Paralympian loses gold he wins for 3-minute’s lateness before competition

Shot putter Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli won a gold, but forfeit  at the Tokyo Paralympics.

The Malaysian athlete was stripped of his medal after he won the men’s shot put F20 on Tuesday because he had arrived three minutes late to the competition.

Zolkefli and two others were initially allowed to participate in the event because “they may have had a logical reason for being late,” said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence.

“Therefore, we allowed them to compete and look at the facts of the matter afterward,” Spence added.

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

Zolkefli’s name then started trending on Twitter, with some users lamenting his loss. Other blamed Ukraine’s Maksym Koval, who had won silver but was awarded gold after Zolkefli’s disqualification.

Spence described the comments as “very abusive.”

“Rules are rules, the decision was taken, and it wasn’t the Ukrainian’s fault. The Malaysian was late to the call room,” Spence added. “Really disappointing that such abuse happens on social media.”

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

Culled from CNN