Dododreams

The summer Olympics begin today. I’m not sure how much of the games I’ll be watching — unfortunately it’ll depend entirely on what is chosen to be broadcast. I’ve still got a bad taste in my mouth from the year (Atlanta?) that was water polo water polo water polo because the US team had a chance to medal in that event, so other more interesting sports such as the horseback events or archery or kayaking or fencing got totally ignored. I prefer track and field over the little teensy Gumby girls doing gymnastics, too.

Anyway, here’s another movie that pleases me as it demonstrates a sense of what the Olympics should really be about. At the 2000 Summer Games, Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea did not need to qualify as an Olympic swimmer through a time trial. He won a wild card draw that was designed to allow athletes from developing countries to compete — in his case his country was not “developed” to the point of actually having a swimming pool. According to Wikipedia, “Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only 8 months before the Olympics and had practiced in a 20 m (66 ft) pool at a hotel in Malabo.” Eric swam his heat of the 100m freestyle in 1:52.72 and won, because the two other competitors were DQd for false starts. His time was more than twice that of his faster competitors, and outside even the 200m world record. However he had set a new personal best and national record. “The last 15 meters were very difficult,” he said.

One might question how appropriate it is to let anyone so unprepared appear in an international competition. Someone else might answer that ultimately isn’t this what the spirit of the Games is all about? Doing your best to excel, encouraged by the cheers of the spectators, performing for yourself and your country. Good job, Eric, congratulations on your finish.