Tokyo Paralympics: Discus thrower Vinod Kumar loses Bronze, Here’s why he was declared ineligible

Tokyo: Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar has lost his F52 category bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics after being found 'ineligible' in disability classification assessment, the organisers said in a statement on Monday.

The 41-year-old Vinod produced a best throw of 19.91m to finish third behind Piotr Kosewicz (20.02m) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98m) of Croatia on Sunday.

However, the result was challenged by some competitors after the event.

"Following classification Observation Assessment in competition and subsequent re-assessment by the classification panel, the panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sports class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC)," the official statement read.

"The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men's F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void," it added.

Notably, F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency, or leg length difference, with athletes competing in a seated position with cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.

Para-athletes are classified depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows athletes to compete with those with a similar level of ability.

Vinod Kumar's classification was done on August 22. (UNI)