American Swimmer Justin Ress Wins Gold at Worlds After Initial DQ

Team USA successfully appealed the DQ, giving them the top two finishers in the men's 50M backstroke

The FINA swimming world championships got a little strange on Saturday as the officials had to hold two medal ceremonies due to some controversy.

American swimmers Justin Ress and Hunter Armstrong initially finished first and second in the men’s 50 meter backstroke, separated by only .02 seconds. However, Ress was disqualified from the event when he appeared to submerge underwater at the finish.

Here’s the finish where Justin Ress was disqualified for being completely submerged on the finish… pic.twitter.com/Geo7n0is65

— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) June 25, 2022

Armstrong was elevated to the gold medal, but instead of joy, he felt sorrow towards his friend and fellow American.

“I would rather have taken second with him,” Armstrong said. “To have it taken away from him sucks.”

Hunter Armstrong very classy regarding the DQ: “I would rather have taken second with him … to have it taken away from him sucks.”

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) June 25, 2022

The world championships held the medal ceremony while Team USA appealed on Ress’s behalf. Then, the team won the appeal, putting Ress back at the top of the leaderboard and dropping Armstrong to second.

Armstrong first presented Ress with the gold medal that he got earlier, before Ress had to stand on the podium by himself to receive the medal officially.

It's official. Here's Hunter Armstrong giving Justin Ress his own medal ceremony handing over his gold medal to him after the DQ in the 50 backstroke final was overturned 🥹 pic.twitter.com/719RLRuMyV

— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) June 25, 2022

It was a very long and winding road, but Ress got what he earned in the end.