The Worst/Best Olypmic Qualifying Race Ever- 100 Meter "Dog Paddle"
You know, with the hype from Olympics until now, I shall post up this video I just saw.The Worst/Best Olypmic Qualifying Race Ever- 100 Meter "Dog Paddle"
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To bring the Olympic spirit to developing nations in the late 90's, the Olympic Committee allowed a small number of 'wild card' athletes to join the Games. But because they didn't have to go through any qualifying rounds to compete, not all the contenders arrived prepared. When Moussambani arrived at the 2000 Sydney Games, he'd only been training for the 100-meter freestyle for about 8 months. He'd also never been in an Olympic-size pool and had never raced more than 50 meters. Regardless, he was determined to represent his country.
The 3 wild-card qualifiers were given their own heat, and Moussambani took to the blocks next to swimmers from Niger and Tajikistan. When the official called the swimmers to their marks, both of Moussambani's competitors were disqualified for false starts. Left to swim the heat by himself, Eric dove in and dog paddles, gasping for air and flailing his arms and legs. Halfway through the race, the situation looked so dire that commentators seriously worried he was drowning.
When Moussambani eventually stalled out 10 meters from the end of the race, the crowd rallied behind him as he inched toward the finish. As he finally pulled himself from the water, the applause thundered. His final time was 1:52.72-more than twice that of swimmers in the previous heat. But Moussambani couldn't have been happier. Ecstatic to have finished his first 100-meter race, he told reporters "I'm going to jump and dance all night long in celebration of my personal triumph."
Moussambani's pluck and perseverance made him an Olympic celebrity, and his newfound fans dubbed him "Eric the Eel." He kept training for the 2004 Games and even got this time down to a respectable 57 seconds. Unfortunately a visa snafu kept him from competing again.
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Great Spirt man. At least he finished the race. Hahaha.
Michael Phelps is damn good man. Won 8 gold medals in this Olympics. It's like, easy peezy lemon squeezy for him.. LOL.
This one's the Mens 4x100 Relay.. Jason Lesak's finish was damn nice. He won the France team by just only 0.08seconds!
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Ok, will blog again.. Hahaha, you can really almost hear Michael Phelps scream. LOL
posted by Chloe @ 3:02 AM
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