The Australian Paralympic swimmer found himself at the center of an unexpected controversy on Sunday due to confusion over his performance in theParis Paralympics.
Ahmed, who competes with both arms and legs amputated below the elbows and knees, was initiallydisqualified from the 150m medley SM3 event. But thanks to a lesser-known rule, his story took a turn for the better.
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Four-time Paralympian Ahmed Kelly had his disqualification overturned and earned a silver medal
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The swimmer had finished second in his heat behind fellow Aussie Grant Patterson. But he was wronglyhit with a penaltyfor apparently using the butterfly stroke instead of the more commonly used front crawl during the freestyle segment.
Paralympic officials, apparently not well-versed in the fine print of the rules,decided to disqualifyhim.
Swimming Australia then stepped in and pointed out that the regulations of the competition had been overlooked. According to the rulebook, freestyle in medley events allows competitors to choose any stroke they like, as long as it’s not backstroke or breaststroke.
The 32-year-old swimmer was initially disqualified from the 150m medley SM3 event due to confusion over his stroke
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Annabelle Williams, a fellow Australian swimmer, pointed out that it was perfectly fine for Ahmed to swim the double-arm butterfly.
“Now the good lawyer in me went to the rules and the definition of freestyle is that you can perform whatever you want, as long as it’s not backstroke or breaststroke,” she said on Australia’sChannel 9. “You can do whatever strokes you like; freestyle or double-arm butterfly.”
“Ahmed had performed double-arm butterfly, and so I can’t understand why that rule seems to have been in breach,” she added. “And secondly, swimming strokes in the incorrect order. He definitely didn’t do that.”
Despite finishing second in his heat, he was penalized for apparently using the butterfly stroke instead of the front crawl in the freestyle segment
It was laterreportedthat Ahmed’s stroke may have looked like the butterfly stroke above the surface, which was the reason why judgesdisqualifiedhim in the first place. However, cameras underwater revealed that he was using a freestyle method that looked different from the other swimmers’.
“Once the decision was overturned, it was all full focus for that final. It definitely didn’t impact that race. I’ve got quite a unique freestyle [stroke] that may look like it’s butterfly, but in fact … it’s not exactly butterfly,” he added.
Netizens praised the Paralympic swimmer for his silver medal win after all the chaos
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