Paralympic marathon runner Elena Congost, who is visually impaired, was disqualified just 10 yards from the finish line on Sunday in the final day of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, losing a bronze medal in the process.
The Spanish track and field athlete, born with a degenerative vision impairment, briefly let go of the rope that connected her with her guide-runner, Mia Carol Bruguera, and stumbled due to cramping near the finish line.
Runners in the T12 category for athletes with visual impairments must be tethered to their guide-runner for the entire race with their short rope, which includes two loops on each end.
Congost, 36, briefly let go of the rope, as seen in a video highlighting the moment by ESports3, in an effort to help Bruguera.
The pair eventually got their footing and made it to the finish line, where the Spaniard came in third place but was disqualified due to the rule violation.
Congost was in tears when she learned the news and explained that she was not disqualified for cheating after the event.
“I would like everyone to know that I have not been disqualified for cheating, but rather I have been disqualified for being human and for an instinct that comes to you when someone is falling and to help or support them,” Congost told Marca, a Spanish sports newspaper.
“I’m devastated, to be honest, because I had the medal. I’m super proud of everything I’ve done, and in the end they disqualify me because 10 meters from the finish line I let go of the rope for a second.”
Japan’s Misato Michishita took home bronze.
On Sunday, Congost posted an Instagram photo of her smiling and waving at the finish line.
“Finding your peace in the most turbulent moment and remembering that what you really are does not expire. Without doubts or reproaches,” she wrote in Catalan, as transcribed by Google.
Congost won gold in the T12 marathon at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
After that, she took seven years off from competition to start a family with her husband, Jordi Riera.
The couple went on to welcome daughters Arlet, Abril and Ona, and son Lluc.