Paralympic rower painfully stripped of medal for cheating with banned device

The 2024 Paralympic Games have been a real spectacle so far, but some athletes have made headlines in an unfortunate way. Such is the case with Giacomo Perini from Italy.

Per The Daily Mail, Perini has been stripped of his Paralympic bronze medal after it was uncovered that he had “an unknown communication device,” in his boat as he raced.

Perini finished third in his race, the PR1 Men's Single Sculls, but it was soon discovered he had a phone in his boat, elevating Australia’s Erik Horrie into third.

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World Rowing announced its decision via this statement, “In the final of the PR1 men’s singles, the Italian athlete was found to be using communications equipment during the race, in violation of rule 28 and Appendix R2, Bye-Law of rule 28.”

Per The Independent, Perini has claimed the phone was left in his boat by mistake, describing it as an “oversight”. The Italian firmly believes he wasn’t in breach of any rules.

Perini told ANSA, “They didn’t ‘find’ me simply because I never used the mobile phone on the boat,” before adding, “I gave the phone to the jury so that they could see that the last call was from the night before, with the psychologist.”

He continued by claiming, by the letter of the law, he is innocent, saying, “The rules do not say that you cannot bring the phone, but that you cannot communicate.”

The Independent reports the laws read, “no communication with the crew is permitted from outside the boat using electric or electronic equipment,” so if there was no communication between Perini and his support crew, it does seem he isn’t in breach of any rules.

The Italian Rowing Federation released a statement in which they confirmed they will be lodging an appeal, “The Federation is proceeding with an official claim, providing the records of Perini's phone, who is solely responsible for having forgotten it on the boat. We will shortly provide news of the outcome of the appeal.”

The  Italian Rowing Federation’s appeal was initially rejected, but they are planning to take the matter further by appealing directly to the World Rowing Executive Board.

Elsewhere in the race, Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard took home the gold, whilst Ukrainian Roman Polianskyi finished in second. Erik Horrie from Australia took bronze, having been promoted from his fourth-placed finish.

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