US Swim Team Disqualified [VIDEO] Thanks To .01 Mistake Taking Away An American Gold At World Championships In Barcelona: Life Without Michael Phelps Not Off To Good Star
US Swim team was disqualified because a .001 of a mistake that cost the men's team a world championship gold medal on what is known as the second-biggest stage next to the Olympics.
Life without Michael Phelps is not off to the expected start as the heavy favorites to win the 4X100 medley relay Monday night in Barcelona, Spain. The US Swim team was disqualified for diving into the pool .01 second too soon.
Kevin Cordes of the US Swim team was supposed to wait .05 seconds before jumping in the water after teammate Matt Grevers touched the wall. Cordes was ruled to jump in at .04 seconds, thus the team was disqualified after thinking they won the gold medal.
"That's like a punch in the gut right there," U.S. men's team head coach Bob Bowman told the Associated Press as the team found out the news after
They celebrated as if they won until they were shocked, putting their hands on their heads as the announcement came that they were officially disqualified from the race and France was awarded the gold medal.
"It's probably my fault, actually," Grevers, who swam the first backstroke leg, told reporters following the race, according to Yahoo! "It's usually the guy coming in. It happens. It happens all the time. It's unfortunate that it happened on the world's second-biggest stage."
Michael Phelps retired at the 2012 Olympics after dominated the event for three different Olympics and retired with 18 gold medals becoming the most decorated swimmer and a legendary Olympian. He is the most decorated Olympian of all time.
So far without him, they still could have one if it wasn't for a slight mistake.
Team USA finished with a time of 3:30.06 while France, who came in second, finished with 3:32.26. Australia moved to silver and Japan jumped on the podium with a bronze medal.
"Really tough night to swallow. Thanks for all the support it was an absolute honor to represent my country!" Cordes tweeted following the race.