An "unfair" penalty costs gold to the sailor "Quique & # 39; Figueroa



[ad_1]

Until today, all the news of Barranquilla were gold, silver and bronze medals, but today, an "unfair" sanction has been awarded to the Puerto Rican sailor Enrique, who did not deserve gold. "Quique" Figueroa

For this decision of the judges in the discipline of sailing, the athlete was left with the bronze.

After several hours of waiting for a call that would give another gold medal to the Puerto Rican delegation, tonight the duo of Figueroa and Francheska Valdés received the news that the judges who attended to a call for failure in a race decided against them.

"These judges have tried or tarnished the reputation of an athlete who has earned the prestige and respect of the people, but most importantly, they have tried to perpetuate a lie," said Fernando Olivero, legal adviser of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR), Telemundo. sde Barranquilla

The appeal of the Puerto Ricans arrived a few days ago, the Venezuelan team requested the disqualification of Puerto Ricans in the Hobby event. Specifically, the Venezuelan delegation claimed a violation of the rules of the sport in regatta number seven. In this race, Figueroa and Valdés finished first.

But there was a problem. Today the COPUR has informed that Venezuela had made a mistake in making the claim: it was not the seven regatta, but the six. In this, the PUR 1 – as Puerto Ricans are identified – came in third position.

According to Olivero, Venezuela and the judges knew this mistake. However, they decided against him

"How is it possible for a judge, anywhere in the world, to know that he is committing an injustice, that he was wrong and that nothing happened at regatta number seven to punish our athlete, something that did not happen, "the consultant asked, visibly frustrated and annoyed.

Figueroa, after hearing about the situation, came across strong lines. "In my life I 've seen a ridicule as big as the one we' ve just witnessed here …"

Her partner Valdes, meanwhile, was sure of what 's going on. had passed. "We do not have fun, but we know it's in the water, we are champions no matter what we win, the score says it."

Olivero, accompanied by Jaime Lamboy, director of COPUR's High Performance Department (DAR), also sent a direct message to the judges who made the decision.

"I told him that, in this particular case, they would accuse in his conscience one of the greatest injustices committed in sport",

For his part, Lamboy specified that he He was not asked not to punish Figueroa and Valdés, but that if a mistake had been made, an action had been taken in the right course.

Sports Agent said that they were asking for more documents to see what options they had to appeal the decision.