By Stephen Wade
Even in the Paralympics Games, there is controversy over victory and defeat.
Malaysian shot putter Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli appeared to have won gold in the shot put in the F20 class. But after the victory on Tuesday, he was disqualified because he had shown up late for the competition.
International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence said Zolkefli and two others — who did not reach the podium — were allowed to compete under protest after they failed to appear on time for the event.
“They were late, they may have had a logical reason for being late, and therefore we allowed them to compete and look at the facts of the matter afterward," Spence said.
A statement from World Para Athletics, which governs track and field for Para sports, said a referee had determined after the event that “there was no justifiable reason for the athletes' failure to report” on time. It said an appeal was also turned down.
The disqualification bumped Maksym Koval of Ukraine up to gold, and Ukraine teammate Oleksandr Yarovyi took silver. Bronze went to Efstratios Nikolaidis of Greece.
Spence said the disqualification was met with anger on social media. He described it as “very abusive.” Much of it targeted the Ukrainians.
“We are now seeing comments on all our social media posts that have nothing to do with the men’s shot put F20 event,” Spence said. He said the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee “was getting a lot of abuse from Malaysians.”
“I’m sorry. Rules are rules,” Spence said. "The decision was taken. It wasn’t the Ukrainians fault that the Malaysian was late.”
Spence said the three had arrived three minutes late. He said he did not see this as a harsh penalty. “Others get there five minutes early,” he said.
Spence said an excuse given was that the Malaysian and the two others said they “didn't hear the announcement or it was in a language” they did not understand.
The F20 class in shot put is for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The Associated Press attempted to reach the Malaysian delegation through an email address provided by IPC officials. There was no immediate response on Wednesday.
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.
If there's one person aside from the 800,000 unpaid federal workers who is hoping the government shutdown ends soon, it's Keisha Lance Bottoms. The mayor of Atlanta is less than two weeks away from hosting Super Bowl LIII, which is a logistical and security nightmare even when the city's airport *isn't* being slowed down by mass TSA sick-outs. "I'm extremely concerned," Bottoms said of the possibility that the shutdown may continue through Super Bowl weekend.
Cloud9 has been dubbed the most valuable esports company in the world by Forbes Magazine ー a title that is thanks, at least in part, to the organization's powerhouse VP of marketing, Eunice Chen. Chen is an esports vet who has worked for industry stalwart Riot Games and even runs her own tournament production company, Heroeshype. In an interview with Cheddar Sports, she said, "there are always different ways we can break into new markets in esports and beyond."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019.
Chris Park, CEO of esports organization, Gen. G joined us to talk about his move from MLB and the gold standard for esports.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 18, 2019.
Rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Soulja Boy told Jimmy Mondal and Cheddar Sports about his next venture: esports.
Marty McFly's self-lacing sneakers from "Back to the Future" are here at last. Kind of. Nike on Tuesday launched the Adapt BB, its first mass-market "smart" sneaker, that uses elastic mesh and a small internal motor with Bluetooth connectivity to allow the wearer to tighten and loosen the fit of the shoe via a smartphone app.
Samsora shared his thoughts on his recent tournament placing, his new team, and his main character for life, Peach.
Bungie, the famed developer of Halo and Destiny, has parted ways with parent company Activision-Blizzard. The industry-shaking fracture follows several leadership changes at Activision over the last several months, causing investors and gamers alike to wonder how the split will affect the gaming industry.
After a tumultuous season and a disappointing 5-9 record, the New York Knicks Gaming team was at the bottom the 2K league barrel. But the squad was able to pull off not one, but two miracle runs to qualify for the NBA 2K League playoffs. Now the question becomes: can the team trounce their competitors a second time? According to Jeff Eisenband, host and analyst at the NBA 2K League, it's unlikely.
