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A Malaysian shot putter was disqualified after arriving late for his competition during the Tokyo Paralympics.
On Tuesday, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli competed under protest in the F20 class at the city’s National Stadium. While Zolkefli, one of three athletes who appeared to be late, was competing in the event, officials were examining why the men did not report for roll call in the call room on time.
Though Zolkelfi placed first and won gold, officials determined that his disqualification was valid due to arriving late, according to the World Para Athletics, which issued astatement.
“In accordance with this Rule, the athletes were allowed to compete under protest while the Referee considered all the evidence as to why the athletes were late to the Call Room. Having considered the evidence, the Referee determined that there was no justifiable reason for the athletes' failure to report to the Call Room on time,” the statement continued.
“The athletes appealed this decision to the Jury of Appeal, who gave the teams the opportunity to present all the relevant information before making its final decision. The Jury of Appeal upheld the Referee’s decision and confirmed the athletes' results as DNS,” the statement concluded.
In a message on social media, Zolkefliwrote, “I will wake up again. Thank you for your words of encouragement.”
Hours prior, the athletewrote: “I apologize to all Malaysians. Thank you for supporting me.”
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With Zolkefli’s gold null and void, Ukraine’s Maksym Koval and Oleksandr Yarovyi were moved up to gold and silver, respectively. Efstratios Nikolaidis of Greece finished with bronze. (Zolkefli was not on the podium for the medal ceremony.)
The F20 class in the shot put is for athletes with intellectual disabilities, according to the Paralympics.
International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence spoke to theAssociated Pressabout the three men, including Zolkefli, who “arrived three minutes late” to their event.
“They may have had a logical reason for being late, and therefore we allowed them to compete and look at the facts of the matter afterward,” Spence said.
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Spence also told the AP that an excuse given was that the three men “didn’t hear the announcement or it was in a language” they did not understand.
source: people.com
