IOC to Abolish the “Wild Card”: No More Moussambanis

By Phillip Whitten

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 28. REMEMBER how we watched with bated breath while Eric Moussambani, Equatorial Guinea's sole male Olympic swimmer, struggled to finish the 100 meter freestyle in Sydney, finally touching in 1:52 as spectators breathed a collective sigh of relief?

The 23 year-old Moussambani went on to charm the press and become one of the most popular athletes of the 2000 Games, interviewed endlessly on TV, given a free Fastskin suit by Speedo, and offered free swim lessons by Aussie coaches. He was the Eddie the Eagle, the Jamaican bobsled team of the 2000 Games.

But a debate raged around the appearance of Eric, as well as other athletes of similar accomplishment, in the Olympic Games. Was the purpose of the Games to maximize the number of countries represented in the competition, or was it to bring together the cream of the cream — the very greatest athletes in the world?

Charming and delightful as he was, and giving due credit to the difficulties of training in Equatorial Guinea, Eric clearly was not an elite athlete. After all, there are literally thousands of 7 and 8 year-olds in the U.S. alone who can swim a faster — and more elegant — 100 meters.

Today, IOC president Jacques Rogge parted ways with his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, resolving the debate by saying the IOC will eliminate "wild card" entries in the Games. Under the "wild card" rule, each country was allowed one male and one female entrant in each sport, regardless of that individual's accomplishments.

"We want to avoid what happened in swimming in Sydney," Rogge told the British newspaper, The Guardian, referring to Moussambani.

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