Olympic champions typically receive prize money, medals and lucrative sponsorship deals, but for the sport’s biggest losers, the prize can be much bigger.
In the case of Eric the Eel, his attempt to run the 100m freestyle in Sydney 24 years ago enshrined him in the annals of immortality as an example of courage and determination when the odds are against you.
The Equatorial Guinean outsider provided the perfect example of trying to do his best despite not having the skill of his counterparts, holding on to record the slowest time in Olympic history in his heat: 1:52.72.
The Eel, whose real name is Eric Moussambani, had learned to swim just eight months before he was set to start in Sydney, using small private pools in hotels and rivers to train.
He didn’t even know what the Olympic Games were and had to go to the national library to research the international sporting event.
Unsurprisingly, she barely kept her head above water, but received the kind of reception given to the likes of Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe when she finally hit the wall.
“The last 50 metres was the hardest moment of my life,” he told Mail Sport three years ago. “There was a moment when I couldn’t feel my legs or my arms.
Eric the eel won hearts and minds at the Sydney Olympics 24 years ago
The Equatorial Guinean’s attempt at the 100-meter freestyle consecrated him to Olympic history
Eric Moussambani Malonga, above, poses with a swimmer recently on the sidelines of a major competition.
‘I was just moving my arms, but I didn’t feel like I was moving. I was very, very tired. I was giving my last effort to finish it. I was almost, almost, drowning.
“But when I heard people clapping and cheering my name, it gave me more strength and more courage to complete the other 50 meters. It was the first time in my life that I swam 100 meters.
‘In the end I was so tired that I couldn’t even speak. The television kept trying to ask me questions, but I couldn’t breathe. I needed air.
“I went to the locker room and passed out. They gave me air and after 15 minutes I woke up and asked, ‘What am I doing here? ’ I said I needed to sleep. I slept from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.”
Moussambani was hailed as the epitome of the Olympic spirit and has been revered in the same esteem as other plucky underdogs such as Eddie the Eagle and Maurice Flitcroft.
However, he proved he was a genuine athlete four years later, claiming to have swum the same distance in a personal best time of 52.18 seconds in Germany.
That impressive time would have allowed him to win gold at every Olympic Games until 1968, when Australian Mike Wenden set a world record of 52.2 seconds.
But he will always be remembered for that effort in Sydney and has created a lasting legacy for swimming in his country 24 years later, where he now coaches the next generation.
“A week after Sydney, the president met me and told me he was going to build pools for future swimmers,” he said. “So now we have pools so people can swim wherever they want.”
‘We have good swimmers, they are improving, but my dream is to have competitive swimmers in the Olympic Games.
“I will go there as a coach because when I am with them they have courage. I am like a symbol, I am an icon here in my country. When it comes to swimming, my name is always there.”
It’s the kind of story that Hollywood screenwriters can only dream of, and it’s the subject of a new film set to hit screens in the future.
He has now returned home and works for an oil company to support his family.
He shared his opposition to vaccine trials in Africa during the Covid pandemic
Film company Aurora Films acquired the rights to the life of Moussambani, now 46, in early 2023 and will shoot the scripted feature sometime between 2025 and 2026.
“In my opinion, Eric and the athletes and coaches who helped him at the Games embody the best qualities of the sporting and Olympic spirit,” said Aurora Films CEO Akos Armont.
‘I hope that Eric’s journey to the 2000 Olympics and his subsequent appointment as Equatorial Guinea’s national swimming coach will inspire generations of young spectators to seek out new ways to represent their own communities and positively influence the world around them.’
When he’s not coaching his country’s top talent, Eric works full-time at an oil company to support his family of four children.
According to his LinkedIn page, he works as a maintenance planner at EG LNG.
Given his status as a sporting icon in his home country, Eric has used his platform to take a stand on issues important to him.
‘Eric the Eel’ takes a selfie at the gym
In April 2020, the 46-year-old strongly opposed a proposal to roll out Covid vaccine trials in Africa, with the World Health Organisation subsequently insisting it had no plans to do so.
He tweeted a graphic that read: “Africa is not a laboratory” along with the caption: “Read it carefully.”
Two days later, she posted: ‘Keep posting it’ alongside an image that read: ‘No to vaccine testing in Africa’.
Reflecting on his life-changing experience in Sydney, Eric told the Herald newspaper: ‘People didn’t know about my country… and now the whole world knows about Equatorial Guinea and I’m very proud.
‘I found the people of Sydney to be very friendly. I was invited to many places.
“When I went to a shopping mall in Sydney, I wanted to buy a sneaker. The owner told me it was a gift for me. I was grateful.”
