Pain and glory — how athletes Derek Redmond and Eric Moussambani captured the spirit of the Games

Derek Redmond of Great Britain runs the 400 metres. Photo: Bob Martin/Allsport

By Yanga Sibembe

23 Jun 2024

They might not have any medals, but Derek Redmond and Eric Moussambani are entrenched in the folklore of the Games.

At the Olympic Games it is usually the medal-winning athletes who hog the headlines. Understandably so. If you’re at the Olympics, you are dreaming of a podium finish, no matter how unrealistic those aspirations may be.

Sometimes, though, the biggest stories at the end of the quadrennial multisport tournament are not from the medallists.

One example of the magic of the Olympic spirit is British runner Derek Redmond hobbling to the finish line after snapping his hamstring during a 400m semifinal at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Another is Eric Moussambani, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, who captured the imagination of the world with a display of perseverance and determination during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Despite not standing on the podium, both athletes became etched in sports history for their heroic efforts, against all odds.

Resolute Redmond

Redmond had twice broken the 400m British record, becoming one of his country’s best athletes in the mid-1980s. He burnished his reputation by helping Great Britain to clinch gold in the 400m relay at the 1986 European Championships.

Then, five years later, he played a pivotal part as he and his compatriots clinched another relay gold at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo – upsetting a US team heavily favoured to come out tops.

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Redmond was in scintillating form ahead of the 1992 Games. He was excited at the prospect of his first Olympiad and showing what he was capable of as an individual runner.

Olympic Derek Redmond Derek Redmond of Great Britain competes in the 400m. (Photo: Bob Martin / Allsport)

Injury had ruled him out of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Redmond – born in Buckinghamshire to West Indian parents – had to abandon those Olympic hopes minutes before the 400m heats were about to start when he injured his Achilles tendon.

Four years later, in Spain, he was determined to erase the painful memory of Seoul. His form in the lead-up meant he was among the favourites in the 400m. He’d had an operation on his Achilles four months before the Games to try to ensure it would not return to haunt him.

“For once, I had no injuries, despite eight operations in four years. I’d won the first two rounds without breaking sweat – including posting the fastest time in the first-round heats. I was confident and, when the gun went off, I got off to a good start,” remembered Redmond.

He was cruising comfortably in the race when, at about halfway, he tumbled to the ground in agony. His right hamstring muscle had snapped.

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With emotions swirling, Redmond, then 26, rose to his feet determined to finish the race.

“In Seoul, four years earlier, I didn’t even get to the start line because of an Achilles injury and had DNS – did not start – next to my name. I didn’t want them to write DNF – did not finish – in Barcelona,” said Redmond, explaining his decision to dismiss the medics who’d rushed on to the track to help him.

Redmond’s father, Jim, then ran on to the track and tried to convince his son to quit.

Redmond senior ended up playing an important part in scripting one of the most memorable scenes in Olympics history. Derek told his father he wanted to finish and Jim listened.

“I went on the track to try to stop him inflicting further damage on himself. It was Derek’s idea; he asked me to get him back in the lane and I offered him a shoulder to lean on,” Redmond’s father told CBS in 2012.

Because he had received external assistance as he hobbled to the finish line in front of more than 60,000 cheering spectators, Redmond was officially disqualified from the semifinal and the record says DNF.

Nevertheless, the moment was far greater than the technicality.

“When I saw my doctor, he told me I’d never represent my country again. I felt like there’d been a death. I never raced again and I was angry for two years. Then one day I just thought, ‘There are worse things than pulling a muscle in a race’. And I just decided to get on with my life,” Redmond said.

Redmond later dabbled in basketball and sevens rugby. These days, he is a motivational speaker and taps into that unfortunate, but unforgettable, experience in Barcelona for his talks.

Eric the Eel

Eric Moussambani did not suffer any injury before or during his sole Olympic appearance 24 years ago. Instead, he was thrown into the deep end of the tournament pool and told to swim. Which he did.

Moussambani made it to Sydney as a “wildcard” to participate in the 100m freestyle race. This was part of the International Olympic Committee’s concerted effort to try to include nations that lacked the appropriate infrastructure to have competitive representatives at the Games.

The Equatorial Guinean was overawed by the occasion even before he dived into the water, having never laid eyes on a 50m Olympic pool before. His training back home had been done in a lake. Regardless, he was determined to represent his country to the best of his ability.

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After his two opponents in his early heat were disqualified for false starts, Moussambani, a qualified infotech engineer, was forced to swim alone, in front of a largely Australian audience.

“The first 50m were okay. But in the second 50m I got a bit worried and thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Moussambani said after finishing the race in 1:52.72, more than a minute behind the 48.30 seconds that Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband needed to clinch gold in the final.

“Then something happened. It was all the people getting behind me. I was really proud. It’s still a great feeling for me and I loved when everyone applauded me at the end. I felt like I had won a medal or something.”

The media dubbed him “Eric the Eel” in the aftermath of the event, in which he placed last of the 71 athletes who completed heats. He was later coach of his country’s swimming team – after retiring from active competition with a personal best of 57 seconds for the 100m freestyle.

“It changed everything in my life. People knew my name and my country. It let me try to grow the sport in my country,” said grit personified. DM

Yanga Sibembe is a sports journalist at Daily Maverick.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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