Three-minute blunder – heroic Ziyad just has to put best foot forward

WHAT a cruel blow for para athlete Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli in his second Paralympics.

The bulky man broke the world record three times en route to defending the gold in men’s shot putt T20 (intellectual disability), and celebrated his victory – only to be told that it had to be erased and wiped clean.

It was as though it had never happened.

And it was all because he was three minutes late, which is a violation of the rule. Every athlete had to be in the call room at a specified time.

Eventually, after an official protest was made, Ziyad together with two other athletes had to be listed as Did Not Start (DNS).

Ziyad was naturally heartbroken, and so was the whole nation – not only was his promise to deliver joy to Malaysians on National Day smashed into pieces, his amazing new record was gone, as was the RM1million-plus reward he would have earned for all his hard work.

The 33-year-old knows that no one can flout the rules – and while disappointed with how the event had unfolded, he duly apologised for not bringing back the gold.

To us, he will always be a hero – one who did the country proud with his effort and one who was humble enough to accept his mistake and fate.

This spirit of sportsmanship, however, was something missing from many who went overboard with their reactions, especially on a day when the country was celebrating its 64th year of independence.

Of course, everyone – including me – was shocked when we found out what had happened to Ziyad.

We all wanted to know what went wrong, who was at fault, and was there a way to undo what had happened – and it was nice to see so many out there showing compassion and sympathy to Ziyad.

But many, including several top leaders, failed big-time in the way they responded via social media platforms.

Crude and abusive words were hurled.

Some barked up the wrong tree and netizens even went to the extent of threatening the poor guy from Ukraine who was promoted to be the winner.

Does this reflect our culture, our stature, our pride as a nation? After 64 years of independence, is this the best we can do? It’s sad to see such unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Some people have even asked the world body to relook their rules after an appeal to reinstate Ziyad’s victory was rejected.

Change the rules just because we messed up? Who are we kidding?

What if Ziyad was the one in the fourth place, and someone above him had flouted the rule? Would we be protesting and asking for rule changes?

Are we used to seeing so many bending the rules in our country that it has become a norm that rules are changed for our own benefit?

Someone blundered. We have to accept it.

It’s a bitter lesson (which I do not wish upon anyone) – but one that we have to learn from.

I hope the respective bodies are looking into the matter – to find out what went wrong and figure out a way to do things better in the future, like being at the venue earlier to avoid similar disappointments.

It will be a good start, and we need to educate athletes and officials to be alert at all times.

It’s good to hear though that instead of making the situation worse, some have stood up with encouraging words to lift Ziyad’s crushed spirit.

Instead of blaming anyone, Tokyo Olympics silver medallists Azizulhasni Awang told Ziyad to remain patient.

“This is the reality in the sports world. A lot of unexpected things can happen,” said Azizul.

“Sometimes it’s mistakes on our part or that of the opponents. Don’t be shocked if the officials also make mistakes. Humans cannot run away from making mistakes.

“For Ziyad, the outcome is hard to swallow. But my advice, as a fellow athlete is – do not give up and continue to move forward.

I could not agree more. So, chin up Ziyad.

There are other world-class events ahead of you – you will be wiser, stronger, and more experienced for the next one for sure!

We are all looking forward to that new world record.