Beijing, China - On 12 September during the Swimming competition evening session, Mexican athlete Pedro Rangel was disqualified after the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB5 Final, according to IPC Swimming Rule SM 7-7.

The Mexican delegation lodged a protest within the 30 minutes time period after the results being announced.

The protest was accepted by the Chief Referee appointed by IPC Swimming.

The victory ceremony for this event was scheduled three minutes before the decision to reinstate Pedro Rangel in first place was made and communicated to NPC Mexico.

Unfortunately, due to a mistake by the swimming officials, the medal ceremony was held in spite of the protest being lodged. Timing was critical in how it affected the communication link and the ability to halt a victory ceremony that was already in progress.

The swimming officials have acknowledged the error that has consequently been corrected and reinforced so that it does not happen again. Results were corrected to reinstate Pedro Rangel (MEX) in first place position and Thomas Grimm (GER) and Tadhg Slattery (RSA) in second and third place position respectively. Official communications for INFO 2008 were produced accordingly. Consequently, the new victory ceremony was held at the end of the session.

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Notes to the Editor:

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to developing sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

Founded on 22 September 1989, the IPC is an international non-profit organization formed and run by 162 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports federations (IOSDs). The IPC Headquarters and its management team are located in Bonn, Germany.

For further information, please contact Steffi Klein, IPC Media and Communications Senior Manager, on e-mail: steffi.klein@paralympic.org or go to www.paralympic.org and www.ParalympicSport.TV.