Athletes take their pregame rituals seriously. Some might do a little dance to stay mentally and physically loose.
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Santo Condorelli isn’t a bad kid.
What makes this story even more remarkable is the fact that this PG-13 ritual actually started when Condorelli was just 8 years old.
“[He said] ‘You’ve got to build your confidence yourself and say eff everybody else that you’re racing, ‘” Condorelli told Spencer.
According to The Canadian Press, when Condorelli was eight, he was pissed off because he was constantly being forced to race against older and more competitive swimmers. “He stated ‘Each time you are behind the blocks, give me the finger and I am going to give it again to you.'” Learn extra…
He really does. Here is a video of him flipping off his dad from the 2012 Speedo Junior National Championship. He still somehow manages to flip off his dad before every race, though, so one can expect to see fingers flying when the 21-year-old competes in the freestyle relay, the 100-meter freestyle and the 50-meter freestyle in Rio. The consequences from that were that Condorelli had to write an apology letter. And if you thought the world’s ninth ranked swimmer in the 100m free had any plans to stop now, you’d be quite mistaken. “That happens to be mine and still is”.
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“I’m not trying to piss people off. When you get on the blocks, just put everything out of your mind and swim like there’s nobody near you”, Condorelli told Swim Swam.
