It was a really bad day for triathlete and Olympian Petra Kurikova, who was disqualified at the last moment before her swimming event. The Czech athlete was competing at the Arena Games Triathlon in Munich, where this incident took place. Before the disqualification, Petra had a 6-second advantage over her other competitors. This meant that she was leading after the first round.

The swimming event was the second leg of the triathlon. Petra was all ready to ace the leg and was standing ready at the mark to give her best. However, before diving into the pool, she looked behind and spat on the ground. Unknown to her, a World Triathlon official witnessed this. Immediately after, the official came up to Petra and produced a red card.

Triathlon athlete faces last-minute disqualification

Petra Kurikova was horrified at this decision. She was devastated and broke down. She could not quite understand why she would be disqualified for spitting. As far as the rules go, spitting is actually not allowed. Petra ended up doing it in the heat of the moment, and it cost her a possible medal.

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Kurikova took to Instagram to express her disappointment in the decision. It’s safe to say that the athlete was aghast and angry.

“I am sorry for that I didn’t spit extra to someone. I did it nearby and not during the race. What do you think about the theme spitting during the sports?” she wrote via her Instagram.

Notably, Kurikova is ranked 107th in the world. In addition, she even competed in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. After the DQ, she decided to take something positive out of the experience. She is willing to get back on track and prove her worth yet again.

“I still can take something very positive. The race shows me I am on the good way. Some days the hard work will pay off,” said the Olympian.

Did the Olympian deserve a DQ? Fans are divided.

Meanwhile, triathlon fans and critics are not sure whether Kurikova deserved a direct disqualification. Many think that she should have given a warning first and not the red card directly.

“Should have been a warning first then a red card,” commented a user.

Another added, “That kind of stupid rule makes the sport look like an absolute joke.” 

Notably, spitting is not so uncommon in sports. Therefore, it was a bit of a shock to see the direct disqualification. Going forward, triathletes are going to have to be careful about this one.

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