Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli: Paralympic athlete stripped of gold for three-minute delay

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But in the case of shot putter 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 winning the men’s F20 shot put on Tuesday because he arrived three minutes behind the competition.

Zolkefli and two other competitors were initially allowed to participate in the event because “maybe they had a logical reason to be late,” said Craig Spence, spokesperson for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

“Therefore, we allowed them to compete and review the facts of the case afterwards,” Spence added.

However, a referee later concluded that there was “no justifiable reason for the failure of athletes” to show up for the event on time, according to a statement from athletics governing body World Para. Athletics.

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

“You did your best. No need to say sorry champion. Come back stronger our hero ziyad zolkefli”, a user tweeted. “So heartbreaking for Ziyad Zolkefli,” said another.

Others directed their anger at Ukrainian Maksym Koval, who won silver but won gold after Zolkefli was disqualified. Spence called the comments “very abusive.”

“Ridiculous in my opinion. I mean, yes you may be unhappy with the decision, but what I’m seeing now are comments on all of our social media posts that have nothing to do with the ordeal. men’s F20 shot put, ”said Spence.

“The rules are the rules, the decision was made, and it was not the Ukrainian’s fault. The Malaysian was late in the appeal room,” Spence added. “Really disappointing that such abuse is happening on social media.”

Koval’s Ukrainian teammate Oleksandr Yarovyi took silver, while Greece’s Efstratios Nikolaidis took bronze.



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