Ethopian Athlete First Swimmer to Draw Cheers from Crowd in Rio
He came in a full 12 seconds behind his competitors
This is Robel Kiros Habte.
He’s a swimmer from Ethiopia who entered the Games through a special invitation from the Fédération Internationale de Nation (FINA), which is the international governing body of swimming. FINA extended invitations to athletes from countries that didn’t have a lot of athletes at the Games.
Habte told Reuters that he wanted to do something different for his country, which is better known for it’s runners.
“Every day you wake up in Ethiopia, you run. Not swimming. But I didn’t want to run, I wanted to be a swimmer.”
He was ranked 59 out of 59 athletes and finished the preliminary heats half a lap behind everyone else, but drew massive applause when he finished.
He also got a lot of love on Twitter:
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
Robel Kiros Habte is a legend. I love this Olympian #RioOlympics2016
— Calvin Serrao he/him (@CalvinSerrao_) August 10, 2016
Naturally, there were also a few haters:
I love that we now live in a world where Beer Belly Olympians exist #RobelKirosHabte
— Rebecca Araya (@yediroabeba) August 10, 2016
#RobelKirosHabte #RobelTheWhale was swimming in the Preliminary Men's 100m Freestyle
Of the 59 competitors across… https://t.co/LZ5Vl7S95G— Abdi Hakim (@AbdiHakimOn) August 9, 2016
If you don’t have haters, you’re not doing it right. Keep on being awesome, Robel!
