MEXICO CITY (apro).- Spanish parathlete Elena Congost, who came in third place in the paramarathon at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, was disqualified from the competition because 10 meters from the finish line she briefly let go of the rope with her guide, who was about to fall to the ground due to cramps.
According to the rules, the guide and the paraathlete cannot let go of the rope that joins them along the 42.195 meters, so the Spanish athlete who won silver in London 2012 in the 1500 m event and gold in Rio 2016 in the paramarathon, was disqualified.
“I would like everyone to know that I have not been disqualified for cheating, but rather I have been disqualified for being a person and for an instinct that comes to you when someone is falling and is to help or support them,” Congost said through tears upon learning of the disqualification because the rope came loose when he went to help his guide.
“I’m devastated, to be honest, because I had the medal. I’m super proud of everything I’ve done and in the end I’m disqualified because 10 metres from the finish line I let go of the rope for a second because a person next to me fell face first to the ground and I grabbed the rope again and we crossed the finish line,” she explained.
“The next athlete is three minutes away from me, so it was a reflex action of any human being to hold on to a person who is falling next to you. When there is no help, no benefit and when it is clear that I stop dead in my tracks because of that situation. But they only say that I let go of the rope for a second and since I let go, that’s it, there’s no going back. I don’t understand how anyone can reason or understand the situation, that it’s not about cheating, that it’s not about dragging an athlete down,” said the Spaniard.
The para-athlete, in addition to expressing concern about having lost the opportunity to win the bronze medal, also said she was worried about losing her scholarship for not having managed to get on the podium.
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