Fitness competitor banned after shoe-throwing incident

A fitness model in Jiangsu province has been banned for two years from competitions in the province after she threw high-heeled shoes at the judges, the Jiangsu Fitness and Bodybuilding Association announced on July 27.

The woman, from Jiangsu's Lianyungang city, threw the shoes she was wearing at the judges during the curtain call of the provincial fitness and bodybuilding competition on June 18.

Another contestant surnamed Wang told Jimu News in Hubei province the athlete believed she was scored incorrectly during that morning's bikini competition and failed to reach the top six.

After an investigation involving interviews with judges, contestants and staff, the association said they didn't find any unfair treatment in the scoring process. The system was in line with regulations, using five scores after eliminating the two highest and lowest scores from nine professionally certified judges.

Organizers shared the procedures for appealing and arbitration at a meeting in which the woman took part, but she failed to appeal properly and "acted emotionally on stage", the association said. As the woman's behavior "violated sportsmanship" and "disrupted competition order", the association handed down a two-year ban.