KUALA LUMPUR: National hammer thrower Jackie Wong had a bitter lesson in the 2023 Sea Games in Phnom Penh after the gold medal was snatched away by Kittipong Boonmawan of Thailand in controversial fashion on the opening day of the athletics event.
The strongman from Sarawak claimed that he managed to hurl the hammer to a distance of 64.64m in his sixth and final throw before it was rejected following a technical error by the judges.
Kittipong who managed 64.49m in the third attempt took the gold while Jackie had to settle for silver based on his efforts of 64.20m also in his third attempt out of six throws.
Malaysian officials lodged a protest but the judges decided that Kittipong be crowned as champion.
Datuk R. Annamalai, who was team manager of the Sea Games athletics in 2023, said that athletes and officials should be more alert of digital measurements used in the sport.
“If an athlete feels that the distance shown for his throw is wrong, he should make a verbal protest by informing the officials in charge immediately to rectify the mistake. And the coaches must also make an official protest.
“Jackie lost the gold due to a digital error and we don’t want such an incident to occur again.”
The 33-year-old Jackie will again be competing on the first day of athletics on Thursday at Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok and he hopes such an incident will not occur again.
Jackie, who holds the national record of 68.22m which he did in the Malaysian Open in 2019, will be competing in his eighth consecutive Sea Games.
He has won medals in all the seven Sea Games he competed in including gold in KL in 2017 and in Hanoi in 2021.
Jackie, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the South East Asian region behind Thailand’s Kittipong Boonmawan, did a throw of 65.19m in the Philippines Open in May.
National chief coach Manshahar Abdul Jalil said Jackie is physically and mentally in good shape after three months of training in Kunming, China.
“He will face a strong challenge from the Thai and Filipino athletes. I hope that he can deliver his best to finish on the podium.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
