[ad_1]
Above the water, Kelly's strokes may have looked like butterfly strokes, but underwater cameras showed that although he was swimming a little differently than some others, he was actually using a freestyle stroke.
News came that Kelly had been reinstated and that his dream of winning the medal was still alive.
“It surprised me because I've been to four games and they couldn't get it right today for some reason,” Kelly said. “They make mistakes. Officials are human. We put that behind us and tried to run a really good race tonight.
“Once the decision was overturned, the focus was entirely on the final. It certainly didn’t affect this race. I have a unique style of wrestling. [stroke] It may look like a butterfly, but in reality… it's not really a butterfly.
Kelly led by 3.47 seconds with one lap to go but took silver by two seconds from Germany's Josia Topf.
“I’ve been working for the last three years to get the gold medal and make up for the silver I got in Tokyo,” Kelly said. “The disqualification wasn’t enough to throw me off track. I’ve been through a lot worse.”
Ahmed Kelly is a four-time Paralympic athlete.credit: Getty Images
He’s right. Born in Iraq, Kelly lived in an orphanage in Baghdad with his brother after being born with underdeveloped arms and legs before being adopted and brought to Australia. He has had a remarkable career in Paralympic swimming.
“It's very special to be able to have your partner there for two Paralympic Games in a row,” Patterson said.
Australia claimed three more medals in the group on Sunday, with Rowan Crothers (silver) and Tom Gallagher (bronze) winning the men's 100m freestyle (S10). They also took silver in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay (S14), which featured Jack Ireland, Madeleine McTiernan, Ruby Storm and Ben Hanes.
download
“It's hard to be too sad about it,” Crothers said of his second medal of the Games. “But everything I've done in training has meant I can run faster.”
However, the Dolphins lag behind the rest of the teams in the swimming medal tally, sitting in 14th place overall with one gold, four silver and five bronze. Overall, after four days of Paralympic competition, Australia is in sixth place with six gold medals.
For the latest results, news and analysis from the Paris Paralympics, sign up for our morning newsletter.
[ad_2]
Source