I stumbled upon the ‘Strangest Moments’ series on the Olympics website recently and found it to be a gem. As the name suggests, the series recounts some of the most bizarre moments in the history of the games.
Like what happened to snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006. She was touted as the favourite to win. In the final race, she was leading by a wide margin, but lo and behold – 10 seconds from winning the gold, she decided to show off a little and executed a mid-air grab, falling ignominiously on her side, while she had to watch Tanja Frieden glide over the finish line, winning the gold that should have been hers.
Or take how Dutch skater Sven Kramer missed gold at the 10,000 meter speed skating event in Richmond. He was well on his way to winning when his coach Gerard Kremkers shouted at him to switch lanes. Against his own judgment, Kramer followed his coach’s advice and switched lanes. It would be the biggest mistake of his sporting career. Kremkers immediately understood the blunder. So did the audience and the other teams. The only one who didn’t? Kramer himself who skated to the finish line pumping his fist in the mistaken assumption that he had won the gold, only to be told that he had been disqualified. Phew, I definitely don’t envy Kremkers, who had to face the righteous wrath of his ward.
Then there was the figure skating scandal at Salt Lake City when the Canadian team, who had clearly performed better, lost out to the Russians, only to be told later that one of the judges had been asked to award more points to the Russians. The Canadians were later jointly awarded the gold medal with the Russians.
Or take the wacky men’s marathon race at the 1908 Olympics in London. South African Charles Hefferon was leading, but then he decided to accept a bottle of champagne from one of the onlookers, not realising that it was too premature to celebrate. The champagne gave him a cramp and he slowed down. Seizing the opportunity, Dorando Pietri of Italy overtook him, only to be overcome by fatigue and dehydration. He started running the wrong way and the umpires had to redirect him. He fell down five times and was each time helped up by the umpires. In the end, he finally managed to finish the race first, only to be later disqualified because he had been helped by the umpires. His gold was then handed over to the US’s Johnny Hayes. The next day, in appreciation of his efforts, Queen Alexandra awarded him with a silver cup. Posterity would remember him, not for an Olympic gold, but for the street in London named after him – White City’s Dorando Close.
One wonders whether an Olympic gold is all that it is touted to be. Is it really worth all this heartache? The best answer was perhaps given by Olympic sprinter Eric Liddell who said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” Perhaps we cannot all be the best at what we do, but if we don’t try, what’s the fun in life? In the aspiration lies the attraction. And then, even if we miss the gold, maybe we can say, like Jacobellis did after her colossal blunder, “It was just me… having fun snowboarding and being lost in the moment”.
