Eric Moussambani

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Eric Moussambani swim
Personal information
Surname: Eric Moussambani Malonga
Nickname (s): Eric the Eel
Nation: Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea
Swimming style (s) : Freestyle swimming
Birthday: May 31, 1978

Éric Moussambani Malonga (born May 31, 1978 ) is an equatorial Guinean freestyle swimmer who became known for his performance at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney : He swam his 100 meter freestyle in a time of 1: 52.72 and thus needed about twice as much Time like the later Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband .

Career

During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , Moussambani caused a stir when he swam the 100 meter freestyle in 112.72 seconds, which was more than double the world record time and even more than the world record for double the distance , over 200 meters.

Moussambani had received his right to start at the Olympic Games via a wild card from the International Olympic Committee , with which athletes from smaller sporting nations should have the opportunity to participate in the Games without having to meet the qualification standards.

Moussambani was supposed to play against the Nigerien Karim Bare and the Tajik Farkhod Oripov . However, after they were disqualified due to a false start , Moussambani competed alone. However, since only 16 swimmers could qualify for the semifinals, he was eliminated as 71st and last.

In the final part of the competition Moussambani struggled with himself and finally made it to the finish line after 1 minute and 52.72 seconds. After the race, he said that the last 15 meters had been quite difficult for him.

Moussambani had only learned to swim eight months before the Olympics. He had never seen a 50-meter pool before he came to Sydney. In his home country, he always trained in a 15-meter pool. It is also reported that he trained in rivers and other open waters in the absence of a large reservoir.

He was denied participation in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens because of visa problems, although he had increased his best time to less than 57 seconds. He also did not take part in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing .

Moussambani was the national coach of his country for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , but none of his athletes could qualify for the games.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cnnsi.com: Swimming 100m Freestyle ( Memento from May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2000 US Olympics Special Section - 100m Free. USA Swimming, archived from the original on September 30, 2007 ; accessed on November 23, 2009 .
  3. ↑ Éric Moussambani race
  4. ↑ Olympic ABC: How "Eric, the Eel" thrilled the world on spiegel.de. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
  5. ↑ Struggling to keep himself afloat. The Sydney Morning Herald , August 6, 2004, archived from the original on March 17, 2012 ; accessed on November 23, 2009 .
  6. ^ The AZ of watching Olympics ( Memento from August 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Eric the eel is back (Frankfurter Rundschau)
personal data
SURNAME Moussambani, Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Eel (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Equatorial Guinean swimmer
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1978