Indian shot putter loses gold medal over state of disability

Indian shot putter Yadvendra Vashishta has lost his Paralympics gold medal after authorities claimed he had exaggerated his disability.

Polio victim Vashishta was placed in the F42 category, equivalent to an above knee amputee, but after a 14.17-metre world record in the men's shot put, authorities realised their mistake.

Organisers told Vashishta he should have competed in the F44 class and disqualified him from the event.

But Vashishta missed out on a medal in the F44 shot put as that event had already been decided.

Indian team spokesman Des Lucas said the athlete was robbed of the gold medal. "He's been robbed of any chance of competing," he said.

"It's unfair to the athlete who put in four years of training and through no fault of his, has been robbed of any chance of a medal."

But International Paralympic Committee medical officer Michael Riding said Vashishta's disability had improved noticeably between his original assessment and the competition -- particularly when the chief classifier left the field of competition.

For his first two attempts -- while the observer was there -- Vashishta hopped across the circle but after he left Vashishta was able to spin around and throw, Riding said.

Reuters adds: A "devastated" Yadvendra Vashishta will take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday after officials stripped him of a gold medal at the Sydney Paralympics over a classification dispute.

Indian team spokesman Des Lucas said on Friday the case would be heard by the CAS on Saturday morning.

"In Atlanta in 1996 he was classified as an F46. Just prior to coming here he was re-classified as an F42," Lucas said.

"Then he competed in F42 and won, created a world record and was disqualified in that category.

"We protested to the IPC (appeals jury) and they turned us down."

Lucas said the Indian team had argued Vashishta was simply competing in the F42 class as directed by the IPC.

"Why should he be disqualified if it's no fault of his?" Lucas said. "He was absolutely devastated and the team morale was below zero.

"There have been several calls from ministerial level and from the Prime Minister. We've told them we're disputing the case."

An IPC spokesman said there were three stages to classification: input from the coach and the athlete, an interview process involving a test of muscle functions and abilities and thirdly watching the athlete in competition.

"In competition the athlete was displaying a better capability than in the second phase," the spokesman said.