Olympic athlete reveals why he deliberately finished last in 110m race
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
You might think the Olympics is a place where athletes give their all to every single event, but Team USA's Freddie Crittenden has proven that doesn't necessarily have to be the case.
Crittenden left viewers stunned on Sunday (August 4) when he appeared to jog down the track of the 110m hurdles race at Paris 2024, causing him to fall way behind his competitors.
The Olympian took his time as he cleared the hurdles and ended up finishing dead last, a full five seconds behind winner Grant Holloway, also from Team USA.
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Crittenden's was labeled the second-fastest 110m hurdler in the world this year, his decision to 'jog' caused a barrage of questions from viewers.
"What happened there to Freddie Crittenden!?," one Twitter user asked, as another wrote: "What happened to Crittenden omg ? What was that."
As it turns out, however, Crittenden's decision was strategic.
After the race, the athlete said finishing last was an 'intentional choice' because he was suffering a small injury.
He might have attempted to push through it if it was the final, but Crittenden knew coming in last in Sunday's race didn't mean the end of his time in Paris, because there's a rule he was able to take advantage of.
While the top three finishers in the hurdles go through to the semi-finals of the Olympics, the remaining athletes who cross the line have a second chance to qualify through what is known as the 'repechage round'.
Crittenden explained: "It was either get top three or everyone gets through to the repechage. Every athlete has a chance to race in repechage.
"So I decided to just not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice. Give my body time to recover a little bit from being aggravated. Lean on my medical doctors. Lean on God. And just wait for repechage round.
"Come out [here] and try to kill it at the repechage round."
The repechage round is set to take place on Tuesday (August 6), before the semi-finals take place on Wednesday (August 7).
After taking it slow on Sunday, Crittenden has high hopes for his performance in the upcoming races.
He explained: "I thought I'd come here, take it easy and thank god there was a repechage round, I had to come here, get through the line, I can look forward to the repechage on Tuesday, get top six and make it to the semi-final on the next day."