Funny stories about how Olympic medals went to outsiders Bashny.Net

Let's be honest: the most ardent sports fans watching the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi is not only for fun, but also in the hope that there will be something incredible. Well, some kind of inspiring and improbable story that wins the trailer - are sometimes shown in movies about the sport.
Fortunately, at the Olympics this happens often enough, and athletes often argue that are capable of anything, even if no one is waiting for them to anything like that. The Dutch won the gold thanks to the abduction of a child
The 1900 Olympic Games was only four years, and then they, of course, has not been so popular. Although in the summer competitions were almost the same kinds of athletics, as now, the rules were, to put it mildly, ill-considered.
Take, for example, Rowing: in competition involving seven teams from the host country, France, and only the Belgians and the Dutch proved to be brave enough to send the game to one of his team.
The Dutch team had hoped to win the semi-finals, but it turned out that their steering weighs too much. What to do if you lose the race because of the fact that one of your team members is too fat? You pick up the boat some strangers on the street, that's what.
It's true: Francois Brandt and Rolef Klein took to the streets of Paris and in desperation tried to find out who a) was not fat, b) know how to operate the boat and) was a Dutchman. So no one and not finding, the rowers found their last two requirements are optional, picked up first got a French boy, aged 12, and took in his boat.
Surprisingly, the baby, as it turned out, knew how to handle the oars, and soon the Dutch team left stunned French far behind in their native waters, and after a fierce race team of the Netherlands crossed the finish line first. After the presentation of medals and a few photos on the memory of a French boy disappeared presumably ecstatic - he played all day pirates with foreign uncles, and for this he was given a gold toy.
Then the Olympic Committee does not care much about who is a member of the team or other such trifles like the age of the participants, so that the victory of the Dutch recognized the right: today the winners of those games are considered Brandt, Klein and unknown kid





Steven Bradbury was just waiting until everyone else will fall - and waited.
Australian Steven Bradbury even though he was a good skater, but the Winter Olympics of 2002 in Salt Lake City found himself clear outsider. The speed, which he lacked, he compensated for patience, he decided to just wait until the fall of his rivals.
Between a very strong South Korean team, well-equipped American and Chinese team and a team from Canada, where the sport was born, there was a fierce struggle. So why not just allow them to "kill" each other? What happened next can be for all of us a valuable life lesson.
Firstly, in the quarterfinals Bradbury finished third, but the Canadian champion Marc Gagnon pushed the other skater was disqualified, thus conceding cautious ahead Bradbury.
In the semifinals, Bradbury was in fourth place and is clearly lagging behind. But, of course, three other skater, all the winners, let his aggression go out at will: they crashed into each other, allowing Bradbury just pass on their skates to the final.
But it can get lucky once in a lifetime, to build on it all the plans to conquer the Olympic gold silly, right? And here and there.
The final was attended by the American champion Apolo Ohno and three other former medalist. Bradbury again quickly behind them: on the last corner he plёlsya in the tail, the fifth. And just before the finish of all his rivals fell, crashing into each other, and Bradbury calmly drove past them to his coveted gold medal.
Bradbury then raised his hands, unable to believe he had won Australia's first Winter Olympic medal. And it's all about luck: super strong opponents just do not take it into account and prevented only to each other.



Kipchoge Keino had to run to the stadium to win the race.
When Kipchoge Keino came to Mexico City to participate in the Summer Olympics in 1960, it was more than just an outsider - then Kenyans in principle lost in the race of white guys. To make matters worse, the doctors during the games put Keino diagnosis - gallstones. He said quietly: "Yes, do not care" and took part in the race at ten thousand meters, although the doctors and said that it could kill him.
Probably, during the competition of the poor athlete I had the feeling that his stomach is constantly glowing dagger pierces, but Kane, despite this, until the last two laps remained among the leaders. Then the pain began to be seen, absolutely unbearable, Kane doubled over in pain and crawled away from the road.
For most people this would be the end, but Kane found the strength to get up and run to the finish line, despite the fact that he was in any case should have been disqualified because he fizzled. Probably, judges no one bothered to explain it to him.
Four days later his condition worsened, but Kane went to five thousand meters of the race and won the silver (it is behind the leader by as much as two-tenths of a second). But this was not enough for him.
Because of its status Keino was now bedridden. Nevertheless, he got up and went to another race - 1,500 meters. He got on the bus that was to take him to the stadium, but he got stuck in traffic. And then Keino took off the bus and ran the remaining mile to the stadium - he had a few minutes before the official start of the race.
In the race he was sick and tired, faced with the current champion Jim Ryan, who had a distinct advantage - in the end, it does not hurt, and he did not have to flee the hell knows how to get to the stadium. But Kane shrugged and killed Ryan, leaving him behind at 20 meters, thereby revealing the greatest will to win in the history of the Olympic Games.



Emil Zatopek won a marathon, not even knowing the rules.
It's not in his facial expression - we just wanted to show it to you. Czechoslovakia began her career as a running only in the 1930s, and the shoe company, which Zatopek and worked, nominated him as a runner. The style of his career has been, shall we say, unusual, because in fact no athletic training Zatopek had.
Zatopek took part in several sporting events. He led the Czechoslovak team to win a few races over short distances and won the bronze medal in the 10,000 meter race at the Olympic Games 1948. But in 1952 at the Games in Helsinki, he has decided to run a marathon - at such a distance he had never ran and preparation for this type of competition he again was not, he even really knew the rules.
Despite all the difficulties, he caught up with the leading runner Jim Peters, only to ask him what the race pace. He sarcastically said that it is very slow, which was true - given what happened next.
When Zatopek at the distance came across places where the runners were distributed water and fruit slices, it did not take anything - afraid that disqualify him for it. He ran as much as 42 km away, and without making a sip of water, simply because they had no idea that the marathon should drink a ton of water during continuous running.
Although dehydration and, without a doubt, worry about a hypothetical ban on soft drinks, as yet taken the 19-kilometer slice of lemon, Zatopek won the marathon. It is unlikely that it was an accident: Zatopek went down in history as one of the greatest runners in the world. By the way, in 1956, he finished sixth, despite a hernia and medical restrictions.



They Dong Hyun won competitions in archery, not seeing the purpose.
Dong Hyun yuzhnokoreets They set a world record in archery: in 2012, during the Olympic Games in London, he hit the target 699 times out of 720, five attempts. It seems to be nothing special, as he broke his own record, that's just Hyun - blind.
Well, not really a blind bit he still sees. But to see the object as it is seen by a person with normal eyesight, Hyun need to be to him ten times closer. The goal, which he should get, it seems vague orange spot, corrective lenses, he is not wearing. However, all this does not prevent Hyun to be the world's best archer.
But how is it possible that half-blind man could hit a target the size of a grapefruit with a distance equal to the length of a football field? The athlete relies solely on muscle memory: in the end, placing the target and the distance from the athlete before it never change, so it's probably in an ideal position of hands, adjusted to within a millimeter - so some people may hit the target with a blindfold . However, they can not even try his hand at other sports, as this can destroy muscle memory.
There are rumors that the South Koreans, when preparing for the Olympic Games of 2012, built at home a replica of the stadium in London, and even announced the names of the English archers to fully simulate the atmosphere of the London Games. It seems that they are specifically sent to the competition blind archer to prove his superiority to all.



Source: www.publy.ru