An Iranian Paralympic athlete was stripped of his gold medal after displaying a banned flag.
The 2024 Paralympics concluded on Sunday (September 8) after 11 days of sporting action in the French capital.
On Saturday (September 7), Sadegh Beit Sayah secured gold in the men’s F41 Javelin final after he set a new record with a throw of 47.64 meters.
However, his victory was shortlived just moments before the medal ceremony as he was disqualified after receiving two yellow cards for two separate incidents during the event, as reported by Metro.
The 37-year-old Iranian got his first warning card after he seemingly performed a "throat-slitting" gesture after his record-breaking throw.
He then received another after he unfurled a black religious flag with red writing on it during his celebrations. The two yellow cards led to his subsequent disqualification.
Due to this, Indian para-athlete Navdeep Singh ended up claiming gold, with China’s Sun Pengxiang and Iraq’s Wildan Nukhailawi taking silver and bronze respectively.
According to the Paralympic website, Beit Sayah was disqualified for violating rule 1.11 of the IPC Code of Ethics, which says athletes must “refrain from using the Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Movement to promote any political agenda, other than the advancement of sport for persons with an impairment and democracy, empowerment, equality, and the protection of human rights".
Any athlete who doesn’t follow this rule can be barred under rule 8.1 of the International Paralympic Committee regulations, which notes: "The IPC Code of Ethics and the World Para Athletics Code of Conduct (both located on the IPC website) shall apply to all participants of World Para Athletics Recognised Competitions.
"Any breach of these Regulations shall be determined in accordance with the procedures outlined in the World Para Athletics Code of Conduct," it added.
The athlete spoke out after his disqualification, emotionally revealing that the flag had religious meaning and was in honor of Hazrat Ummul Banin, the wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam, according to Metro.
Beit Sayah also pointed out that he displayed a similar flag at the Tokyo Paralympics, where he won a silver medal, but was not disqualified.
Aliasghar Hadizadeh, the head of Iran’s Para-Athletics Association, also pleaded for the Olympian's innocence, noting that the "throat-slitting" act was performed by athletes after they broke a record.
Hadizadeh told the Iranian media agency Tasnim News: “When the competition was over and the results were announced, we found out that he had been disqualified, so we immediately went to the authorities and announced our strong protest."
“After our protest, a meeting was held and the videos of the competition were shown. Considering that every athlete has a kind of happiness. Some of Shadi Beit Sayah’s behavior was not approved by the referee, and our athlete was disqualified.
“Usually, when athletes break the record, they pass their hands past their necks as a sign of breaking this record, which took a different interpretation and showed the first yellow card to Beit Sayah," he added.
Asked about the flag, Hadizadeh said: "We always give the Iranian flag to the athlete from above, but Mr. Beit Sayyah took this flag out of his sports backpack because of his devotion to Hazrat Ummul Banin, and he got the second yellow card and his gold medal and record were removed."
Beit Sayah's disqualification comes after another athlete, Roza Kozakowska, was stripped of her gold medal after a rival team complained about the size of her head pillow.
