'Heartbreaking': Bizarre podium debacle at swimming championships
Viewers witnessed some bizarre scenes at the FINA swimming world championships after the 50m backstroke medals were presented twice after a rare and brutal controversy.
American Justin Ress appeared to win the 50m gold medal when he touched the wall first, but was quickly disqualified after it was deemed he was completely submerged upon finishing.
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The meant his US swimming teammate Hunter Armstrong claimed first place winning with 24.14 seconds.
Armstrong was emotional after claiming the gold medal at the podium, but shared some words for his teammate.
“I’m very disappointed my teammate was disqualified and hopefully Team USA’s protest will be successful,” Armstrong said.
And incredibly, US swim team's appeal was successful and Ress was awarded the gold medal.
In bizarre scenes, the podium ceremony was held again.
But this time, only Ress stood on the block with the American national anthem playing again.
The swimming world was left questioning the bizarre scenes and why they would make Ress stand alone on the podium.
The DQ of Justin Ress in the 50 backstroke has been overturned and he is now, once again, the World Champion with Hunter Armstrong getting the silver!! pic.twitter.com/8Yb8OeIDCC
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) June 25, 2022
Justin Ress touches first in the 50 back, gets DQed, and then after the medal ceremony, is reinstated as the World Champion.
As if this meet couldn’t get any weirder.— Braden Keith (@Braden_Keith) June 25, 2022
Meanwhile, American backstroker Justin Ress got his DQ overturned — after the medals had already been awarded — and is now the world champion. Wow. https://t.co/RDQMAqjaLv
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 25, 2022
Oh goodness. Justin Ress got DQ’d out of the gold medal in the 50 backstroke. Body fully submerged at the finish. Brutal for him. Fellow American Hunter Armstrong elevated to the top of the podium. Not sure if there is an appeal in progress.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 25, 2022
Absolutely heartbreaking for Justin Ress. I will never quite understand why being fully submerged matters so much in backstroke. https://t.co/6wMKAsR5vZ
— Mathias Altman-Kurosaki (@Mathias_A_K) June 25, 2022
Justin Ress 🥇medal ceremony https://t.co/Qk0lrbMUa8
— TeamUSATracker (@TeamUSATracker) June 25, 2022
After the podium finish, Ress tweeted: "I felt every single human emotion there is in the span of 30 minutes, so that's fun."
Hunter Armstrong praised for sportsmanship
In a touching moment, Armstrong was seen handing over his gold medal to Ress after it was announced the disqualification was overturned.
Earlier, Armstrong had said he would rather finish second and share the podium with Ress, instead of his teammate being disqualified.
It's official. Here's Hunter Armstrong giving Justin Ress his own medal ceremony handing over his gold medal to him after the DQ in the 50 backstroke final was overturned 🥹 pic.twitter.com/719RLRuMyV
— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) June 25, 2022
Earlier, swim star Sarah Sjostrom picked up gold in the 50m freestyle to mark her 19th individual medal at the world championships.
Having won the 50m butterfly 24 hours earlier, the speedster collected her 10th world gold.
Teen sensation Summer McIntosh - a 15-year-old Canadian - held off American Katie Grimes in the 400m individual medley to win her second gold medal in Budapest.
McIntosh won the 200m butterfly event on Wednesday and claimed her fourth medal of the championships wit the individual medley victory.
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