Coming from a land-locked country with citizens better known for their agility on land than in the water – Ethiopian Robel Kiros Habte’s chances in the Olympic pool were never high.
The 24-year-old’s performance in the 100m freestyle saw him finish half a lap behind the last competitor in 1 minute 04.95 seconds.
He was the only one of the 59 contestants who took longer than a minute to finish and was 17 seconds slower than the pacesetter Kyle Chalmers who finished in a time of 47.90 seconds.
The slowest time in the top 16 was more than 15 seconds faster – 48.58secs.
His seemingly sluggish performance still earned him a resounding applause for effort when he finally touched the wall, with his nearest competitors having already taken off their caps and were leaning against the lane markers.
#RobelHabte overweight, slow, reaching #Rio2016 has NOTHING to do with his dad being #Ethiopia ‘s Swim fed president pic.twitter.com/EDB00CPDUe
— Zecharias Zelalem (@ZekuZelalem) August 10, 2016
Despite some support from the spectators, detractors were quick to take to the internet, questioning how his speed, or lack thereof, and less-than sculpted body landed him a spot at the games.
Technically the Olympic debutant didn’t even qualify for the 100m free-style, but was in fact a special invitation from the international swimming body to athletes of under-represented countries.
Rumour has it he wasn’t even his country’s best swimmer – but was in the pool more as a result of special favours – his father is thought to be the president of Ethiopia’s Swimming Federation.
Dear @MailOnline and everyone at #Rio2016 #RobelHabte IS NOT #Ethiopia ‘s best swimmer.
Just the most opportune! pic.twitter.com/WMfZgPBRZ4— Zecharias Zelalem (@ZekuZelalem) August 10, 2016
There’s only one other Ethiopian entering the Olympic pool at this year’s games: Rahel Gebresilassie in the women’s 50m freestyle.
Despite some criticism, Habte was reportedly happy with his performance.
“For Olympics, my first one, I am so happy. For all the sportsmen, the Olympics are big. So to be [in] competition in the Olympics, I am so happy.”
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