Dutch Antilles ponder appeal over 200m heartbreak

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Dutch Antilles could appeal the controversial Olympic Games disqualification of Churandy Martina as the tiny Caribbean island stepped up its battle on Thursday to win back the sprinter's 200m silver medal.

Martina was stripped of his second place behind gold medallist Usain Bolt after being accused of running out of his lane with his disqualification following that of third-placed Wallace Spearmon of the United States.

Officials from the Dutch Antilles, which boasts a population of just 140,000 and brought only a three-man team to Beijing, are furious that Martina's disqualification came almost two hours after American officials had viewed the tapes.

"How is it possible that officials didn't know there had been a technical mistake?," asked...