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Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela thought he’d won the 1500-meter race at the 2026 Copernicus Cup over the weekend in record-setting fashion. But then things quickly changed for the 26-year-old, perhaps in unfair fashion.
Masalela, who finished seventh in the 800 meters at the 2024 Paris Oympics with a personal-best time of 1:42.82, outkicked French competitor Azeddine Habz down the stretch to finish first in the 1500 at the final event of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series in Torun, Poland.
His seemingly race-winning time of 3:32.56 not only set a national record for Botswana, but also placed him 14th on the all-time indoor list.
However, Masalela later learned that he had been disqualified for the event. But it wasn’t due to cheating or any inappropriate actions that actually affected the race.
❌ Pour son geste antisportif, Tshepiso Masalela 🇧🇼 est finalement disqualifié !
La vicrtoire revient donc Azeddine Habz 🇫🇷 sur 1500m en 3:32.56 SB à Torún. #Athlétisme #WorldIndoorTour pic.twitter.com/Cp3pS2XNf6 https://t.co/zqoOpX90EV
— MR.CARTER 🌚 (@NelsonCarterJr) February 22, 2026
Instead, he was was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour after making a shooting gesture with his hand toward Habz as the two crossed the line. Event officials cited a violation of World Athletics Rule TR 7.1, as per RunBlogRun.
Masalela is reportedly appealing the decision. But should he even need to do so?
Tshapiso Masalela Was Treated Unfairly!
Now, I am certainly not a track and field expert.
I will occasionally watch the outdoor world championships when they are on television, and I’ll watch every four years for the Summer Olympics. But I am not a regular viewer of the sport.
One things I do know about the sport, however, is that these sorts of gestures aren’t in common. In fact, there are several recent examples, most notably from superstar American sprinter Noah Lyles!
DQ’ed for one gunfinger is crazy
Noah was moving like prime Clint Eastwood https://t.co/AtV0zf2c5x pic.twitter.com/BRldJY05Q1
— Nat (@NLS_TF) February 23, 2026
Even superstar pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis has used a similar celebration in the past. If you’re not going to apply the rule to everyone, you can’t decide now to apply it to Masalela.
Justice for Tshepiso Masalela!