3 minutes Late: NO GOLD! #Paralympics
In a rare event, after arriving late to the competition, a para-athlete lost his gold medal. Malaysia's Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was disqualified as he reported his race "three minutes late," and he was awarded the gold medal in the men's shot, putting in the tokyo Paralympics Finals F 20 class.
Craig Spence, Speaker of the international Paralympic Comité, said Zolkefli and two others, after failing to inform on time for the event, were initially allowed to take part despite the protest. "They were late, maybe they had a logical reason to be late and so we allowed them to compete and look later on to the facts," quoted Spence.
The World Para Athletics Authority, which regulates para-sports track and field, said that after the competition a referee determined that the reasons for failure to report on time were "no legitimated reason" for the participating members. The department confirmed that Malaysia's appeal was also rejected. The Ukrainian Maksym Koval is now at its top following development and is joined in second place by countrymen Olekzandr Yarovyi. Efstratios Nikolaidis of greece won the bronze medal.