Italian rower Giacomo Perini faced a devastating turn of events at the Paris Paralympics after he was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal in the PR1 men’s single sculls final. The disqualification stemmed from the discovery of a mobile phone on his boat during the race, a violation of World Rowing rules prohibiting electronic devices.
Perini, who uses only his arms and shoulders to row, initially celebrated his third-place finish. However, his joy was short-lived as World Rowing announced the disqualification, citing a breach of rule 28 and its appendix concerning communication equipment.
The athlete vehemently defended himself, claiming the phone was left in a bag along with a water bottle and was never used for communication. He disputed the wording of the World Rowing statement, emphasizing that he did not breach the rule as he did not use the phone during the race.
“They didn’t ‘find’ me simply because I never used the mobile phone on the boat,” Perini told ANSA. “I gave the phone to the jury so that they could see that the last call was from the night before, with the psychologist. The rules do not say that you cannot bring the phone, but that you cannot communicate,” he explained.
The rule in question specifically states that “no communication with the crew is permitted from outside the boat using electric or electronic equipment.” Despite Perini’s argument, the Italian Rowing Federation’s appeal against the disqualification was rejected. They are now preparing to appeal the decision to the World Rowing Executive Board.
As a result of the disqualification, Australia’s Erik Horrie was promoted to bronze, while Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard took gold and Ukraine’s Roman Polianskyi secured silver.
