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GLOBAL ACCLAIM When Moussambani exited the pool following his first 100-meter race he was thrust into the global spotlight. With an avalanche of interview requests, Olympic officials had to provide him with a personal assistant and a translator to handle it all. In the Olympic Village a banner reading “Eric the swimmer lives here” hung outside his room.

1:52.72 to “win” his heat. While that was the slowest time in Olympic history, and missed qualifying by more than 40 seconds, he became a beloved figure who embodied the Olympic spirit of doing your best.

“I couldn’t feel my legs in the middle of the swimming pool. I was just moving and feeling that I am in the same place. But when I started hearing people calling, people shouting ‘Go! Go! Go!’, that gave me more strength and power to finish.”

– Eric “The Eel” Moussambani

PASSPORT MI SHAP Moussambani dreamed of returning to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but his government’s mishandling of his passport prevented him from making a second Olympic appearance.

African Swimmer “Wins” His Heat

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