Giacomo Perini Loses Paralympics Medal Due to Mobile Phone Incident

Italian rower Giacomo Perini was disqualified from the Paralympics and lost his bronze medal for having a mobile phone on his boat. Perini claimed it was an oversight and not used for communication. The Italian Rowing Federation's appeal was rejected, and Australia's Erik Horrie was promoted to bronze.

Italian rower Giacomo Perini was disqualified and forfeited his Paralympics bronze medal after officials found a mobile phone on his boat in Paris, although Perini asserted it was an accidental oversight.

Perini, 28, placed third in the PR1 men's single sculls final but faced disqualification by World Rowing, who cited a violation of rule 28 regarding the use of communications equipment during the race.

The Italian Rowing Federation's appeal was unsuccessful, resulting in Australia's Erik Horrie moving into the third-place position, as Britain's Benjamin Pritchard and Ukraine's Roman Polianskyi claimed gold and silver respectively.

(With inputs from agencies.)