Paralympics swimmer Ahmed Kelly went on to clinch a silver medal in the 150m medley SM3 event in Paris after being reinstated ahead of the final. The Iraq-born Australian star had been wrongly disqualified in the aftermath of his heat after he had performed butterfly instead of front crawl in the freestyle leg.
Swimming Australia immediately appealed Kelly’s disqualification as they pointed out that only backstroke and breaststroke are banned in the freestyle leg.
And the 32-year-old, who had finished second to compatriot Grant Patterson in his heat, went on to claim silver after ending the final behind winner Josia Topf from Germany.
Amputee Kelly, who has a condition called diastrophic dysplasia, is missing both arms below the elbow and both legs below the knee. He started swimming in 2008 after switching from Australian rules football and is appearing at his fourth Games.
Following his initial disqualification, fellow Paralympic swimmer Annabelle Williams explained that competition chiefs had made the wrong decision as she told 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, [as for] swimming strokes in the incorrect order – he definitely didn’t do that. 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, which is absolutely permissible when you’re swimming freestyle.”
Kelly was named alongside 29 other athletes in Australia’s Paralympic swimming squad earlier this summer ahead of the Games in the French capital.
And at the time, Swimming Australia Paralympic Team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin explained: “Australia has had huge success in Paralympic swimming, from the first Games in 1960 in Rome, where the late Daphne Hilton won the country’s very first gold medal in the sport.
“Australian swimmers have won 453 medals, including 136 gold, 160 silver and 157 bronze. We sit fifth on the all-time gold medal tally and third in total medals behind only Great Britain and the US.
“In Tokyo, our swimmers brought home 33 medals, including eight gold, setting the tone for the wider Australian Paralympic Team. When our swimming team does well, Australia does well.
“We’ll have another strong team of swimmers representing us in Paris and I know they’ll be prepared and determined to give their absolute best as they go after their goals.”
The Paralympics have proven to be enthralling this year, with tennis star Rafael Nadal sending a congratulatory message to another swimmer, Teresa Perales, after she won her 28th Games medal and drew level with Olympics icon Michael Phelps.
