Ethiopia’s Robel Kiros Habte evoked memories of ‘Eric the Eel, ‘ the dashing no-hoper who flopped around like a freshly caught tuna at the 2000 Sydney Games, with his performance in the men’s 100m freestyle heats.
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After heat after heat of perfectly chiseled athletes swimming in these games, well-defined six-packs and flawlessly toned limbs start to look, well, normal. Habte is one of two Ethopian swimmers in Rio.
Media outlets were less than kind in describing his 5-foot-9, 179-pound frame. The U.K’s The Sun said he was “flab-ulous” and “really tum-thing special”.
Ecadf, an Ethiopian news site, called him “out of shape”.
Habte told the Daily Mail that although the “dad bod” comments were hurtful, his current weight is due to recovering from a vehicle accident and he’ll be back in shape in time for the World Championships in Canada. He gets body-shamed on Twitter, natch!
Whatever brought him to Rio, the 24-year-old college student was a crowd favourite and was pretty happy just to be there.
“Every day, they run and win in a stadium and they get the flag”, said the well-built swimmer who finished well outside his personal best of 59.08.
He told Reuters that he had swum better in that distance, but was delighted anyway. FINA’s rules state that “under-represented countries” can invite one male and one female swimmer to the Olympics. ‘So thanks for God’.
Unconfirmed reports also stated that Habte’s father is the president of the Ethiopian Swimming Federation. And Harold Siyaya wondered how Habte had qualified.
Based on his display in Rio, it’s not hard to imagine there is someone in Ethiopia a body-length quicker than Habte at getting to the other end of the pool and back. His time in the 100-meter freestyle on Tuesday is just a few seconds slower than the Ethiopian national record.
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He said: “I wanted to do something different for my country, that’s why I chose swimming”. I want to be different in my country, that is why I choose it.
