In the swimming arena, people's attention is always attracted by the leading group, because there is only one champion. On the contrary, the penultimate place means failure and even ridicule.
In the arena where heroes are judged by success or failure, an athlete named Eric Mussambani (ERIC MOUSSAMBANI) in Equatorial Guinea broke people's prejudice against losers.
Musambani in the game.
Image source: IOC website.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 100-meter men's freestyle preliminaries.
When Musambani, who was only 22 years old, stood on the starting platform, he might not be able to predict what impact this game will have in his future life.
Although he won the bottom of the Olympic Games with a time of 1:52.72, this did not affect the respect and praise of him.
In that game, the Nigerian and Tajik players who competed with Musambani were disqualified because of the start-up.
Only Musambani was left in the huge swimming pool, and there were 17,000 spectators on the scene.
Musangbani was stunned when he heard the news: "I became more nervous, everyone is watching me, and the TV is still live." In fact, besides being nervous, Musambani felt more scared. Because before that, he had never swam a 100-meter race or even seen a 50-meter swimming pool.
Screenshots of foreign media reports.
How can such a person participate in the Olympics?
Musambani's Olympic trip was originally an accident.
At that time, the International Olympic Committee initiated an Olympic development plan in order to allow athletes from underdeveloped sports countries and regions to participate in the Olympic Games.
As a result, Equatorial Guinea, a small country in central Africa, won a men's 100-meter freestyle quota.
When Equatorial Guinea recruited swimmers from across the country, Musambani heard the news on the radio.
According to foreign media reports, he was the only man to sign up at the time, and this quota naturally fell on him.
When he was told to represent Equatorial Guinea in the Sydney Olympics, Musambani's brain went blank: Where is Australia?
Where is Sydney again?
Compared with solving these questions, the most important thing for Musambani is to improve his swimming skills.
He is not a professional swimmer. He only started to swim after graduating from high school, and he did not receive professional training.
At best, the level of swimming is the level of a few flutters in the water.
Musambani training pool.
However, the Olympics still has 8 months to go, and maybe you will not make a fool of yourself if you practice hard.
However, due to conditions, Musambani can only practice in the sea and the river.
The fisherman who went out fishing became his "enlightenment coach", teaching him leg and hand movements, and most importantly: how to avoid being drowned in sea water.
Later, Musambani contacted a hotel with a 13-meter swimming pool.
The other party allows him to use the swimming pool between 5 am and 6 am every day, but he can only use it 3 days a week.
In this way, Musambani swam in this 13-meter-long swimming pool for 8 months.
Seeing that the Sydney Olympics is approaching, the Equatorial Guinea delegation also left for Australia.
This delegation and Musambani had a total of 4 athletes. It took them 3 days to travel through several countries and finally arrived in Sydney.
Screenshots of foreign media reports.
Musambani was shocked when he arrived at the Olympic Village. He saw the swimming pool where he was going to compete, and he murmured in his heart: "Let me swim here, it will definitely not work."
Before the game, he trained with the US team.
Musambani took this opportunity to learn to imitate the movements of American swimmers.
At that time, many people didn't believe that this guy who didn't even wear swimming trunks and goggles came to participate in the Olympics.
After Musambani explained the situation, he got the help of the South African coach.
Before departure, Equatorial Guinea did not prepare any equipment for Musambani.
He originally planned to wear underwear to the game as he did during practice.
After arriving in Sydney, he went to a nearby store to buy swimming trunks and goggles.
However, the equipment he bought himself did not meet the requirements.
Finally, the South African coach gave him swimming trunks and goggles.
Musambani at the opening ceremony.
Just the day before the opening ceremony, an unexpected situation happened again.
The staff of Equatorial Guinea temporarily notified him and let him serve as the flag bearer of the opening ceremony.
Because of the 4 athletes, he is the tallest.
As a result, at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, spectators all over the world saw the uneasy flag bearer of Equatorial Guinea, walking in front of them glumly, followed by a few athletes.
At that time, no one would have thought that after 4 days, this humble flag-raising guy would be remembered by the world.
The referee blew the opening whistle and Musambani jumped into the pool alone.
Judging from the situation of the first 50 meters, his posture can barely be regarded as a standard.
But after turning back from the other side of the track, Musambani clearly felt exhausted: "I'm too tired, I can't feel the presence of legs and hands."
Musambani in the game.
Musambani's speed slowed down, and his movements began to deform.
He shook his legs in the water almost instinctively, and then "crawled" forward as slowly as a tortoise.
Almost all the sitting audience sweated for him. Judging from Musambani's state, he is very likely to drown or sink to the bottom.
With 15 meters left to the end, Musambani couldn't swim.
But still in the water, he heard the cheers and applause of the audience.
Later, he also admitted that it was these encouragements that made him reach the end.
1 minute, 52.72 seconds, this is Musambani's final result, and in that Olympics, Hogan Bender, who won the championship, completed the whole journey in only 48 seconds 3.
According to the Associated Press, Musambani’s performance is the slowest Olympic history in the men’s 100-meter freestyle event.
During the Musambani match, "Flying Fish" Thorpe witnessed the whole course on the sidelines.
He told reporters: "This is the true Olympic spirit."
Musambani after the game.
At the end of the game, Musambani returned to the apartment in the Olympic Village and slept from 11 am to 4 pm.
After waking up, he found that his videos and photos were playing on TV; when he went to the restaurant to eat, some people asked him for autographs and group photos.
At that moment, he realized that he was on fire.
Audiences who like him gave him a nickname: Eel.
Later, the goggles he used during the game were sold on second-hand websites for more than $4,000.
He also received a VIP courtesy in Sydney-surfing on the beach, visiting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and a shop owner gave him a pair of tennis shoes.
This Olympic trip opened his eyes to Musambani and made a splash in front of audiences all over the world.
At that time, "Eel" began to look forward to the Athens Olympics.
After returning to Equatorial Guinea, Musambani received the guidance of a professional swimming coach. By 2004, his score improved to 56.9 seconds.
But in the end, Musambani did not appear on the stage of the Athens Olympics.
According to foreign media reports, this was because the administrative staff in Equatorial Guinea made a mistake in their work. They could not find Musambani's passport photo, which resulted in "Eel" not being granted a visa.
In this regard, Musamba felt very frustrated: because he could not show his progress to the world.
But Musambani did not give up swimming.
In 2006, in an invitational tournament in Germany, he swam out of 52.18 seconds, which was 1 minute higher than in the Sydney Olympics.
Musambani is surfing in Sydney.
Screenshots of foreign media reports.
Today, Musambani works for an oil company in Equatorial Guinea.
At the same time, he is also the swimming coach of the national team.
Because of his deeds, Equatorial Guinea later built two Olympic-standard swimming pools across the country, one in the capital Malabo and the other in Bata.
If they participate in the Olympics in the future, Equatorial Guinea's athletes will no longer be as scared as Musambani.
Musambani’s current wish is to hope that his disciples will one day win an Olympic medal.
In today's gathering of swimming masters, everyone knows how difficult it is for Musambani's wish to be realized, but as Coubertin said: "The most important thing in the Olympics is not victory, but battle."
For the Olympic dream, Musambani, who is over 40, never stopped fighting.
(Reporter Xing Rui)