Tokyo Paralympics: Vinod Kumar loses bronze, declared ineligible- Here's why
India's Vinod Kumar has lost his F52 discus throw bronze medal at Tokyo Paralympics after a disability classification assessment by the organizers. Vinod registered a best attempt of 19.91m in the discus throw final, which was an Asian record. However, the result was challenged by some of the competitors. The Technical Delegates then decided that Vinod was not eligible for the discus F52 category.
Why did Vinod lose his medal?
Vinod lost the medal after the classification panel was "unable to allocate the Indian athlete with a sport class". He was then designated as Classification Not Completed (CNC). Para-athletes are classified according to the type and extent of their disability. The classification system only allows athletes to compete with someone with a similar level of ability. Notably, Vinod's classification was completed on August 22.
Here is the statement from Technical Delegates
"The panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sport class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed. The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men's F52 Discus medal event and his results are void."
Vinod is an ex-BSF jawan
Vinod is a former BSF jawan, who suffered a painful accident, that left him bed-ridden. He had injured his legs while training. In an unfortunate event, he fell off a cliff in Leh. Vinod faced several challenges before finally taking up para-sports.
The F52 category as per International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee defined the F52 classification (in 2016) as "Athletes usually have good shoulder muscles and mildly weak to full elbow and wrist muscles which are required for throwing an implement. Finger flexor and extensor muscles are non-functional making grip of the implement difficult. The non-throwing hand usually requires strapping to the throwing frame."
