Bizarre scenes at World Championships as a disqualified swimmer stands ALONE on the podium to claim his gold medal after being DISQUALIFIED from the event
- American Justin Ress was disqualified and then reinstated in Budapest
- The 24-year-old was freed from gold for the first time after hitting a wall underwater
- Ress was presented with his medal at the final ceremony of the championships alone
American swimmer Justin Ress went through a whirlwind of emotions after being the first to hit the wall in the 50m backstroke final at the World Championships in Budapest – only to be moments later disqualified before his victory was restored.
Ress stormed into the final as the hot favorite, finishing 0.02 seconds ahead of fellow American Hunter Armstrong.
American backstroke swimmer Justin Ress was the first to hit the wall in 24.12 seconds – only to be disqualified from finishing the race underwater
After a video review, Ress was disqualified when footage showed him finishing the race entirely underwater, which is illegal in backstroke events.
Armstrong was awarded gold, while 17-year-old Ksawery Masiuk of Poland was upgraded from bronze to silver.
“I’m very disappointed that my teammate was disqualified and I hope Team USA’s protest will be successful,” said Armstrong.
He got his wish when Ress’ win was restored when the championship jury upheld the appeal.
At the final FINA World Championships medal ceremony, Ress received his gold while standing alone on the podium in truly bizarre scenes.
“I felt every single human emotion in 30 minutes, it’s fun,” said the 24-year-old from North Carolina tweeted on Sunday morning.
Ress is alone on the podium, edging out fellow American Hunter Armstrong to second – it was the final medal ceremony of the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest
Armstrong presented the gold to Ress before his unique ceremony.
Italy’s world record holder in the 100m backstroke, Thomas Ceccon, finished half a second behind the leader and finished fourth.
18-year-old Australia’s Isaac Cooper rounded out the field in the race, while Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan ousted world record holder Sarah Sjostrom to become the youngest world women’s 100m freestyle champion in 30 years.
She won six medals at the Championships, three of them gold, while the Australian team finished with 17 medals overall, although some of their biggest names were missing.
Americans Hunter Armstrong (L) and Justin Ress (R) celebrate first and second place in the 50m backstroke final
A three-time NCAA champion at North Carolina University, Ress broke the 50-meter backstroke record in 2017 with a time of 24.41, beating two past Olympians in the race.
America finished the championships with 45 medals, including 17 golds, a record-breaking swimming meeting for the US.