Eight of the Strangest Things That Have Happened in Sport
A swimmer who had never seen an Olympic pool, a horse that collapsed yards from winning, a race that never happened, and the longest tennis match in history.
Sport is written up as drama, and the oddest moments are the ones no script would allow.
1. Eric the Eel
Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea qualified for the Sydney 2000 Olympics through a development place, having learned to swim eight months earlier in a 20-metre hotel pool. Both his rivals in the 100m freestyle heat false-started and were disqualified, so he swam alone. He finished in 1:52.72 — more than a minute outside the winning time — and the crowd stood up for him. He had never swum 100 metres before.
2. Devon Loch
In the 1956 Grand National the Queen Mother's horse Devon Loch was clear and 40 yards from the line when he half-jumped at nothing and collapsed on the flat. His jockey, Dick Francis, never satisfactorily explained it and went on to write thrillers instead. The race was won by ESB.
3. The Grand National that was declared void
In 1993 two false starts left the tape wrapped round several jockeys. Thirty of the 39 riders set off anyway, having not realised. Seven completed the course. The race was voided, bets were returned, and John White's winning ride counted for nothing.
4. Eleven hours of tennis
At Wimbledon in 2010 John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 70–68 in the fifth set, over 11 hours and 5 minutes across three days. The scoreboard stopped working. The final set alone lasted longer than any previous complete match, and the rules were later changed so it could not happen again.
5. Dorando Pietri's finish
Leading the 1908 Olympic marathon in London, Pietri entered the stadium badly disorientated, turned the wrong way and fell five times in the last 400 metres. Officials helped him over the line, which got him disqualified. Queen Alexandra had a gilded cup made for him anyway.
6. The gold medal won by last place
In the 1,000m short-track final at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Australia's Steven Bradbury was a distant fifth of five with half a lap to go. The four skaters ahead of him collided and went down. He crossed alone for Australia's first ever Winter Olympic gold, and said afterwards he would accept it for the previous decade rather than for the race.
7. Two goals in four minutes, one with a hand
In the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, Diego Maradona punched Argentina's first goal past Peter Shilton and got away with it. Four minutes later he beat half the England team over 60 metres to score what was voted the goal of the century. The same player produced the most cynical and the most brilliant goal of the tournament in the same afternoon.
8. Beamon's jump
At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Bob Beamon jumped 8.90m and broke the world long jump record by 55 centimetres — an improvement so large the officials' optical measuring device would not reach, and they had to fetch a tape. The record stood for 23 years, and Beamon's best jump for the rest of his career was almost a foot shorter.