A Paralympic Athlete in Paris Was Just Stripped of Their Gold Medal After Displaying This Controversial Flag

By: Stephanie Bontorin | Published: Sep 09, 2024

An Iranian Paralympian was stripped of a gold medal this week after taking out a controversial religious flag after his victory in Paris.

The controversy is raising alarm bells on the internet this week after people called out the governing body for removing a gold medal for an unrelated reason.

The Paralympian

Sadegh Beit Sayah is an Iranian Paralympian who competes in several throwing events.

Advertisement
A man holding a small toy and a gold medal

Source: @NasrinSasanpour/X

This week, he thought that he had secured the gold in the men’s F41 Javelin final when he set a new Paralympian record with a stunning throw of 47.64 meters.

The Athlete Was Warned of This Behaviour

The Iranian-born para-athlete was stripped of his gold medal just moments prior to the awarding ceremony. He received two yellow cards in separate incidents during the event.

Advertisement
A man standing with an Iranian flag next to a screen inside of a sports arena

Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The 37-year-old received a second yellow card, and the final disqualification was when he brought out a black glad with red writing to celebrate his gold medal win.

The Disqualification

According to the Paralympic website, the athlete, Beit Sayah was disqualified because of rule 8.1 of the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) regulations, which states: ‘The IPC Code of Ethics and the World Para Athletics Code of Conduct (both located on the IPC website) shall apply to all participants of World Para Athletics Recognised Competitions.

Advertisement
A man running with an Iranian flag while wearing an Iranian jersey

Source: @FredMartins5000/X

‘Any breach of these Regulations shall be determined in accordance with the procedures outlined in the World Para Athletics Code of Conduct.’

The Flag

The flag that Beit Sayah unfurled after he won the gold medal was in violation of rule 1.11 of the IPC Code of Ethics, which says athletes must: ‘Refrain from using the Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Movement to promote any political agenda, other than the advancement of sport for persons with an impairment and democracy, empowerment, equality, and the protection of human rights.’

Advertisement

Source: @sportswnaveen/X

His home country of Iran launched an appeal to overturn the disqualification, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

The Athlete Speaks Out

Beit Sayah spoke out after his disqualification with an emotional speech.

A man praying on an Iranian flag on a grass field

Source: @nkpr_ir/X

He claims that the flag holds no political meaning. Instead, he says that the religious flag was meant to honor Hazrat Ummul Banin, the wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Shia Imam.

Advertisement

The Athlete Was Warned

The athlete was given a yellow card the first time that the gesture was made and could have potentially escaped the disqualification had he not brought out the flag.

A man holding a yellow card up while outside

Source: Syda Productions/Canva Pro

The head of Iran’s Para-Athletes Association, Aliasghar Hadizadeh, also claims that the “throat-slitting” gesture was a common practice when athletes broke a record.

Advertisement

Iranians Protest the Decision

‘When the competition was over and the results were announced, we found out that he had been disqualified, so we immediately went to the authorities and announced our strong protest,’ Hadizadeh told the Iranian media agency, Tasnim News.

A woman walks through a protest while holding her fingers up in a peace sign

Source: AJ Colores/Unsplash

‘After our protest, a meeting was held and the videos of the competition were shown. Considering that every athlete has a kind of happiness. Some of Shadi Beit Sayah’s behaviour was not approved by the referee, and our athlete was disqualified.’

Advertisement

The Throat Slitting Gesture

The Iranian governing body claims that the throat-slitting gesture was a point of pride for the athlete and not meant to be threatening.

A man on a soccer pitch wearing a green jersey making a throat slitting gesture

Source: @GOCPBL/X

‘Usually, when athletes break the record, they pass their hands past their necks as a sign of breaking this record, which took a different interpretation and showed the first yellow card to Beit Sayah.’

Advertisement

The Flag

When asked about the flag that Beit Sayah took out, Hadizadeh said, ‘We always give the Iranian flag to the athlete from above, but Mr. Beit Sayyah took this flag out of his sports backpack because of his devotion to Hazrat Ummul Banin, and he got the second yellow card and his gold medal and record were removed.’

A man holding a flag

Source: Zach Lucero/Unsplash

It is unclear if Beit Sayah new that this exact flag would result in a final disqualification.

Advertisement

Officials Have Not Spoken Out

For now, officials at the Paralympics have not spoken out about the specific information that the exact action had.

A man wearing a yellow jersey running on a track next to a man in a sitting bike with three wheels

Source: Arisa Chattasa/Unsplash

The action was considered to be improper or otherwise bringing disallowed religious or political symbols to the games.

Advertisement

Other Athletes Enjoyed Stepping up to the Podium

After Beit Sayah’s disqualification, Indian para-athlete Navdeep Singh took the place on the gold medal podium with China’s Sun Pengxiang and Iraq’s Wildan Nukhailwai accepting solver and bronze.

A man wearing a blue jersey throwing a javelin

Source: @addy__boss/X

The other athletes will enjoy their scores in place of Beit Sayah.

Advertisement