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Malaysian Paralympian loses gold medal for being late

2021-09-02T23:52:12.149Z


Malaysian shot putter Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was stripped of his gold medal on Tuesday in the men's F20 shot put.


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(CNN) -

We've all been through that: being a few minutes late for an important event, a meal, or a meeting with friends.

But in the case of shotgun Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, his delay cost him a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

The Malaysian athlete was stripped of his gold medal after his victory on Tuesday in the men's F20 shot put because he was three minutes late to the competition.

Zolkefli and two other competitors were initially allowed to participate in the event because "they could have a logical reason for being late," said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence.

"Therefore, we allow them to compete and examine the facts of the matter later," added Spence.

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However, a referee later concluded that "there was no justifiable reason for the athletes" not to show up for the event on time, according to a statement from the world athletics governing body.

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As a result, Zolkefli's name was trending on Twitter, with some users mourning his loss.

"You did the best you could. No need to apologize champion. Our hero Ziyad Zolkefli is coming back stronger," one user tweeted.

"So heartbreaking for Ziyad Zolkefli," said another.

Others directed their ire against Ukrainian Maksym Koval, who had won silver but was awarded gold after Zolkefli's disqualification.

Spence called the comments "very abusive."

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"In my opinion, they are ridiculous. I want to say that you can be unhappy with the decision, but what I see now are comments on all of our social media posts that have nothing to do with the F20 men's shot put test. "Spence said.

"The rules are the rules, the decision was made, and it was not the fault of the Ukrainian athlete. The Malaysian was late to the call room," Spence added.

"It is really disappointing that these abuses are taking place on social media."

Koval's Ukrainian teammate Oleksandr Yarovyi took silver, while Greek Efstratios Nikolaidis took the bronze medal.

Paralympic Games

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-09-02

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