Roberts misses Paris Olympics after universal appeal rejected

The Cook Islands team’s hopes of entering swimmer Wesley Tikiariki Roberts as a third athlete at the Paris Olympics have been dashed after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected their request.

Earlier this month, the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) and the Cook Islands Aquatic Federation filed a request for arbitration to allow Roberts to compete under the universal quota.

The Cook Islands had requested a place for the swimmer in international competitions but had its request rejected by the World Swimming Federation on July 19.

The Aquatics Federation and the International Swimming Federation asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to quash the controversial ruling and order the World Aquatics Federation to award Roberts a general quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which runs from July 26 to August 11.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said in a media statement released yesterday that its ad hoc division had rejected the application.

Sole arbitrator Christine Tosnes (USA) held a hearing with the parties on July 23 and ruled that the World Swimming Federation’s interpretation of the Paris 2024 qualification system in the Roberts case was “reasonable and appropriate”.

“Accordingly, Mr Roberts is ineligible to compete in the Olympics and the application is dismissed.”

Universal quotas are designed to increase the diversity of countries participating in Olympic sports, as some countries may have dozens or even hundreds of athletes who are guaranteed a place at the Olympics after qualifying tournaments for each sport, while other countries may only have a handful of athletes. These quotas are part of the qualification system for certain sports and apply to countries that traditionally have smaller delegations.

According to the Swim Swam website, World Swimming refused to grant the 27-year-old Cook Islands swimmer universal status for the Paris Olympics, arguing that new rules do not allow universal swimmers who have competed in two Olympics to participate.

Limiting all-around swimmers to just two Olympic Games is a new rule change announced for 2022, along with a maximum age of 30 (as of December 31, 2024), both of which are designed to put a renewed focus on developing young domestic talent that still has the potential to break Olympic qualifying times.

Without Roberts, the Cook Islands will send Alex Beddoes and Lanihei Connolly to compete in the men’s 800m run and women’s 100m breaststroke, both global events.

Roberts made his Rio Olympics debut eight years ago, finishing 44th^day In the 1500m freestyle (15:44.32), Roberts won the Cook Islands’ first swimming medal at the Pacific Games in 1:51.36. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the pandemic, Roberts placed 37th in the 200m freestyle (1:50.41) and 400m freestyle (3:55.65).

Roberts said he almost retired in 2022 before he fell in love with the sport again. He finished 34th in the 400 freestyle (4:00.67), 37th in the 200 freestyle (1:50.24) and 50th in the 100 freestyle (50.43) at the 2022 world championships. The following summer, Roberts finished 39th in the 200 freestyle (1:51.27) and 49th in the 100 freestyle (50.27) at the 2023 world championships. In February of this year, he was 30th in the 100 freestyle (49.41) and 35th in the 200 freestyle (1:49.78).

The Atiu-born, Australia-based swimmer also won two gold medals and set two regional records, a silver and a bronze at last year’s Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.

He won the first gold medal for the Cook Islands in the men’s 400m freestyle in 3:58.41. Roberts won bronze in the men’s 200m individual medley in 2:09.81. He then broke the men’s 100m freestyle record that had stood since 2015. He showed off his extraordinary speed and technique in the final with an amazing time of 50.05. That same evening, he competed in the men’s 50m butterfly final, finishing in 24.86 to take the silver medal.

In his final event, Roberts won another gold medal in the 200m freestyle, his second gold medal at the Pacific Games, and broke the previous record of 1.50.27 minutes set by Pacific Games legend Ryan Pini in 2007 with a time of 1.49.78 minutes.

Roberts currently holds national records in all freestyle events (23.94/49.41/1:48.55/3:52.50/8:17.39/15:40.36) as well as the 50 butterfly (24.67) and 200 individual medley (2:09.81).

– Additional reporting by Braden Keith of Swim Swam