Rory Logan, a 9-year-old from Ireland who has autism, was excited to race in a Special Olympics swim meet that took place recently. Although he was the youngest competitor, he obliterated his competition, swimming the 50m final in his personal best time of 53.15 seconds.
He was thrilled to have won the race, but when it came time for the medal ceremony, Rory didn't get the gold. Instead, he was given a participation ribbon.
Rory's mom Briony was immediately confused — she had watched her son win just moments earlier. According to BelfastLive, Briony explained that "Rory came to me and said, 'Mum I didn't do anything wrong, I won fair and square, what did I do?'"
After seeing the pain on her son's face, Briony went to talk to officials, who explained that Rory had been disqualified for swimming too fast.
Briony said, "Apparently you can't be more than 15% faster than the time you swam in your heats."
Rory's heat time was 1 minute 3 seconds, so his final time was 15.8% faster than his heat.
The decision the Special Olympics officials made to disqualify Rory from this race could mean that Rory may not be able to compete at next year's All Ireland Special Olympics.
Briony considered pulling Rory from the rest of his finals, but ultimately decided against it.
In the end, Rory won gold medals for both the 25m and the relay.
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h/t BelfastLive
