Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar on Monday lost his F52 category bronze medal at the Paralympics here after being found ineligible in disability classification assessment by the competition panel.
He had earlier won it on Sunday with a (then) Asian record throw of 19.91m. However, his result has been challenged by some other competitors, who objected to Vinod's classification in the F52 category.
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"...the panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sport class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC)," the organisers said in a statement.
"The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men's F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void," it added.
F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in 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 those with a similar level of ability.
Vinod's classification was done on August 22.
Poland's Piotr Kosewicz won gold with 20.02m while Croatia's Velimir Sandor took silver with a throw of 19.98m. The intense competition had seen the great Aigars Apinis, current Paralympics record holder, finish fourth, but he will be upgraded to a bronze.
Vinod Kumar's limbs had been paralyzed from an accident -- falling off a cliff in Leh that left him bed-ridden for close to a decade -- seven months after he joined the Border Security Force. After the incident he had had to use a wheelchair and ran a grocery store in his hometown, Rohtak in Haryana. The store had been frequented by an archery coach from the nearby stadium who had suggested he give para sport a shot.
Vinod would go on to take up discus throw and win his first international medal, a bronze, at the World para athletics Grand Prix in 2019. Vinod won his Paralympic quota two months later at the Dubai World Championships. It was a tournament he almost missed. He had trouble with his travel documents and eventually managed to reach Dubai hours before his competition. He still finished fourth with an effort of 19.29m and it was enough for a Tokyo berth.
Both Bhavinaben Patel and Nishad Kumar had earlier won a silver each in women's singles table tennis class 4 and men's T47 high jump events respectively on Sunday.