The Malaysian Ziyad Zolkefli not only lost his gold medal but also the world record. A Ukrainian inherited number one.
The para-shot putter Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli from Malaysia was subsequently stripped of the gold medal and the world record at the Paralympics in Tokyo – because he was late for the competition. “The referee determined that there was no valid reason for the athlete not arriving at the call room on time,” said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence in Tokyo on Wednesday.
A call room is a kind of pre-start room. The athletes must meet there at a certain time shortly before the start of their competition. However, three athletes, including Zolkefli, did not comply. The organizers justified the fact that all three were still allowed to start by saying that not all information was available at the time.
Announcement not heard or understood
“In accordance with the rules, the athletes were allowed to protest while the referee checked all evidence of why the athletes were late to the call room,” said the IPC spokesman. “What we didn't want to do was say, 'Look, you're late, you won't start' and then find out afterwards that there was a legitimate reason they couldn't compete,” Spence explained.
But that didn't exist. Those affected had apologized that they had not heard the announcement and that it was in a language that they could not understand. But all other athletes were on time. And so instead of the Malaysian, the Ukrainian Maksym Koval was awarded the victory in the starting class F20.
The decision triggered a shit storm among Malaysians on social media, the team from Ukraine is facing massive hostility from the Asian country. “Really disappointing that such abuse is happening on social media,” lamented the IPC spokesman. The rules are just like that.
