2024 Paris International Paralympics Athletics Federation Shows Its Tether

I was awarded a bronze age-group medal at the USATF National
Trail Half-Marathon race a few years ago. The course followed
the challenging American Birkebeiner cross-country course in
Hayward, Wisconsin. The only problem: I was 5/5 at the finish
line.

Where positions three and four failed to medal wasn’t their
finish time. They were well ahead of me. Instead, they were not
members of the USATF. That was clear to all entrants and
worked to my advantage, though I did not realize it until Nancy
Hobbs (head of ATRA) came by after my finish and explained
the favorable situation (at least for me). They awarded me my
(one and only) national medal of any kind from the USATF.

On a much larger scale, the International Paralympic
Committee dropped the torch, so to speak, at the Women’s
2024 Paris Marathon. Ten meters (about six feet) from the
finish, the visually impaired Elena Congost (Spain) was sure to
win a bronze medal with more than three minutes separating
from her pursuer, Misato Michishita (Japan).

She lost the official position as her guide, the one keeping
her on the course and safe, cringed with cramps. They tethered
together the entire event with a handheld device, so when this
happened, she was forced to let it go momentarily to keep him
from falling and to allow him a chance to ready himself. It looks on
the film like she changed hands or fumbled momentarily with
the device. They crossed the finish with no runner in sight.

The IPC ruled to remove her medal when she saved the guide
Mia Carol Bruguera from falling.

How insane.

Ms. Congost, in a word, was devastated. Here is a nearly
blind female runner doing the human thing with her male
escort who was about to fall might save his day, or so she
thought. Think of all that training and effort to qualify for the
Paralympic Marathon and to lose it in the snap of a finger when
your guide cramps up.

Misato Michishita received the bronze, which she had
every reason to celebrate. On the other hand, the award will
forever be marked tainted by the IPC’s call.

In his late fifties, Mia Carol Bruguera continues to
challenge the “injustice. They simply applied the rule instead of
thinking about what it was established for, which is for a case in
which the guide helps the athlete. One thing is to apply it and
another to interpret it.” (1)

The Permanent Commission of the Spanish Paralympic
Committee awarded Ms. Congost and Mr. Bruguera a
scholarship (monthly payments of approximately $2173),
representing Spain’s support for her and a way to poke the IPC.
The Commission and Ms. Congost are appealing the World Para
Athletics regulation. (2)

All of this could have been avoided by simply awarding Ms.
Congost and Ms. Michishita a bronze medal for their finishes.
Instead, the cost of human emotions and pain for the
Paralympians, their guide, the sport, and their families for this
tainted tragedy ruined the race.

The Tether definition may be the limit of one’s strength or
resources. “I’m at the end of my tether.” (3) Sounds a bit like
the International Paralympics Athletics Federation.

(1) People Magazine, September 12, 2024, by Natasha Dye
(2) MARCA 09/09/2024, by Almudena Rivera
(3) “Tether.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-
Webster, https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/tether. Accessed 13 Nov.
2024.

Photo: Elena Congost Instagram 2024