bit lucky there.”
Saying he got a little bit lucky is an understatement because Desgagnés’ foot could have potentially blinded Beamish if it had been near his eyes. But clearly, the incident is behind both runners, who cleared the air immediately afterwards and have since moved on.
For many, however, it marked the power of perseverance, including Philadelphia-based Getty Sport photographer Emilee Chinn, who captured the photo. It blew up on social media, reaching over a million people across various platforms and even earned a spot amongst acclaimed company.
That was after the World Athletics nominated her photo as a finalist for its prestigious Photo of the Year award, but Vegard Grott won the award for his photo of the men’s mile at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. On the other hand, with the air cleared between the athletes, who knows what the track and field world will see in the coming months?
Written by
Edited by
Firdows Matheen