Elena Congost sued the International Paralympic Committee before the Paris courts

The Spanish Paralympic athlete Elena Congost and his guide, Mia Carolthey have sued the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) before the courts of Paris to claim the bronze medal award in the T12 category marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which was rejected due to disqualification, as their lawyers announced on Tuesday.

Congost crossed the finish line in the third position with an advantage of more than three minutes against the Japanese Misato Michishita, but it was punished by disqualification letting go of the rope connecting him to his guide, to avoid falling due to an attack of cramps with ten meters left to finish the race.

Although this action is prohibited by regulationsthe plaintiffs’ defense argues that did not indicate any sporting benefitas they both slowed down, and it barely took “a fraction of a second” before they grabbed the rope again to cross the finish line together.

Furthermore, they said Congost’s reaction was “a pure mirror of brotherhood and help”and that the athlete, because he is visually impaired, “can’t be sure exactly the danger he ran” Carol said when she screamed because of the pain.

Consequently, on September 25, Congost’s defense and its guidance sent a letter to the IPC inviting it to reconsider this “absurd decision”who understood that his disqualification “did not prevent fraud in sports but, on the contrary, create injustice in sports and, therefore, formed a unjustified infringement of the freedom to provide services” performed by the athlete.

On October 29, the head of World Para Athletics, Paul Fitzgerald, responded that the disqualification “is based on a clear violation” of the regulation. And on December 10, the president of the IPC, Andrew Parsons, confirmed that the “case is closed” despite admitting that the Spanish athlete “did not gain an advantage but rather helped a teammate”, and revealed that the World Para Athletic criteria will be studied for a possible change.

Refusing to correct its decision, the defense – made up of law firms Vigo (France), RocaJunyent (Spain), Meo Law (Germany) and Dupont-Hassel (Belgium) – yesterday took the IPC to the Court of First Instance from Paris to demand compensation for damages sustainedincluding bronze medal award.

Furthermore, the defense maintains that because the rule is fully applied punishing the athletes most seriously affected by the disability.

On the other hand, the Permanent Commission of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) recently approved the Congost awarded an exceptional ADOP scholarlike the one that would have matched him for the bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games.