The race of PR1 men’s rowing at Paris Paralympicswho had initially recorded the victory of bronze on the part of Giacomo Perini (a historic medal for Italy), is characterized by a polemical ending: the post-race disqualification came from the jury.
It was all due to human error: the athlete he forgot his cell phone in his personal bagbringing it onto the boat. In fact, the rule states that the athlete, on the boat, cannot bring electronic equipment with which to transmit and receive, even if unused. The Federation is preparing the appeal.
At the moment, the official result of Paris 2024 awards the bronze in fourth arrived, the Australian Erik Horrie.
The jury rejects the appeal but the Federation: “Check the records”
Giacomo Perini was disqualified because he was found “using communications equipment”, the rowing jury explained. Federcanotggio, for its part, announces that its first appeal to the jury was rejected and “it is now preparing the appeal of the decision” to the Executive of the World Federation, “providing telephone records of Perini”. If not, even at this level of judgment, the CAS would remain the last resort.
The athlete: “I haven’t used it, just check”
Moreover, the 28-year-old athlete himself defended himself as follows: “The disqualification arose from an oversight: I hadn’t noticed it at all. The phone has not been used, just check. The last messages date back to before the water warm-up, the last call yesterday evening with the psychologist”.
The Italian athlete, 28 years old, had led for most of the race with a very rapid start, losing in the final only to the British Bejamin Pritchard and the Ukrainian Roman Polianskyi.
Pancalli: “For me Perini is third”
“For me Giacomo Perini finished his final in third place: I saw an Italian athlete third”: with these words also comes the support of Luca Pancallipresident of the CIP, commenting on the story of the disqualified Italian rower. “We learned later – adds Pancalli – of what was an oversight and of the disqualification. There were slips at the Paralympics that should never have happened, absurd, but things happen. Then there is the restrictive interpretation of the law, now we await the outcome of the appeals. But I repeat: I saw Perini finish third.”
