Paralympics rocked by disqualification drama as Aussie stripped of medal over finish-line act

Australian vision-impaired runner Jaryd Clifford has been left "shattered" after he was stripped of a bronze medal at the Paralympics over a rules breach in the 5000m. Clifford and his guide crossed the finish-line in third place and thought they'd won the bronze medal, before finding out from officials they'd been disqualified.

It was ruled that Clifford had dropped the tether that ties him to his guide before crossing the finish-line in the men's T13 final, which is against the rules. Vision-impaired runners must hold onto the tether until they've finished the race in its entirety.

Clifford, who was the only runner in the race to use a guide, was left visibly distraught while speaking to reporters after hearing his bronze medal had been taken away. The 25-year-old said he hoped to appeal, but he was told by the International Paralympic Committee he had no grounds to challenge their verdict.

"I went and saw mum and dad and my girlfriend and broke down," Clifford said. "I had my little cry on the side of the track. If you talk about reacting to results as grief, I had my grieving moment. Out on the track, I was a little bit numb, I'm still a bit numb … I am pretty shattered, to be honest, if I'm frank about it, we went in with the aim of winning gold."

He later wrote on social media: "I’m absolutely gutted that we made such a critical mistake today. Remaining tethered is a fundamental rule of guiding and I’m shattered that I lost my mind in those final metres. I’ve got so much more to give, I promise to bring everything for the 1500m on Tuesday."

Fans were left perturbed by the ruling considering it had no impact on the result. Even if Clifford held onto the tether, he still would have finished third and got no benefit from dropping it.

Amanda Reid and table tennis duo win gold for Australia

The drama came as Australia won two more gold medals in Paris, with Amanda Reid defending her C1-3 500m time trial title, and table tennis duo Lina Lei and Qian Yang winning their women's doubles WD20 final.

Reid became the first Indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at the Paralympics when she triumphed in the same race at Tokyo three years ago. The 28-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, told reporters the result was particularly gratifying after she had been plagued by a back injury over the last year.

"That was absolutely amazing considering the 12-plus months I've had," Reid said. "I just came in to go as fast as I could and I ended up going back to back gold, which is amazing. This will mean so much more because of everything that I have had to overcome."

Chinese-born duo Lina and Qian grabbed a 11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 12-10 win later in the night. Coach Maggie Meng said the pair's strong personal connection meant they are in sync whenever they play with one another.

"On the table, they have been playing with each other for years, and off the table they're the best of friends," Meng said. "Qian is mentality is so strong, and Lina is just so experienced. They play like one person, there's no gaps between them."

Madison de Rozario gets bronze in 5000m final

Madison de Rozario finished with a bronze in the women's T54 5000m final, while Michael Roeger grabbed silver in the men's T46 1500m. Jack Ireland also took bronze and set an Oceania record in the men's 200m freestyle S14 final.

De Rozario said a restarted race knocked her out of sync as she ended up finishing behind American Susannah Scaroni and Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner. "(My start) really came together perfectly and then I had this a bit of a shock when I heard the guns go again and knew they were calling it back," she said. "It was a bit daunting. I wasn't sure what that (my second start) was going to look like but I'm happy."

with AAP