In the final of the World Swimming Championships in Budapest, a strange situation occurred when American swimmer Justin Reiss lost his gold medal in the 50m backstroke before crowning it again.
Reese took first place in the 50m backstroke, 0.02 seconds behind his compatriot Hunter Armstrong.
But the panel of judges ruled out Reese, who won the gold medal after using video technology, deciding that the American touched the wall at the end of the race with his whole body underwater, which is against the law in this sport.
Here is a video of Alexander Popov performing the “submerged finish” in the freestyle final 50 at the 2000 Olympics. See how he goes from 1st to 4th on the last beat.
Why do people do it on their back? The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. pic.twitter.com/zrvKwT7QDa
— Herbie Bem (@SirHerb_the3rd) June 26, 2022
By court decision, the gold medal went to his compatriot Armstrong, silver was won by 17-year-old Pole Ksaviri Matsiuk, and bronze went to Italian Thomas Shikon.
“I’m very disappointed that my teammate didn’t win first,” Armstrong said. “I hope we can appeal this decision.”
The Americans managed to return Reese the right to be crowned, after the jury granted the team’s request, to return the gold medal to Justin Reese, while Armstrong returned to third place, and Pole Masyuk dropped to third place.
The bronze medal went to Italian swimmer Shikon, who broke the 100m backstroke record at the same event.
It’s official. Here’s Hunter Armstrong giving Justin Ress his own awards ceremony, presenting him with the gold medal after the disqualification in the 50m backstroke final was lifted ???? pic.twitter.com/719RLRuMyV
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) June 25, 2022
So ele! E com direito a hino! pic.twitter.com/RdEU4l7UVy
— Coach Alex Pusseldi (@alexpussieldi) June 25, 2022
After this decision, Justin Reese appeared alone on the podium, holding his gold medal, in a strange scene that had not been seen before in swimming championships.
Reese was well liked by social media pioneers, who saw the thirty minutes between his loss of victory and his return to the podium filled with mixed feelings.
According to the British newspaper The Daily Mail, Reese has previously been a three-time champion in swimming organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, known as the NCAA.
Source: Dailymail