Paralympian Elena Congost disqualified metres from finish line after guide Mia Carol Bruguera gets cramp

There’s heartbreak and then there’s this! A Paralympian being outrageously disqualified just metres from the finish line after a gruelling marathon.

Vision impaired Spanish runner Elena Congost was about to step over the finish line and take out the bronze medal when her guide Mia Carol Bruguera came down with cramp after 42km.

As he faltered, Congost stopped him from falling over and let go of the rope connecting the pair, which is not allowed within Paralympic rules.

On crossing the line seconds later in Paris, the 36-year-old thought she had won bronze — before cruelly finding out that she had been disqualified.

The agonising decision has garnered widespread condemnation for flouting the spirit of the Paralympics but it was correct to the letter of the law.

For Congost, who was born with a degenerative vision impairment, it was more than having a medal snatched away from her.

The disqualification also put her out of the running for a much-needed scholarship.

“It’s unfair, surreal,” she said. “It was just a reflex action that any human being would have done — holding on to someone who is falling.

“But that doesn’t mean that there is any kind of benefit or help. In fact, it is clear that I stop dead.

“I can’t find any explanation for this. It’s sad because, in addition, I had just been without a scholarship. And I’m not going to get one now.

“They will leave me out of everything again when I have shown everything I can do.

“I have not been disqualified for cheating, but for being a person, for helping someone.”

Reactions to the disqualification from fans around the world were swift, with an overwhelming plea for officials to overturn the decision.

“Shame on you. Give the medal back to Elena Congost,” one fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A second said: “Where is the Olympic spirit? Elena Congost was disqualified after running 42km and helping her guide not to fall to the ground.

“She has lost the bronze medal and her sports scholarship. Disgusting.”

Another posted: “Give the medal to Elena Congost. This decision ruins the Paralympics. How can you be called inclusive if you can’t help a person from falling?”

Despite losing bronze and a shot at a scholarship, Congost said she was proud of her actions.

“I would like everyone to know that I have not been disqualified for cheating but rather I have been disqualified for being a person and for an instinct that comes to you when someone is falling and is to help or support them,” she told Spanish outlet Marca.

“I’m devastated, to be honest, because I had the medal.

“I’m super proud of everything I’ve done and in the end they disqualify me metres from the finish line because I let go of the rope for a second because a person next to me fell face first to the ground and I grabbed the rope again and we crossed the finish line.

“The next athlete is three minutes away from me, so it was a reflex action of any human being to hold on to a person who is falling next to you.”

Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi won the T12/B2 event on Monday morning, smashing the world record in a time of 2hr 48min 36sec.