Commonwealth Games race forced into rerun as athlete has gold medal brutally stripped

The women's 1500m T54 final has been ordered to be rerun after a dramatic first-corner pile-up wiped out nearly half the competitors.

The rerun, which will take place on Friday morning, means Scotland's Melaine Woods had her gold medal stripped.

Woods crossed the lines in a new Games record but must now attempt to reclaim gold all over again.

Canada's Nandini Sharma, who finished second, has been disqualified for obstruction after her team's appeal against the ruling was rejected.

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The jury of appeal acted after successful challenges from Team Australia and Team Mauritius, both of whose athletes were caught up in the crash.

All results from Wednesday's race have been voided, including the silver medal that had been awarded to England's Ellis Kottas following Sharma's disqualification.

The chaos unfolded within moments of the starting gun.

Mauritius's Noemi Alphonse and Australia's Eliza Ault-Connell made contact on the opening bend, sending Alphonse crashing to the track surface.

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Ault-Connell managed to stay in her racing chair but lost control, careering into a third Para-athlete.

A fourth competitor was forced off the track entirely, ending up against the advertising hoardings.

With the field decimated, Woods and Sharma found themselves battling alone at the front, having pulled clear of the two remaining challengers.

Woods surged ahead to take the tape in 3:33.39, a new Commonwealth Games record.

Sharma was subsequently disqualified for her part in causing the first-corner incident, a ruling that Team Canada contested without success.

Appeals lodged by the Australian and Mauritian delegations, seeking a complete rerun, ultimately succeeded before the jury of appeal.

Team England said they are "incredibly disappointed" with the move, with England's chef de mission Jonny Riall saying: "While there is no formal protest process available to us, we have strongly challenged the decision.

"The race officials did not halt the race at the time of the incident, nor was any immediate decision made to declare the race void or order a rerun."

He stressed that Kottas and her support team had operated under the belief that standard competition procedures had run their course and the finishing order was confirmed.

"Ellis and the team therefore proceeded on the understanding that all competition procedures had been completed and the result confirmed," Riall added.

Paralympic sprinter Jonnie Peacock told TNT Sports: "It's heartbreak, but at the same time it's the drama of sport and of wheelchair racing.

"We have seen crashes time and time again. There is no love lost between these athletes when they are out there."

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