At the Paralympics 2024, Spanish marathoner Elena Congost faced a heartbreaking moment when she lost her bronze medal for an unexpected reason—helping her guide, Mia Carol, during the final stretch of the race. The visually impaired athlete, who competed in the T12 category for those with visual impairments, was disqualified after briefly letting go of the rope that tethered her to Carol.
The incident, which took place during the women’s marathon on September 8, left the 36-year-old athlete “devastated,” as she expressed in an emotional interview with Marca. Her disqualification came just 10 meters from the finish line, where she had placed third.
The Incident at the Finish Line
Elena Congost, who has a degenerative hereditary eye disease, had been performing well throughout the marathon at the Paralympics
and was in a solid position to claim the bronze medal. However, near the finish line, her guide, Mia Carol, suffered a cramp. Out of instinct, Congost momentarily lets go of the rope to help Carol, an act of compassion that would ultimately cost her the medal.
According to the Paralympic 2024 Games’ rules for the T12 event, runners must remain tethered to their guide throughout the entire race. This rule ensures that the athlete can safely navigate the course with the assistance of their guide. Unfortunately for Congost, even though she was helping Carol and not gaining any advantage, this brief moment of separation from the rope led to her disqualification.
The Emotional Aftermath
The campaign disqualification struck Congost on the guts. In the interview, she said, ‘Actually, I am so sad because I lost the medal. ‘ She justified her action, stating that it was a typical human behavior that aims at helping people in need when they are in trouble. The last line of the statement she said was: “It was simply a reaction of any man to attempt to hold a man who is falling next to him. ”
She tried her best to win her race at Paralympics, though she was very close to her competitor. Unfortunately, the officials argued that due to her releasing of the rope, she had violated the rules. So, the medal would be awarded to another competitor. The bronze medal was awarded to Misato Michishita from Japan for the final score of 66. Morroco’s Fatima El Idrissi scored 68, obtaining the gold medal, and Meryem En-Nourhi scored 64, getting the silver medal.
Congost showed how she felt over such a decision by Listo by making a lip movement saying, ‘Oh, really!’ “What does that mean?” Hee asked, puzzled. “I can’t do that … I took my hand off the rope for half a second, and you can’t do it again,” she replied. ‘It wasn’t for cheating, it wasn’t for dragging down another athlete,’ he said. With that statement, Stark can barely find any reason for getting banned, and this seems unfair and unbelievable, actually.
A Difficult Lesson
It reveals the principles of sportsmanlike comportment at a competitive level irrespective of events such as the Paralympic games, where disabled athletes compete. Thus, on the one hand, there are the rules that, regardless of the intentions behind them, keep narrowing down the opportunities to achieve fair and just results; and on the other – there is Congost’s example of winning and becoming famous in such a manner.
In the race that Congost successfully competed for, winning the race was never an option but it was more of embodying the spirit of endurance and self-satisfaction with the results achieved. Paralympics participation is one challenge that a disabled person will have to face, and she said, “I am super proud of everything I have done to get here.” She was disqualified, but she does not regret her actions and actions of her to aid her guide she takes pride in it.
The story of Congost has given a topic for debate among participants of such athletic activities as the T12 marathon. People have supported the Spanish athlete saying that her action was sympathetic and human since she assisted the guide.
Congost’s case gives a clear picture of the different issues of emotions and ethics that athletes undergo during events at the Paralympics. What some may fail to see is that she may have lost her bronze medal, but she is a champion in courage and humanity.