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Gold medallist's wonderful sportsmanship for gutted rival

Conselsus Kipruto has produced a brilliant piece of sportsmanship after winning gold in the 3000m steeplechase.

Kipruto led a Kenyan clean sweep of the medals on Friday night, with compatriots Abraham Kibiwott and Amos Kirui taking silver and bronze.

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Canada's Matthew Hughes looked set to claim the bronze and stop Kenya's sixth-straight clean sweep of the event.

Hughes lunged for the line but his desperate attempt fell short, leaving the gutted Canadian lying on the track in despair.

Kipruto consoled Hughes after beating him. Image: Getty/7
Kipruto consoled Hughes after beating him. Image: Getty/7

Kipruto, who had been showboating and having fun for the majority of the race, showed his true character as he walked over to console Hughes.

The Kenyan bent down and put Hughes' head in his arms, offering him a nice word of encouragement.

It's the latest moment of incredible sportsmanship we've seen at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

In similar style to his Rio Olympics gold-medal display, Kipruto was effervescent as ever, showboating through the final 100m and waving to the crowd in a manner not unlike his similarly flamboyant predecessor, Ezekiel Kemboi.

He broke the Games record anyway while adding Commonwealth gold to his world and Olympic titles.

More intriguing was that the 23-year-old managed it despite sacrificing some time to urge on his countrymen.

Kipruto turned around several times to check Kibiwott was still with him.

Kipruto ran away to win gold. Image: Getty
Kipruto ran away to win gold. Image: Getty

And on the home straight the pair exchanged words as they checked on the status of Kirui, who ran down a gutsy Hughes in the final moments.

"We planned, it's a tactical game," Kipruto said.

"I told them in the warm-up, 'I am not going to leave you guys behind'.

"I was controlling the race and ... was always looking back and seeing where the guys were.

"After the last water jump I called the second guy and was waiting to see the back guy coming because I knew the Canada guy was tired.

"If I had left them behind they might not have pushed."

The spectacle continued when Hughes realised he'd been bettered by Kirui and dived head first over the line.

"I've never done that before in my entire life - it was instinct ... but I knew he was in front of me," said Hughes, who was irate his plan to upset Kenya's dominance had failed by such a small margin.

The Kenyans celebrate. Image: Getty
The Kenyans celebrate. Image: Getty

"I'm sick and tired of coming here ... my mentality was rewrite the script - the Kenyans just come in here and do whatever they want and nobody tries to mess up their plans.

"I've been in amazing shape every single year and now I watch these three guys jog around the track."