BUDAPEST (Reuters) – American Hunter Armstrong won gold in the men’s 50m backstroke in a dramatic finish at the world championships in Budapest on Saturday after compatriot Justin Ress was disqualified despite touching the wall first for being fully submerged at the finish.
Ress had set the pace in the heats and the semi-finals and looked set for gold until officials ruled that no part of his body was above the water as he reached for the wall.
Polish teenager Ksawery Masiuk took silver while Italy’s Thomas Ceccon, who set a new world record in the 100m backstroke earlier in the competition, claimed bronze.
Former Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte clinched gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke, beating Italian Benedetta Pilato by 0.10 seconds, with Lara van Niekerk of South Africa coming home in third.
Lithuanian Meilutyte was handed a 24-month suspension in 2019 for anti-doping violations and returned to competitive action only in December last year.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
