The inconsolable boxer L Sarita Devi may face suspension for refusing to accept bronze medal at the presentation ceremony and instead presented it to her South Korean opponent.
Support for Sarita — distraught after being declared the loser despite outpunching and outplaying home favourite Park Ji-Na — came from an unexpected quarter.
Park said media, “I am embarrassed by what has happened. She (Sarita) was the winner yesterday.”
But the International Boxing Association (AIBA) took a dim view of Sarita’s behaviour on the podium, opening a disciplinary case against her.
In a statement, AIBA technical delegate David Francis said, “The whole incident looked like a well-planned scenario by her and her team, and it is regretful to watch a boxer refuse the medal regardless of what happened in the competition.”
Sarita had been unconcerned about facing suspension and accused Indian officials for betraying her. She said that there was no one to even give her the $100 she needed to make up the $500 fee to lodge an official protest.
About her actions on the podium, she told AFP, “I said, ‘This is for you and all Korea, because you only deserve a bronze’. Once I put the medal round her (Park’s) neck, I felt great relief… It was a protest… against injustice in sport. There should be fair play in sport.”
A bewildered Park said, “She (Sarita) hung her medal on me. I tried to give it back to her, but she didn’t want it. I wasn’t sure what to do, so someone told me to leave it on the podium.”
Now sports ministry sought an urgent response from the Indian Olympic Association, including details of what action it has taken after dramatic events threatened to submerge India’s modest overall performance at the Games.
Bureau Report
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