Anastasia Gorbenko, an Israeli swimmer, found herself in an unusual position when she was called upon as a potential replacement for the women's 200-meter medley final.
Gorbenko had initially placed ninth in the semifinals, missing qualification by a mere 16 hundredths of a second. However, approximately 30 minutes before the final, an Australian finalist was disqualified due to a positive COVID-19 test, potentially opening a spot for Gorbenko.
Surpisingly, Gorbenko was not present at the venue and had not completed the customary warm-up procedures. Consequently, she did not participate in the final. A second alternate was also unavailable, resulting in only seven swimmers competing in the eight-lane final.
"This is an unprecedented situation in the swimming world," said Adi Bichman, chair of the Professional Committee of the Israeli Olympic Committee and acting chair of the Swimming Federation. "In my 20 years of swimming, I've never encountered a scenario where a swimmer declines to compete with such short notice."
The Israeli Olympic Committee issued a statement defending the decision: "The notification came only half an hour before the event, which our professional team deemed insufficient for proper preparation."
This incident has sparked debate within the Israeli sports community. Yael Arad, chairwoman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, expressed understanding for the athlete's position. "As a former judoka, I'm not sure I would agree to compete with just 25 minutes' notice, especially after believing my competition had ended," Arad stated on Israeli public radio.
However, former Olympic swimmers have criticized the handling of the situation. Speaking anonymously to Kann News, one stated, "It's standard procedure for alternates to be present and prepared, even if the likelihood of competing is low. This is a significant oversight."
The Israeli delegation has announced plans to conduct a thorough review of the incident. "We will examine the chain of events and learn from this for future competitions," Bichman assured.
* Kann News contributed to this article.