Odd situation prevents former Cal swimmer Osman from competing in her fourth Olympics for Egypt
Two-hundredths of a second and the misinterpretation of the rules by Egyptian officials apparently are keeping former Cal swimmer Farida Osman from participating in her fourth Olympics.
Osman had already attended a special event at the French Embassy in Cairo in June to celebrate Egyptian athletes that had qualified for Summer Games in Paris. She was told she had qualified.“Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I am sorry to announce that I will not be part of the Egyptian delegation participating in the Paris 2024 Olympics,” said Osman in an Arabic statement posted on her social media.
Osman is probably Egypt’s most famous swimmer and she won Egypt’s first-ever medal in the World Aquatic Championships when she finished third in the 50-meter butterfly in 2017. And it appeared she would be going to the Summer Games for a fourth time until a rules interpretation ended that. First of all, her best time in the 50-meter freestyle during the qualifying period was 24.72, which is 0.02 of second shy of the Olympic A qualifying standard of 24.70 for Olympic qualification. However, that time qualifies under the Olympic B standard, which the Egyptian officials believed applied to Osman, who said she received confirmation from the Egyptian Olympic Committee that she would be headed to Paris.
But a new Olympic rule passed in 2022 slightly modified the Olympic B standard to qualify, saying the universality – or Olympic B – standard can only apply to athletes for two Olympics. Since the 29-year-old Osman had been to three Olympics, she no longer was eligible for the Olympic B standard qualification. The rule was misinterpreted by Egyptian officials, who thought she was still eligible for the Olympic B standard qualification.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Swimmer Lilly King Gets Engaged After She Qualifies for Paris Olympics -- See the Poolside ProposalTeam USA swimmer Lilly King qualified for her second event at the Paris Olympics and got engaged to longtime boyfriend, James Wells.
Read more »
Gold-medal swimmer’s boyfriend proposes immediately after she qualifies for the OlympicsThursday was a momentous day for Lilly King.
Read more »
Santa Clarita swimmer Abbey Weitzeil qualifies for third Summer OlympicsWeitzeil, who set national records while on the Saugus High School swim team 12 years ago, qualified for a spot on the women’s 400-meter freestyle relay team.
Read more »
ASU swimmer headed to Paris to compete in OlympicsDonya Fournier is a champion archer, 4.0 student and a published author. But now she can add another title: 12News Champion of the Week!
Read more »
Jersey City swimmer misses Paris Olympics by heartbreaking 4/100ths of a secondDare Rose narrowly missed out in the 100 butterfly event at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
Read more »
American swimmer Lilly King gets engaged moments after qualifying for Olympics in 200-meter breaststrokeOlympic gold medalist Lilly King is headed to Paris next month with a new title - fiancée.
Read more »