Controversy in Paris. Czech talks about cheating, Pole loses her world record

Sebus entered the Paralympic Games with a personal record of 38.15 meters. This year, he has broken the 37-meter mark. Paris He timed his pin to a distance of 33.49. “The screw fell off on the third attempt and the entire harness fell off on the fourth attempt. As a result, I was erratic in the remaining three races and could not give my best effort,” the experienced runner rued.

In the end, Russian athlete Alexey Churkin, who started from France under a neutral flag, became the champion of the competition with a score of 33 centimeters over the 40-meter mark.

But it was the Greek Athanasios Konstantinidis, the last starter, who attracted the most attention. “The Greek cheated again, claiming that there should not be a blanket on the throwing stool, so the blanket is not part of the stool and therefore he did not make contact with the stool. “Since we talked to the Algerians, they will protest,” he said of the Greek runner, who improved his personal record in the pre-game official records by about eleven meters at the Paralympic Games.

However, the morning after the race, Constantinidis was still second in the standings.

For example, Polish skier Roza Kozakowská had broken the rules a day earlier when she won the women’s F32 class with František Serbus with a clearance of over 31 meters, thus exceeding her own world record by about 3 meters.

But her joy did not last long. Athletes competing at the 2019 World Championships Paralympic athletes But then she was reclassified and thrown into skittles as her health deteriorated, and according to official data, she was disqualified for insufficient equipment after the Brazilian team protested.

The problem is the pillow

According to Polish journalist Michal Pol, this is the pillow he uses on his throwing bench. The rules require a maximum thickness of five centimeters, but Roza Kozakowska’s product does not meet this requirement. “Roza recalls that a year ago in the same Paris, she competed with the same pillow and no one minded,” Pol wrote on the X network.

Poland’s protest was subsequently overruled and the gold medal went to Tunisia’s Maroua Ibrami, who set a new world record with a jump of 29 meters. Brazil’s Giovanna Boscolo Castillo Concalva’s expedition successfully protested and ultimately took bronze, behind second-placed Iraq’s Parastoo Habibi.

Back to the men’s game. Sebus, who is Defending European Championshe was also not satisfied with the performance of the winning competitor. “A month ago, he was throwing thirty meters, with his hands tied to the pole at the classification competition. A week later, he threw 35 meters at the World Championships. It should not surprise anyone that this boy is at least two levels higher than us.” Churkin, who was preparing for the bronze medal at the World Championships, shook his head at the fifth attempt at a distance of 35.18 cm, 19 cm.

Thirty-nine-year-old Frantisek is also thinking about competing in Los Angeles in four years. “A lot of people are telling me to do it. It’s true that there’s nobody below me in the Czech Republic, so if I leave, there’s no one left,” reflects the Prague player, who also faces 67-year-old Greek Lazaros Stefanidis in Paris, who eventually finished fifth.

Maybe in half a year they will bet on us

He also returned to his old rivals. “It demotivates me every year because every year there are newcomers. For example, three years ago there were two Chinese. That year they suddenly disappeared. When I looked at the table, one was in the F33 category and the other disappeared completely. The Saints stayed, and it seemed very unfair to the other athletes,” he lamented.

To clarify, in Para athletics, in order to compete internationally, athletes must pass an international classification, which is based on the type and degree of their impairment. The first number indicates the handicap, and the second number indicates the handicap rate within a given group. The lower the second number, the higher the athlete’s impairment, whether it is vision impairment, muscle strength or muscle function, range of motion, limb length difference, lower or upper limb amputation, coordination problems due to damage to the brain, neurological disease, short stature, etc.

Even though the games didn’t go exactly as he imagined, the Czech representative enjoyed the atmosphere. “This is my fourth Paralympic Games, but the situation here is comparable to London 2012, with more people participating as real fans. So maybe in half a year they will bet on us,” he speculated.

“I get excited when this kind of atmosphere happens regularly. But it still has to be this way because practically only at the Paralympics or at most at the World Championships do they send the kids from school,” he lamented that there aren’t many spectators at para athletics, except at the world’s top events.

Martin Slabý, Paris correspondent for Deník

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Source: Diary
Martin Slabý, Paris correspondent for Deník

What’s happening in Paris? How are the Czechs doing? Journalist Martin Slabý is covering the Paralympics live. Celebrating indomitable spirit and diversity in sport, he brings interesting videos and interviews along the way.

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