Robel Kiros Habte is one of the best swimmers in Ethiopia, as evidenced by his participation in the Oympic Games. Unfortunately, he was a bit too slow to qualify for a semifinal race in Rio on Tuesday.
To put it kindly, Habte doesn’t exactly have the prototypical swimmer’s build. That may have something to do with why he finished dead last (59th) in the qualifying heats of the 100-meter freestyle. And when we say dead last, we mean a full 7.19 seconds behind the 58th-place finisher and a whopping 17 seconds off the lead.
It took Habte 1:04.95 to swim back and forth in the pool. There were only two other swimmers in his heat, and here’s how far behind them he finished:
First cheer at the #Rio2016 pool goes to Ethiopia's Robel Habte. Not quite Eric the Eel but close. pic.twitter.com/JlByyBm0O2
— Jai Bednall (@jaibednall) August 9, 2016
So Habte isn’t exactly this guy. Big deal. He swam at the Olympics while we watched at home. It’s better to be a pudgy dude who’s an Olympic swimmer than just a pudgy dude.
H/T Busted Coverage
