Iran's Sadegh Beit Sayah on Saturday was stripped off his Paris Paralympics gold medal after he was disqualified from the men's javelin throw F41 final. (Full Coverage | More Sports News)
The Iranian had beaten India's Navdeep Singh to win the gold medal, only for him and his team to know just after the final that he had been disqualified. Due to the disqualification, Singh's silver was upgraded to gold and he became the first Indian to win a gold in the javelin throw F41 classifiation.
No specific reason was pointed out for the disqualification of Sayah. The decision was made under rule 8.1 of the body which is related to the Code of Conduct and Ethics.
"World Para Athletics (WPA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and conduct in the sport of Para athletics. All participants in the sport, including athletes, coaches, officials, and administrators, have a responsibility to uphold these standards and ensure that the sport is conducted in a fair, honest, and transparent manner," WPA's statement about the disqualification stated.
Sayah displayed a black flag with arabic insicription after his victory and that is speculated to be the reason behind his disqualification.
Iranian Paralympics body has appealed against the decision.
While Sayah has been disqualified for breaching the Code of Conduct, there have been other reasons of para athletes getting disqualified too. Here are five other para athletes who have been stripped off their Paralympics medals.
Serkan Yıldırım (Turkiye)
Turkiye's Serkan Yildrim's gold medal in the men's 100m T12 classification at the Paris Paralympics was stripped after he was found to be ineligible for the said classification. He was also barred from competing in the 400m event of the same classification.
Jaryd Clifford (Australia)
Australian para athlete Jaryd Clifford got a bronze at the Paris Paralympics after he finished third in the men's 5000m T13 final. However, Clifford was stripped off bronze after he dropped the tether which ties him to his guide just moments before finishing the race. As per rules, vision-impaired runners must hold onto the tether until they’ve finished the race in its entirety.
Roża Kozakowska (Poland)
A pillow was the reason behind Poland's Roża Kozakowska getting stripped off her medal despite setting a new record at the Paris Paralympics in the women's F32 club throw final.
The size of the pillow was bigger than the rules and thus Kozakowska was disqualified and her celebrations curtailed even after her record throw.
Giacomo Perini (Italy)
The joy of Giacomo Perini after clinching bronze in Paris in the PR1 men’s single sculls final was short-lived as he was disqualified for having a phone on his boat. The Italian Paralympics body has appealed the decision as Perini argued that the phone was just for oversight.
Vinod Kumar (India)
Vinod Kumar had claimed the bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in the discus throw event (F52 category). However, the medal was taken back citing Kumar's ‘intentional misrepresentation’ of his abilities. He was also suspended for two years.
