Four-time Paralympian Ahmed Kelly, who was disqualified over a mistake made by the judges, had a silver medal around his neck within hours of his disqualification being overturned.
The Australian Paralympic swimmer found himself at the center of an unexpected controversy on Sunday due to confusion over his performance in the Paris Paralympics.
Ahmed, who competes with both arms and legs amputated below the elbows and knees, was initially disqualified from the 150m medley SM3 event. But thanks to a lesser-known rule, his story took a turn for the better.
Four-time Paralympian Ahmed Kelly had his disqualification overturned and earned a silver medal
The swimmer had finished second in his heat behind fellow Aussie Grant Patterson. But he was wrongly hit with a penalty for 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 disqualify him.
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
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’s Channel 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 later reported that Ahmed’s stroke may have looked like the butterfly stroke above the surface, which was the reason why judges disqualified him in the first place. However, cameras underwater revealed that he was using a freestyle method that looked different from the other swimmers’.
Following the outcry, Ahmed was reinstated and allowed to compete in the final of the men’s 150m medley relay SM3. He happily collected a silver medal after finishing second in the race.
“The reason surprised me because I’ve been to four Games, and they couldn’t get it right today for some reason,” Ahmed said following the chaos over his stroke. “They make mistakes. Officials are humans. We put that behind us and tried to put a real good race on tonight.
“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
