London 2012 Olympics: Champion Park wins appeal after shock disqualification is overturned

By The Newsroom
Published 29th Jul 2012, 02:50 BST
OLYMPIC champion Park Tae-hwan of South Korea had a narrow escape yesterday when, having been disqualified after winning his 400 freestyle heat for a false start, he was subsequently re-instated on appeal on the opening day of Olympic swimming yesterday.

Meanwhile, another near-shock came when American Michael Phelps only just qualified in the 400-metre individual medley, squeaking into the final by seven-hundredths of a second.

“That one didn’t feel too good,” he said.

And Paul Biedermann of Germany, the world record holder in the event, failed to make the final.

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Canadian Ryan Cochrane was the unlucky swimmer, having thought he had qualified for the 400 free final only to lose his place again when Park was re-instated.

Park was South Korea’s first swimming gold medalist in Beijing and then won the world title in Shanghai last year.

Phelps, the two-time defending Olympic champion, won his 400 IM preliminary heat in 4 minutes, 13.33 seconds with a time that was well off his world record of 4:03.84 set four years ago in Beijing, when he won a record eight gold medals.

But it was only good enough to secure the last spot in last night’s final.