Eric Moussambani Malonga, better known as “Eric the Eel,” captured global attention at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, not for record-breaking speed, but for his sheer grit. Representing Equatorial Guinea, he had never trained in an Olympic-sized pool and spent only eight months practicing on his own in a small hotel pool.
On September 19, 2000, during the men’s 100m freestyle heats, both of his competitors false-started, leaving him to swim the race alone. He touched the wall at 1:52.72, the slowest time ever recorded in Olympic history, but it was also his personal best and a national record.