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Sarita Devi stands her ground

Tearful boxer refuses to accept bronze medal * Stunned AIBA initiates disciplinary case * Indian officials sneak out

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L Sarita Devi refused to wear the bronze medal (on the podium) and instead gave it to South Korea’s Park Jina, who was controversially awarded the semifinal bout on Tuesday
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In what can be termed a statement of intent, braveheart Indian boxer Sarita Devi did the unthinkable by refusing to accept her bronze medal here on Wednesday.

Devi, who was meted out unfair treatment during her semifinal bout on Tuesday, gave a tough time to International Boxing Federation (AIBA) officials by staging a disappearing act prior to the medal ceremony. Officials and volunteers ran helter-skelter for 15 minutes to find Devi. And when she eventually made her way to the podium, she stunned the gathering by refusing to allow the official to put the medal around her neck.

"I'm fine now," she told dna with an unmistakable smile before the ceremony. But her puffy eyes barely concealed her trauma. Clearly, she had spent the night crying. She clapped as the Chinese boxer was presented with the gold medal.

Going by AIBA's past record, Devi could well face a ban. But by standing up for her rights, Devi did her bit to highlight AIBA's archaic ways.

Seemingly composed all this while, Devi burst into tears when called to receive her bronze medal. Her cries were loud, reverberating around the arena. Some Indian supporters also started crying. Some others yelled out the words 'cheating' and 'fixing'.

On her part, Devi She refused to accept the medal. Taken aback, the official requested Devi to allow him to put the medal around her neck. But Devi wouldn't have any of it. She held the medal and then accepted a bouquet from another official.

The entire Indian contingent and supporters cheered for Devi, who held onto the medal. The South Korean pugilist, who won silver, was booed. But there was more was to come.

Just before the Chinese national anthem was about to be played, Devi got off the podium, walked over to Park Jina and put the bronze medal around her neck. There were huge cries from the gallery. "Well done Sarita. You don't deserve this medal," a spectator cried.

The shell-shocked South Korean waited for the Chinese national anthem to end before going back to Devi to return the medal. Devi then kissed her forehead as if to say "it's not your fault and I'm only making a point to the corrupt world boxing body".

Devi refused to take the medal back and Jina eventually left it on the podium before making her exit. "I didn't deserve this bronze. So, I gifted it back to the South Koreans," Devi later said.

After watching photographers clicking pictures of the abandoned medal, embarrassed AIBA officials asked a volunteer to return the medal to the organisers.

True to its reputation, that of a bully, AIBA opened a disciplinary case against Devi after its technical delegate, David B Francis, submitted a report to the Olympic Council of Asia.

"The whole incident looked like a well-planned scenario by her and her team, and it is regretful to watch a boxer refuse the medal, regardless of what happened in the competition. In this regard, as the technical delegate, I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by respecting the spirit of fairplay and sportsmanship of the Olympic movement," Francis said.

Notwithstanding a possible ban, Devi justified her actions saying, "I'm hurt by the conduct of all Indian Olympic Association officials here who did not even console me. I'm fighting for all those boxers who have been cheated by AIBA," Devi said.

AIBA's tainted history
This is not the first time that such an allegation has been levelled against the world body. Some officials are terming Devi's actions an emotional outburst. But there's more to it.

In the1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Park Si-Hun, who is now the head coach of the South Korean boxing contingent, won the gold medal in the light middleweight category in controversial fashion. Even then, not a single observer believed that Park had won, for he had received a terrific pummelling at the hands of Roy Jones Jr of the US.

The verdict of three of the five judges was that Park was the winner, while two judges had picked Jones. It was officially recorded that Jones had landed 86 punches against Park's 32. One judge even admitted after the bout that the decision was wrong. Two of the three judges who voted for Park were later banned for life.

Later, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) investigation concluded that three of the five judges had been brought around with inducements. Interestingly, Jones was awarded the Val Barker Trophy in 1988. This trophy is given to the boxer who exemplifies style at every Olympic Games. But the gold is still in the drawing room of Park.

During the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, South Korea rigged the boxing bouts and walked away with each of the 12 gold medals on offer. Four Indian boxers — Birajdar Sahu, Jayaram Seera, Daljit Singh and Jaipal Singh — were among the finalists, nay victims, of South Korea's foul play.

Options before Boxing India
BI has very limited options. Having been temporarily recognised before the Asian Games, BI may still be de-recognised after the Devi episode. This is probably why no IOA or BI official has voiced his displeasure. And this is why even Devi's coaches tried to calm her down. "This has been happening for years. I've faced it many times during my career. But I have always been told to not react. So every time I lose, I calm myself down and start preparing for the next bout," an Indian told dna on condition of anonymity. Hopefully, the authorities will give Devi her due soon.

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