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Good on you for trying

degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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in Sport #1
Any stories from the games where the competitor had no chance of doing much of anything but they came over and gave it a go?

A couple i've heard about are a guy who has only ever swam in the sea and when he was swimming in the pool he started to sink.


Another was a guy who has only ever cycled on roads and never seen a track before.
That must be a bit of a change of experience.

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    alexjonesalexjones Posts: 902
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    #2
    I heard there was one guy in the mens marathon who ended up getting overtaken by runners from the womens marathon which started half an hour later but he still kept on running to the end.
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    Steveaki13Steveaki13 Posts: 655
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    #3
    alexjones wrote: »
    I heard there was one guy in the mens marathon who ended up getting overtaken by runners from the womens marathon which started half an hour later but he still kept on running to the end.

    I believe he was from Tonga.

    He got dropped by the pack after 2 minutes of the marathon. Still kept going though
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    Leicester_HunkLeicester_Hunk Posts: 18,316
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    #4
    Steveaki13 wrote: »
    I believe he was from Tonga.

    He got dropped by the pack after 2 minutes of the marathon. Still kept going though

    Good for him!
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    bobbydbobbyd Posts: 3,388
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    #5
    The Canadian guy on the horizontal bar in the gymnastics who got back on twice after falling off, with the crowd supporting all through and urging him on to the end. Nice moment.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28612753
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    soapfan_1973soapfan_1973 Posts: 3,624
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    #6
    One of the women boxers had never set foot in a ring and her only practice was against a punch bag.
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    alexjonesalexjones Posts: 902
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    #7
    soapfan_1973 wrote: »
    One of the women boxers had never set foot in a ring and her only practice was against a punch bag.

    Well I think she had practiced against male boxers but I think they were holding back cos she was a woman.
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    Corkhead.Corkhead. Posts: 445
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    #8
    In one of the heats of the Para 100 metres, an athlete from one of the south sea island nations was participating with (I think) cerebal palsy.

    He finished the 100 metres in a time of around 28 seconds, but oh, the look on his face when he realised that this was his lifetime best..!! Sheer joy.

    The crowd gave him a wonderful round of applause, and it was fully deserved.

    It's times like that when sport really is all about the taking part.
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    big bro geekbig bro geek Posts: 18,268
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    #9
    Agree with the poster who mentioned the Canadian in the final of the horizontal bar. Fell twice but got back on with a huge smile on his face and the crowd roaring him on. Great moment
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    Steveaki13Steveaki13 Posts: 655
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    #10
    Some lovely moments mentioned above.
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    *Sparkle**Sparkle* Posts: 10,957
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    #11
    alexjones wrote: »
    Well I think she had practiced against male boxers but I think they were holding back cos she was a woman.

    Yes, but it was her first actual fight, and she didn't even have boxing boots. The people at the Glasgow club where she was practising bought her a pair. It seems she had next to no kit, and the club where she did practice had very limited facilities, and just a few anxious local lads as sparring partners.

    When they did the piece on her, they didn't show any of the actual fight, just the very, very end and that she lost. I'm guessing it was rather one-sided.

    All of the competitors who had to take the post boat for two days just to get to the main-land deserve huge respect for turning up.
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    degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    #12
    Was that the British Virgin Islands?

    I thought it was a 10 day boat journaey followed by a two day flight?


    Some of the competitors had never left the island before.
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    LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,673
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    #13
    degsyhufc wrote: »
    Was that the British Virgin Islands?

    I thought it was a 10 day boat journaey followed by a two day flight?.

    No, that was St Helena. The BVI are relatively well connected.
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    *Sparkle**Sparkle* Posts: 10,957
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    #14
    degsyhufc wrote: »
    I thought it was a 10 day boat journaey followed by a two day flight?


    Some of the competitors had never left the island before.

    I think you are right. There may be some other islands that are merely two days apart, but well done to them too!

    There was that man who said his family couldn't watch on tv, because their island didn't have tv. They had the internet, so were trying to watch online, but it was very slow. :D
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    degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    #15
    *Sparkle* wrote: »
    I think you are right. There may be some other islands that are merely two days apart, but well done to them too!

    There was that man who said his family couldn't watch on tv, because their island didn't have tv. They had the internet, so were trying to watch online, but it was very slow. :D
    Yeah, table tennis player from Tuvalu IIRC.
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    Department_SDepartment_S Posts: 4,926
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    #16
    I suspect I will be adding to this list the name of Peter Kennaugh. What an effort but .......
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    Steveaki13Steveaki13 Posts: 655
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    #17
    Not exactly the same, but well done Kiribati for their first ever medal and it was a Gold Medal in weightlifting
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    LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,673
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    #18
    Steveaki13 wrote: »
    Not exactly the same, but well done Kiribati for their first ever medal and it was a Gold Medal in weightlifting

    He isn't bad at singing either:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28612751
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    ClarkF1ClarkF1 Posts: 6,587
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    #19
    degsyhufc wrote: »
    Was that the British Virgin Islands?

    I thought it was a 10 day boat journaey followed by a two day flight?


    Some of the competitors had never left the island before.

    St. Helena.

    5 day boat journey followed by two flights. They had a couple of days in South Africa.

    Going to take 19 days to get back as the boat is in dry dock for maintenance.
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