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Spanish Paralympic marathoner Elena Congost noticed her bronze medal hopes dashed simply two meters from the end line on the Paris 2024 Video games.
Regardless of attaining a private greatest time of three:00:48 within the T12 marathon occasion, a small however pricey mistake led to her disqualification, and the medal was as a substitute awarded to Japan’s Misato Michishita.
Congost, aged 36, had been working alongside her information, Mia Carol, as required by Paralympic guidelines, which state that visually impaired athletes within the T12 class should stay tethered to their guides all through the race. Sadly, within the remaining stretch, Congost briefly let go of the rope to help Carol, who was struggling – a gesture of compassion that led to her disqualification below Rule 9.7.5. The rule strictly mandates that athletes keep linked to their information, with no exceptions.
Elena Congost’s heartbreaking error
Reflecting on the incident, a devastated Congost expressed her disbelief: “It’s unfair, surreal. The following athlete was three minutes behind me. It was only a reflex motion that any human being would have performed – holding on to somebody who’s falling.” She added, “I’ve not been disqualified for dishonest, however for being an individual, for serving to somebody.”
Whereas the technicality value her the bronze, Congost’s story has drawn widespread consideration and sympathy, notably from those that perceive the emotional and bodily calls for of Paralympic competitors. Her loss is all of the extra poignant contemplating her current struggles, together with dropping her scholarship. “I’m not going to get one now. They’ll go away me out of all the pieces once more when I’ve proven all the pieces I can do”.
Congost’s disqualification comes within the shadow of Morocco’s dominance within the occasion, with Fatima El Idrissi setting a brand new world document of two:48:36 to say the gold, adopted intently by her compatriot Meryem En-Nourhi, who took silver. In the meantime, within the males’s T12 marathon, Wajdi Boukhili of Tunisia triumphed, and Switzerland’s Marcel Hug captured his fourth medal of the Video games by profitable gold within the males’s T54 marathon.
Whereas the official outcomes of Paris 2024 might not checklist Elena Congost as a medallist, her resilience, sportsmanship, and the compassion she confirmed throughout these remaining metres of the race won’t be forgotten.
Many inside the Paralympic neighborhood and past are calling for a evaluate of the stringent guidelines governing such conditions, hoping to see extra flexibility for moments of humanity in future competitions.
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