2016 Rio Paralympics: Pole Robert Jachimowicz earns ‘justice’ 16 years after disqualification
IT has taken 16 long years but Polish discus thrower Robert Jachimowicz says he has finally won justice following his Sydney Paralympic Games heartbreak.
IT has taken 16 long years but Polish discus thrower Robert Jachimowicz says he has finally won justice following the heartbreak he suffered at the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000.
Jachimowicz, 49, claimed silver in his F52 discus class at the Olympic Stadium in Rio, at his first Games appearance since his controversial disqualification after a world-record, gold medal-winning throw in Sydney.
“Justice won at last,” Jachimowicz said.
“I am not able to smile now. I can only cry just thinking about all those years of sacrifices, and now suddenly it all makes sense.”
Jachimowicz topped his class at the 2000 Games before a dispute over his classification led to his disqualification.
As a result, he withdrew from competition until finally earning classification as F52 three years ago.
“I had to wait all those 13 years from 2000 to 2013,” he said.
“I couldn’t compete in my category, so I chose wife, family, kids and work instead.
“I kept myself up to date with what was happening in the meanwhile in my sport. I followed my colleagues’ results, scores, records. But as soon as I watched the discus throw event at any Paralympic Games, all the bad memories came back and I just couldn’t stand that.
“I wanted to go back to competitions so bad, but I knew there was no chance for me to compete in my right class and get a right classification commission. But then they changed the rules, and I came back when I could compete in my actual category.”
His first podium in an international event was two years in the making, sealed with a silver at the 2015 Doha world championships.
Originally published as 2016 Rio Paralympics: Pole Robert Jachimowicz earns ‘justice’ 16 years after disqualification
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