Outrage after Malaysian shot putter stripped of Paralympic gold for turning up late

Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was allowed to compete in the F20 final despite being late. But he was later disqualified, along with two other athletes
Malaysia’s Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin condemned the decision as ‘shameful’. The country’s king has also weighed in on the controversy

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Agence France-Pressein Kuala Lumpur

Published: 10:32am, 2 Sep 2021

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The International Paralympic Committee has defended a decision to disqualify a Malaysian shot putter for turning up late, leading to him being stripped of a gold medal, as anger erupted in his homeland.

Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was allowed to compete in the F20 final in Tokyo on Tuesday despite being late, and went on to win a gold medal and break the world record.

But he was later disqualified, along with two other athletes, by officials who determined they had no good reason for their late arrival at the call room. The gold went instead to Ukraine’s Maksym Koval. Ukraine teammate Oleksandr Yarovyi took silver, while bronze went to Efstratios Nikolaidis of Greece.

Ukraine’s Maksym Koval took gold in the men's shot put F20 Final after Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli was stripped of his medal. Photo: Reuters

International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence said on Wednesday a referee determined there was “no justifiable reason” for Ziyad turning up late, and an appeal was subsequently rejected.

Despite this, Spence said the Ukrainian athlete was now “getting a lot of abuse from Malaysians”.

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“People say the Ukrainian stole the gold. No, absolutely not. The Ukrainian had nothing to do with it. It was the athletes that were late,” Spence said.

“There’s been a massive outpouring of emotion of many Malaysians on social media. Very abusive. Ridiculous, in my view,” he added.

He said the latecomers had argued they had not heard the announcement to gather or that it was in a language they did not understand – but he noted the other athletes had managed to get there on time.

The F20 category in shot put is for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

But on social media, critics showed no sign of accepting the disqualification of Ziyad, who won gold at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, with Malaysia’s Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin condemning the “shameful decision”.

“An absolute disgrace that goes against the spirit of the Paralympics,” he tweeted. “Mean spirited and petty. A stolen gold medal and world record.”

Malaysia’s king also urged “the relevant authorities to study the reasons for the disqualification … so that it will not be repeated in the future”, according to a palace statement.

The widely revered monarch, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, is “proud of [Ziyad’s] achievements and performance,” it added.

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Ziyad himself posted just a short message on Instagram apologising and thanking Malaysians for their support.

Early in 2019, the IPC stripped Malaysia of the World Para Swimming Championships for being unwilling to guarantee that Israeli athletes could compete.

Spence said the reaction then was similar.

“The level of abuse that was directed at the IPC then was through the roof,” Spence said.

Additional reporting by Associated Press