Bizarre Olympic Moment - Day 6

Each day of the 2008 Olympics we're going to find a bizarre clip or story from a past Summer Olympics. Today we'll look at Australian rower Bobby Pearce.

Bobby Pearce is one of Australia’s greatest Olympians. He won the gold in the single skulls in both the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. Although, he is one of the greatest rowers in history his legacy lies not with his records (his 1928 time was a world record until 1972) but for his gentile nature.

Bobby Pearce was consistently beating his competitors by thirty seconds or more in his pursuit for the gold medal. In the semi-finals he lined up next to Frenchman Victor Saurin in what would be one of the most bizarre moments in Olympics history. Just before his death Pearce relived the race that made him famous:

"I had beaten a German and a Dane in earlier heats and I was racing a Frenchman then I heard wild roars from the crowd along the bank of the canal. I could see some spectators vigorously pointing to something behind me, in my path. I peeked over one shoulder and saw something I didn't like, for a family of ducks in single file was swimming slowly from shore to shore. It's funny now, but it wasn't at the time ... I had to lean on my oars and wait for a clear course, and all the while my opponent was pulling away to a five length lead."

After coming to a full stop in a race any other rower would have been completely out of it, but Pearce’s remarkable ability allowed him not only to make up the difference but take a 30 second lead on his opponent. In the finals he claimed his first gold medal to complete his legacy.
(Sources: 101 Olympians and AOL Sports)

Take a look at the 16 most bizarre Olympic moments in history:

Day 1 - Eric "The Eel" Moussambani
Day 2 - Betty Robinson
Day 3 - Sally Robbins
Day 4 - Abebe Bilkila
Day 5 - 1972 USA Basketball team
Day 6 - Bobby Pearce
Day 7 - Byun Jong-il
Day 8 - Stella Walsh
Day 9 - Spanish Paralympic Basketball Team
Day 10 - Ingeborg Marx
Day 11 - Vanderlei de Lima
Day 12 - Hans-Jurgen Todt
Day 13 - Liu Changchun
Day 14 - Dorando Pietri
Day 15 - 1956 Hungarian Water Polo Team
Day 16 - 1960 Tunisian Modern Pentathlon Team

Bizarre Olympic Moment - Day 3

Each day of the 2008 Olympics we're going to find a bizarre clip or story from a past Summer Olympics. Today we'll look at Australian Rower Sally Robbins.

Australian Sally Robbins was involved a bizarre moment in 2004 Olympics. Robbins was one of the nine members of Australia’s rowing team. The team was third through the first 1,000 metres but had dropped back to fifth with 500 metres remaining, three seconds behind the leaders. During the final 400 metres Robbins dropped her oar, allowing it to drag in the water, gave up and laid back on teammate Julia Wilson's lap. Australia, consequently, finished last, ten seconds behind the fifth place crew.


Robbins was dubbed “Lay Down Sally” by the Australian media and her teammates were not very supportive either:

"We had nine in the boat but only eight operating. I just want to stress there was not a technical problem. No seat broke. There was nothing wrong with boat," team mate Julia Wilson said.

Robbins, one of Australia's most technically sound rowers, claimed she was physically exhausted and was unable to physically move:

"Suddenly fatigue sets in and I just can't move, you know. It's a feeling of paralysis where you just hit the wall,"

Robbins claims of physical exhaustion were refuted by other rowers in the media who instead believed the "no row" was due to a lack of mental toughness as she had also stopped rowing on several other occassions, like at an event in 2002:

Robbins dropped her oar hundreds of metres short of the line as "Australia was blitzing the race, leading the entire field all the way," according to rower Rachel Taylor. "It was as about as sure a thing as you could get to having the world title in the bag, when with approximately 400 metres to go Sally Robbins stopped rowing.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

After the Olympics tensions were still very high. Back in Australia, during a parade to honour the Olympians, Robbins was slapped by teammate Catriona Oliver

Sally Robbins didn’t quit rowing after Athens. This year, she was performing strongly in camp and selection trials in hopes of making the 2008 Olympics. There was still deep-rooted suspicions in the squad that she was psychologically ill-equipped to race at Olympic level. Two of the squad went far as stating they would refuse to compete on the same team as Robbins, which may be one big reason she's not on the team.

Take a look at the 16 most bizarre Olympic moments in history:

Day 1 - Eric "The Eel" Moussambani
Day 2 - Betty Robinson
Day 3 - Sally Robbins
Day 4 - Abebe Bilkila
Day 5 - 1972 USA Basketball team
Day 6 - Bobby Pearce
Day 7 - Byun Jong-il
Day 8 - Stella Walsh
Day 9 - Spanish Paralympic Basketball Team
Day 10 - Ingeborg Marx
Day 11 - Vanderlei de Lima
Day 12 - Hans-Jurgen Todt
Day 13 - Liu Changchun
Day 14 - Dorando Pietri
Day 15 - 1956 Hungarian Water Polo Team
Day 16 - 1960 Tunisian Modern Pentathlon Team