A few desperate seconds and the ultimate victory—this is the obvious story of every Olympic medal winner. But for Antonino Pizzolato, something more was at stake at the Paris Olympics. The three-time European champion had the responsibility to add a medal to the Italian weightlifting squad’s roster. The team couldn’t have landed one before yesterday evening. However, Antonino tried his best by working on the trust manifested in him. 

He competed in the men’s 89 kg weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics and finally claimed the coveted bronze medal. But the accomplishment didn’t come as clean. Several fans sniffed wrongdoings in it. Let’s dive into the exact picture. 

Antonino Pizzolato’s victory muddies the water 

On Reddit, a user shared a video displaying the exact moment when Antonino Pizzolato lifted the bar overhead on his final attempt. Before that, he could utilize one of his snatch attempts (there are three). Therefore, in the clean and jerk, he needed to go beyond his ability. Pizzolato tried to do that with 212 kilograms. In his first attempt to lift that weight, the Italian ruptured the show. But in the next two attempts, he lifted the bar overhead. Still, the red light blinked both times at the South Paris Arena, disqualifying Antonino Pizzolato. Still, he took the bronze medal, and the credit went to the jury’s final decision. 

As per the active rules, any athlete will face disqualification if he or she “presses out” the bar while it is overhead. It means the weightlifter will have to catch and hold the weight over his/her head with straight arms until there’s a green signal from the jury. What Pizzolato faced was the south side of the arm-bend rule. Even his coach remained skeptical about the outcome. But everything changed when the jury overturned the decision and announced the Italian athlete’s lifts were legal. That earned him the bronze medal and the jury a truckload of criticism. 

Fans criticize the judging system at the Paris Olympics for being heavily motivated

On Reddit, the fans shouted out at the valiant effort Antonino Pizzolato had put forth to claim the bronze medal but ridiculed the jury system. One of them even dismantled the need for the existence of such a rule that can’t be used. The relevant comment went out as “it’s a stupid rule… shouldn’t even exist. pressing the weight is harder than just jerking it, and it looks exactly like what it is: a strenuous effort to save the lift.” Another fan called out the carrying out of such degradation in front of everyone’s eyes. 

The actual comment remained a sharp dig at those judges: “The judging during this session annoyed the living daylights out of me! It didn’t make sense!” A few people doubted the involvement of money in giving such an outlandish verdict on a platform like the Paris Olympics. From that perspective, one follower commented, “Completely indefensible decision by the jury. They have to be getting paid for this shit.” A similar tone was present in another comment that went, “Show us how much is in the briefcase the jury is receiving.” But the goalpost was different two days ago. 

In the women’s 59 kg Paris Olympics weightlifting event, the defending champion Kuo Hsing-Chun had to face three red cards from the jury for a similar offense Antonino Pizzolato committed. But yesterday, it seemed like a stalemate had hit the situation. Noticing this, one fan argued, “Another frustrating example of the inconsistent judging regarding the press out rule. As much as I love Nino, being completely frank, he should not have been given that lift as per the current standards.” However, another user readily quipped, “Weightlifting judges being themselves again. Bunch of old clowns🤡.” These pictures are concerning for any contest, let alone the Paris Olympics.