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Paralympics 2024 chaos as amputee swimmer wrongly disqualified for ‘breaking little-known rule’ – and later reinstated
The swimmer caused confusion with his unusual choice
A PARALYMPIC swimmer was wrongly disqualified and later reinstated thanks to a little-known rule.
Amputee Ahmed Kelly of Australia, who is missing both arms below the elbow and both legs below the knee, was competing in the 150m medley SM3.
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He finished second in his heat behind compatriot Grant Patterson but was disqualified.
That is because he performed butterfly instead of front crawl in the freestyle leg of the medley, with swimmers commonly opting to use front crawl.
Paralympic officials wrongly hit Kelly with a disqualification, with Swimming Australia's appeal pointing out the rules which only forbid backstroke or breaststroke in the freestyle leg.
Kelly was reinstated after the little known rule was pointed out, which fellow Aussie swimmer Annabelle Williams later explained.
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She said on Australia's Channel 9: "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.
"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.
"And secondly, swimming strokes in the incorrect order. He definitely didn't do that.
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"There's video footage of him swimming the first lap on his back, the second lap doing breaststroke, and the third lap the double-arm butterfly.
"That is absolutely permissible when you're swimming freestyle."
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