NAGOYA : Kazakh race walker Yasmina Toxanbayeva was stripped of her Asian Games gold medal on Monday after being disqualified from the women’s marathon race walk for wearing unsanctioned footwear.
Toxanbayeva finished first on Sunday in three hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds, nearly four minutes ahead of China’s Danzengquzong, but the result remained provisional pending a protest.
“Athletes must wear only those shoes approved and listed on a World Athletics platform. She was not wearing one, which is why we wrote to World Athletics,” a technical official said.
“Cancelling the gold was their decision, which we conveyed to the athlete. The athlete has a right to appeal to the jury, and she has done that.”
Toxanbayeva confirmed the annulment on social media.
“We fought until the end,” she said in an Instagram post. “Thank you to all my super-heroes who fought with me to the very end.”
Danzengquzong was upgraded to gold, while compatriot Ma Li took silver and Japan’s Yukiko Umeno received the bronze medal.
