Indian boxer Laishram Sarita Devi was enraged after she lost the 57-60 kg lightweight semi-finals match against Park Ji-Na of South Korea last Tuesday. The athlete firmly believed that she deserved the title, "When it comes to winning medals, we always come in the front for India. Why didn't we protest? There's a bias against us as we're from the North-east. Are we not from India?" she said.
Her husband Thoiba Singh exploded in a tirade at the judges. "The bout was fixed and this was an uncivilized decision.”
The following day, the 32-year old boxer refused to wear the bronze medal when it was presented to her, taking it only in her hand before trying to drape it over Park Ji-Na. Reports say that the female boxer left the bronze medal behind even though the organizers told her to take it with her.
“We decided to give this athlete a strong warning,” the OCA honorary life vice-president Wei Jizhong said in a news conference last Saturday. “We considered this had nothing to do with the Indian delegation. This is just a personal misbehavior of the athlete.”
“As an athlete, she had to respect the referee’s decision,” the OCA president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah said. “She feels sadness because she felt she deserved better, but she also killed the moment for the other athletes. I am happy she apologized and this will not happen again.”
Sarita apologized to the OCA but still, she feels very upset with the incident, "All the training means nothing when such things happen. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry. We sacrifice so much, even time with our kids." A fellow boxer, Mary Kom said, "Of course she (Park) won because she is Korean".
The 2014 Asian Games was held from September 19 to October 4 in Incheon, South Korea.
