Paralympic rower stripped of medal after breaking key rule
A Paralympian has been disqualified after winning a medal due to breaking a key rule during his final race.
Taking place in Paris just like the Olympic Games, the Paralympics has seen thousands of athletes compete against each other, with roughly 4,400 fighting it out for gold, silver, and bronze by the time the Games finish on Sunday (8 September).
Now in the final week of the showcase in the French capital, one medal winner has found himself stripped of his bronze after breaking an important rule during the final of his competition.
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Rower Giacomo Perini represented Italy in the final of the PR1 men's single sculls final taking place last Sunday (1 September) at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Winning bronze, Perini was over the moon at his podium finish. But within 24 hours, the 28-year-old's Paralympic dream was taken away after he was disqualified.
World Rowing has since announced Perini has been kicked out after violating 'communications equipment' rules.
A spokesperson said: "In the final of the PR1 men’s singles, the Italian athlete was found to be using communications equipment during the race, in violation of rule 28 and Appendix R2, Bye-Law of rule 28."
Claiming it was an oversight, Perini had left his phone in a small bag within the boat he used to win bronze. There was also a bottle of water.
The Italian disagreed with the wording of the statement issued by World Rowing.
He told ANSA: "They didn’t ‘find’ me simply because I never used the mobile phone on the boat. I gave the phone to the jury so that they could see that the last call was from the night before, with the psychologist.
"The rules do not say that you cannot bring the phone, but that you cannot communicate."
The World Rowing rules dictate that 'no communication with the crew is permitted from outside the boat using electric or electronic equipment'.
Perini appealed the decision through the Italian Rowing Federation but it was rejected. The appeal is now being moved to the World Rowing Executive Board.
It's now the only disqualification chaos to engulf the Paralympics, with the wrong swimmer kicked out of one race for breaking a 'little known rule'.
Ahmed Kelly, from Australia, was swimming in the men's 150m SM3 heat on Sunday, coming second behind compatriot Grant Patterson.
But Kelly's Paralympic journey quickly ended after he was alleged to have done a type of swimming stroke that wasn't allowed.
Kelly - who is missing both arms below the elbow and both legs below the knee - had performed butterfly stroke instead of the widely used front crawl during the freestyle leg of the event, which led to officials disqualifying the Paralympian.
Fortunately, Swimming Australia were able to quickly launch an appeal into Kelly's disqualification, which led to the decision being overturned.
Fellow swimmer, Annabelle Williams, was later able to explain the confusion during a broadcast on Channel 9, revealing that Kelly was not in breach of rules by using a butterfly stroke during the freestyle leg.
Topics: Paralympics, World News, Sport
Tom Earnshaw