Sailors still do not know if they have a bronze
British Paralympic sailors are still waiting to discover if they will win a medal.
John Robertson, Stephen Thomas and Hannah Stodel were docked four points after the final race for what ParalympicsGB team leader Stephen Park has described as a ‘minor off-the-water transgression’ by the team’s bosun.
A subsequent appeal against the penalty, which dropped the trio from third to fifth overall, was rejected, but the matter has now been referred to the Court of Arbitration in Sport.
The penalty was imposed after Simon Hiscocks – himself a double Olympic medalist – cleaned the keel after lifting the boat out of the water to inspect damage.
The official ruling said: ‘Once the bosun completed the repairs he began to wipe the whole keel.
‘The measurer made three requests for the bosun to stop wiping the keel, but he kept wiping.’
Stodel told BBC Essex: ‘The Games is over, we’ve had the closing ceremony, but it’s not over. We’re in limbo.
‘We were supposed to find out this week but the governing body for sailing has asked for a 21-day extension, so we keep waiting.
‘We believe we won the bronze on the water fair and square but obviously events outside our control have meant we haven’t got it.’
Picture courtesy of onEdition.
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